EXPORTING JAPAN: JAPANESE PERCEPTIONS OF OVERSEAS CULTURE MARKETS

Abstract

Japan is not quite as “Cool” as they think they are. The global popularity of Japanese pop culture has pushed the Japanese government to introduce the Cool Japan Initiative to further the growth of Japanese culture industries in five areas: food, travel, fashion, traditional culture, and the content industry. In particular, the Cool Japan Initiative hopes to capture the growing global content market by aiding the overseas expansion of Japanese content companies, in order to revitalise the declining Japanese economy. Academics have discussed Cool Japan from many different angles such as international relations and nation branding; but as failed investment projects continue to mark Cool Japan’s portfolio, the more prudent question should be: why is Cool Japan failing? This essay suggests that a fundamental lack of understanding of the foreign markets underlies Cool Japan’s unsuccessful attempts at exporting its culture. As a key aim of Cool Japan is to provide Japanese small-medium enterprises with market information that they lack resources to access, this essay analyses the information Cool Japan provides, mainly through the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO). To do so, this essay looks at JETRO research reports related to the content industry to explore the Japanese understanding of the foreign markets. Based on the data available, it can be seen that much of the market information available to Japanese content companies is industry-centred, with little information on foreign consumers. While this is sufficient for the early stages of market entry, companies seeking to localise their products or manufacture products suited for the target market require in-depth consumer insight that JETRO is currently unable to provide. Given this current situation, this essay suggests a few propositions to improve Cool Japan to better equip Japanese content companies for global expansion.