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Japan's grey-suited bureaucrats have teamed up with a blue cartoon cat and Tokyo fashionistas sporting 'Gothic Lolita' urban chic in an official drive to promote hip Japan around the world.
Long famed for its cars and high-tech goods, the world's number two economy has stepped up an official campaign to promote its cultural offerings, from Tokyo city wear to video games and award-winning animation films.
Prime Minister Taro Aso - an avowed fan of Japan's manga comics -- has thrown his enthusiastic support behind the drive to earn hearts, minds and hard cash by promoting the soft power of "cool Japan" overseas.
His conservative government has earmarked $118 million for a museum on Japanese cartoon art and pop culture to be built in Tokyo that one English-language daily has dubbed the "anime shrine".
"It will be a center that allows visitors to see and collect information on Japan's manga, anime, video games and media art," said Akira Shimizu, who heads the arts division at the government's cultural affairs agency.
The museum, to be built in coming years, pending parliamentary approval, is part of Aso's plan to grow Japan's cultural exports into an industry worth $200 to 300 billion by 2020.
"The word 'manga' has entered the global lexicon," Aso said as he outlined the plan last month. "Japan has materials that attract consumers around the world such as animation, games, fashion - so-called 'Japan Cool'."
Much of Japanese pop culture has already won fans across Asia and around the world in recent years - from classic manga characters like Astroboy and video game figures such as the Mario Brothers and Pokemon to Oscar-winning animation movies like Hayao Miyazaki's 2004 film "Howl's Moving Castle."
Manga comics - an industry worth $4.6 billion in Japan last year, according to the private Research Institute for Publications - have long ago gone global and have won a cult following in the West.
Not all of Japan's cultural exports have won praise. Some manga comics are notorious for featuring extreme violence and sexual themes, and a video game in which players stalk and rape women has sparked outrage this year.
The government has picked the far more family friendly cartoon characters to promote Japan, and last year appointed robotic hero cat "Doraemon" as the nation's first "Anime Ambassador".
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(Agencies)
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身着灰色制服的日本官员与一只蓝色卡通猫和展现“哥特洛丽塔”式都市流行风的东京时尚达人共同出席了一个官方活动，旨在向世界介绍一个时尚的日本。
日本长期以来以汽车和高科技产品闻名于世，近日这个全球第二大经济体开展了一项宣传文化产业的官方活动，其中包括东京都市流行服饰、电子游戏以及获奖动画影片。
首相麻生太郎公开声称自己是日本动漫粉丝，他对这项通过在海外宣传“酷日本”的软实力，以赢得民心、关注以及投资的活动表现出极大的热情与支持。
麻生所领导的保守派政府已拨款1.18亿美元，用来在东京建设一个日本卡通艺术和流行文化博物馆，一家英文日报称之为“动漫神社”。
日本政府文化事务局负责艺术事务的清水晃说：“它将成为游人观摩和收集日本的漫画、动画、电子游戏和媒体艺术信息的中心。”
这座将于未来几年落成的博物馆还需经议会批准，这也是麻生太郎将日本的文化出口产值在2020年前增至2000亿至3000亿美元的计划的一部分。
麻生太郎在上月阐释该计划时说：“manga（日本动漫）一词已被收录进全球词典。日本拥有动画、游戏、时尚等吸引全球消费者的文化元素，因此也被称为‘酷日本’。”
近年来，日本大部分流行文化已在亚洲和全球赚得大批粉丝，包括铁臂阿童木等经典漫画人物、超级玛丽和宠物小精灵等电子游戏角色、以及宫崎骏2004年拍摄的《哈尔的移动城堡》等入围奥斯卡的动画影片。
根据私人的出版业研究所统计，日本动漫产业去年产值达46亿美元。日本动漫很久以前就已走向全球，并在西方国家有大批忠实粉丝。
但并非所有的日本文化输出都受到赞誉。一些日本动漫由于渲染极端暴力和性主题而声名狼藉。今年有一款玩家可以潜近并强奸女性的游戏也激起民愤。
日本政府挑选了更受家庭欢迎的卡通形象来宣传本国，并于去年委任机器猫“哆啦A梦”出任国家首任“卡通大使”。
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（英语点津 实习生许雅宁编辑） |
