Abstract
The chapter examines the rationale and imbrication of Japan and Tokyo’s cultural branding for—and beyond—the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In doing so, it analyses Tokyo’s cultural branding through the lens of the “Tokyo Vision for Arts and Culture” (2015–2025), the most recent agenda unveiled by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Notwithstanding Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s cultural and urban branding is an ongoing endeavor, the analysis of its rationale, dynamics, and scope in early phases aims to contribute to the empirical debate in both academic and policy circles. The chapter uses the mobility/asemblage approach in policy knowledge to assess the urban and cultural branding of Tokyo from a regional (East Asia) and global perspective. Rather than solely focusing on the transfer of ‘best practices’, the chapter seeks to balance the specificity and generality aspects of contemporary policy knowledge by paying attention to ‘embedded institutional legacies and imperatives’ and in-situ politically feasible policy assemblage (McCann. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 2011:109; Flyvbjerg. Rationality and power. The Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1998). Lastly, the primary data for this study overwhelmingly suggest Japan/Tokyo’s cultural policy and cultural diplomacy to be unidirectional, particularly vis-à-vis their Asian neighbors.
This work was supported by the Center for the Study of the Creative Economy , Doshisha University.
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Notes
- 1.
The cultural and creative industries are defined, for the purpose of the chapter, as those industries that are based on highly aesthetic and symbolic attributes in the form of goods and services, content, amenities, and experiences linked to urban milieux. Otherwise known as content or copyright industries, the CCI entail both for-profit and non-profit sectors. They include advertising, crafts, design, film , multimedia, publishing, video and computer games, and visual and performing arts, among others.
- 2.
Soft power is a concept developed by Joseph Nye, Jr. in 1989 in the field of international relations to describe the ability to attract, co-opt, and entice in order to attain favorable outcomes. The soft power of a country rests on its culture, its political values, and its foreign policies (Nye 2008). Soft power is “often hard to use, easy to lose, and costly to re-establish” as it rests on credibility (rather than propaganda) (Nye 2015: 6–7).
- 3.
Here, it is worth clarifying the use of “Cool Japan ” in journalistic and policy circles –and the imbrication of the two. Cool Japan was initially coined by journalist Douglas McGray in 2002, to describe the cultural influence of Japanese popular culture (e.g., anime , manga , video games , and film) on a global scale and therefore, a source of soft superpower appeal for economic reinvention. This along with other various articles published in the early 2000s in foreign media, such as the Le Monde (Pons 2003) and the Washington Post (Fiola 2003), resonated with Japanese policy makers, whom years later would rework the ‘cool’ concept to inject further economic and soft power potential to cultural goods (JETRO 2005; Intellectual Property Policy Headquarters 2004; MOFA 2006). Another reference of ‘Cool Japan’ includes the NHK talk show broadcasted since 2006 in which a panel of foreign nationals discusses the most extraordinary, appealing, or unusual elements of Japanese culture and lifestyle.
- 4.
The other East Asian countries in the index, Singapore and South Korea , are ranked 14th and 20th respectively.
- 5.
The Soft Power 30 is a global index of 30 countries that measures soft power according to categories such as enterprise, culture, digital, government, engagement, and education). The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index combines the dimensions of exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and immigration/investment to assess nation branding on a global scale.
- 6.
Here, budgetary constraints could be cited as a critical factor vis-à-vis cultural ripple/spillover effects at national and international levels. Figures from the Mori Memorial Foundation (2016) show that total (publicly-funded) budgets for arts and culture in Japan (US$1.2 billion) lag behind those of countries like France (US$ 7.9 billion), U.K. (US$3.3 billion), South Korea (US$2.0 billion), and Germany (US$1.3. billion).
- 7.
According to data provided by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (in Tokyo Culture Creation Project Office & Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture 2012), Tokyo’s artist population (writers, visual artists, craftspeople, designers, photographers, musicians, actors, and dancers) is almost 133,000; that is, approximately one-third of Japan’s artists. Tokyo has more than 3000 theater and production companies that hold over 24,000 yearly live performances. Tokyo also holds 4,5000 classical music concerts each year. The city possesses around 80 museums and 400 commercial galleries.
- 8.
In matters of urban policy mobilites/assemblage, institutional arrangements or local practices can result in risky implementation, as exemplified in the debacles regarding the planning of the new 2020 Olympic stadium and the unveiling of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Logo. The troublesome planning of the Olympics by a given host city tends to be zealously covered in the national and international press, ultimately casting negative perceptions onto the nation/city branding (e.g., inefficiency, political opacity, unoriginality, and so forth). Costly ‘do-overs’ stemming from a lack of transparency and institutional inadequacy/incompatibility are compounded with issues rooted in the role of ‘globally mobile’ consultants who draft candidate files or bid books. These consultants offer grand urban visions to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by obliterating local socio-economic contexts (Müller 2014: 4). Thus, host cities must adhere to not only the benchmarks established by former Olympic cities, but also by the expectations created in said bid books.
- 9.
Overall, one of the disadvantages brought about by the Olympics /Cultural Olympiad as expressed by LOGOC stakeholders was the redeployment of resources in terms of staffing to “cope” with the mega-event , “sucking up money and interest” from audiences, and great difficulties for cultural organizations that are not part of the “Olympic bandwagon” to access funding, including the National Lottery funding and other promotional efforts.
- 10.
Tokyo Caravan will promote Japanese culture and international cultural exchanges as part of the Tokyo 2020 Cultural Olympiad . The Caravan or “Grand Cultural Circus” will start its journey in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics as well as in various stops across Japan and overseas. The first glance at the Caravan and its concept was presented as part of a workshop and showcase at the Komazawa Olympic Park in October 2015, during which the Japanese public was able to watch the rehearsals (inclusive of behind-the-scenes preparation) and attend the final performance (Author’s site visit, 2015).
- 11.
This arm’s-length refers to a principle ruling the ACE by which the funding decisions for the arts and culture (e.g., arts organizations) should be made without direct government and/or political interference.
- 12.
For example, the LOCOG leveraged 116 million pounds from an initial budget of 10 million pounds by partnering with various organizations and funders around the UK in order to “safeguard” the role of arts and culture in the Olympic program” (Author’s interview with stakeholder, London 2012 Cultural Olympiad ).
- 13.
The depreciation of the Japanese Yen in terms of real effective exchange rates (REER) and nominal effective exchange rates (NEER) between 2012 and 2015 –against a broad basket of currencies– is 18.74% and 19.1%, respectively (elaborated with data from the Bank for International Settlements 2016). The yen, however, has depreciated in real terms against the US Dollar 35% since late 2011 (IMF 2016). The value of the yen has surged in the first semester of 2016 approximately 15% (compared to the 2015 average) vis-à-vis fluctuations in the global financial market following the US dollar weakening in April 2016 and the UK referendum to leave the European Union (Brexit) in late June 2016 (IMF 2016).
- 14.
Calculated with data from the BOJ (2016).
- 15.
The majority of the Korean drama production houses and broadcasters are agglomerated in the Seoul Metropolitan area. Furthermore, the ownership rights of a drama set belong to municipalities (Oh 2014: 2144, 2147).
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Gonzalez Basurto, G. (2018). Asian and Global? Japan and Tokyo’s Cultural Branding Beyond the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In: Kawashima, N., Lee, HK. (eds) Asian Cultural Flows. Creative Economy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0147-5_3
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