A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (85 page)

On the matter of the individual in Japan, in the early years of the new millennium (2003–05) a raft of privacy laws were passed. Though Japan was rather late in introducing such laws, they are now recognised as being stricter than privacy laws in many other countries. An Official Information Disclosure Law was also passed (2001). When the government phased in a controversial National Resident Registry between August 2002 and August 2003 there was considerable alarm among the public, on the grounds that the Registry made personal information available to governmental departments nationwide and was open to abuse. Surveys suggested that almost half the population opposed this to a greater or lesser degree, fearing that personal information might be leaked, and some municipalities initially refused to adopt it, incurring legal threats by the government.
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The term ‘Big Brother System’ was used of it. Regardless of whether or not the public’s widespread opposition was an over-reaction, the fact remains that many people were deeply concerned about personal rights, suggesting that the Japanese public has indeed become more western in its attitudes to such matters.

In terms of rights, in 1993 Japan abolished compulsory finger-printing for foreigners staying more than a couple of months. This included Korean permanent residents, of whom there were around half a million. Though this change applied to all nationalities and not just Korea, nonetheless the removal of the fingerprinting requirement was a step forward in developing better relations with Korea – or more exactly South Korea, for relations with North Korea have continued to the present to be problematic and tense.
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Since that point relations with Korea (henceforth South Korea intended) have generally improved, despite the ‘comfort women’ issue and a few other setbacks and disagreements such as disputed ownership of the Dokdo Islands, also known as Takeshima, in the Japan Sea. In 1996 the Japan-based Korean CEO and president of Softbank Corporation, Son Masayoshi, was named ‘Japan’s star entrepreneur’. However, as a step backwards, in 1997 a prize-winning Japanese-born Korean female writer, Yu Miri, had to cancel a book-signing event due to a bomb threat by an ultranationalist who said she was insulting Japan. It also became clear that she had experienced difficulty renting an apartment as her signature was not recognised as legal.

One particularly big positive step forward in relations with Korea was the 2002 co-hosting of the soccer World Cup, which involved a very substantial degree of cooperation between the two hosts, Japan and Korea. It was a significant success. Soccer in itself has helped bring a more genuine internationalisation – indeed globalisation – to Japan, starting with its newly formed J League in the 1990s, which saw the arrival of top international stars from Brazil, Germany, England, and elsewhere, including Korea, such as the highly popular Ahn Jung-hwan. In a sense this influx of foreign professionals might be seen as a modern-day sporting version of
o-yatoi gaikokujin
(foreign specialists employed in the Meiji period). Not only that, Japanese soccer players have been active in clubs around the globe, such as Nakata Hidetoshi in Italy, Inamoto Junichi in England, and Miyazawa Hiroshi in New Zealand. This is a different, human, unfettered type of globalisation, as opposed to the material type of globalisation represented by Japan’s globally operating major companies with their economic links to Japan.
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And domestically, the fact that, unlike baseball, soccer is not dominated by corporations but also has numerous clubs based on regional communities, has over recent years helped erode stifling corporatism, encourage the renaissance of local communities, and promote decentralisation – that is, it represents a healthy mix of the national and the local, within an overarching global framework.
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Of particular note in current Japanese attitudes towards Korea is the huge popularity of the young Korean actor Bae Yong Joon, known as ‘Yong-sama’, or to westerners as Korea’s Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe). Though he is popular among all age groups in Japan, he is particularly idolised by middle-aged women, who even travel to Korea just to see him.

And as another indication of attitudes, many young people in Japan who play video games have great respect for Korean players, who dominate world tournaments. Young Koreans in turn admire Japanese
manga
and
animé
. Video games,
manga
, and
animé
are, of course, all prominent symbols of present-day Japanese culture, in a cultural space dominated – but not exclusively so – by young people.
Manga
can trace their origins back to humorous medieval scroll depictions of animals and humans, and in modern times they began to become popular in the early 1950s, starting with Tezuka Osamu’s
Astro Boy
of 1952.
Manga
then became ever more popular, down to the present. Even some educational texts are put out in
manga
format. Tezuka also contributed to animated
manga
, namely
animé
, from the 1960s. Another famous name in the history of
manga
and
animé
is Miyazaki Hayao, who established his Studio Ghibli in Koganei, T
ky
, in 1985. In 2001 he also established the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, T
ky
, housing a permanent display of the history of animation.
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The theme throughout is playfulness, which of course is very much another feature associated with the (post-)postmodern era.

Regarding video games, Nintendo has had a huge influence on young people around the world. The company is in fact much older than many might imagine. It started in 1889 as a card company, exactly a hundred years before it produced
Gameboy
. Slightly earlier than
Gameboy
, in the mid 1980s, Miyamoto Shigeru had devised
Super Mario
– the adventure-some Italian plumber – for the company, along with many other games such as
Donkey Kong
. In 2004, the
Super Mario
series was the world’s most popular video game.
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The fact that Japan has been so instrumental in developing video games (including of course computer games) may perhaps be seen as a form of escapism from the constraints and stresses of real-life in Japan, such as expectations of conformity greater than in most western nations. This is particularly true in the case of RPGs (role-playing games), wherein the player can generally choose from a variety of personae. Albeit virtual, this too is reflective of the increasing element of choice in contemporary Japan, along with a certain flexibility – or, from a different perspective, fragmentation – with regard to the sense of self.

There is a ready acknowledgement of the influence of Disney in many
manga
, as also in
animé
and some video games, and in a broader sense ‘things Disney’ seem to have found particular favour in Japan. Some say this is perhaps the result of seven years of occupation by Americans. Be that as it may, the most important person in Japan during those years and beyond, Hirohito, was certainly a fan of Disney, and enjoyed Disneyland, where he bought a Mickey Mouse watch which he wore continuously thereafter. According to some sources he was even buried with his beloved Mickey Mouse watch still strapped to his wrist.
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This fondness for Disney or Disney-like characters can be argued to underlie, to a greater or lesser degree, the trend of ‘the cute’ (
kawaisa
). This is seen for example in the hugely popular video games involving
pokemon
(‘pocket monsters’), developed by Tajiri Satoshi for Nintendo in 1996, in particular in the form of Pikachu – a small cuddly yellow creature suggestive of a cross between a mouse and a squirrel. In society in general, the best-known symbol of cuteness is probably Hello Kitty, a white cat which often has pink trimmings – pink being a favourite colour of those who like things cute. Hello Kitty first appeared in 1974, and is still popular.

As something of a different take on Disney, one notes the work of the contemporary artist Murakami Takashi (not to be confused with the writer Murakami Haruki), known as Japan’s Andy Warhol. Murakami clearly favours incongruity in his works, including a juxtaposition of childish and adult, cute and grotesque, erotic and scary, and among other things has satirised ‘the cute’ by producing a plastic figurine of a grotesque and mad-looking Mickey Mouse-like plastic figure with jagged teeth.
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On the topic of young people, other points to note in recent years include government intervention in the educational system. At the higher end, tertiary institutions were required to privatise in 2004. At school level, the government recognised the strains put on students, whose school hours were much greater than most western countries, and in 2002 abolished Saturday school for elementary and junior high students, and in 2003 for senior high students – though this does not necessarily mean significantly greater freedom for the young students, as very many of them also attend private ‘after hours’ supplementary educational institutions known as
juku
. Following a policy of ‘education with latitude’ (
yutari no aru ky
iku
) the government also tried to reduce stress regarding examinations and in the classroom in general, but remarkably this latitude included such things as a tolerance of pi – fundamental to mathematics – being expressed simply as ‘3’ instead of ‘3.1416…’ This latitude, well-intentioned though it may have been, very soon became seen as sloppiness in the minds of many parents (and teachers), and there were numerous complaints, especially as Japanese students’ performance in international tests quickly declined. Fortunately education has become more settled since then, and international test results have improved – though not quite to the earlier levels.