Acknowledgements
In the course of writing this thesis, I received support from a lot of people. Their help was vital for the completion of this doctoral project. First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my first supervisor, Professor Glenn Hook, for his incisive and insightful comments on my drafts and his very quick answers to all my questions. I am also very grateful to my second supervisor, Dr. Harald Conrad, who gave me stimulating comments on my research, and to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for its generous support. I would like to express my deep appreciation to Professors Ian Neary and Hugo Dobson for reading a previous version of this doctoral dissertation.
I am heavily indebted to Professor Mōri Yoshitaka at the Tokyo University of the Arts for welcoming me among his students, to Professor Ishida Hiroshi at the University of Tokyo for my affiliation at the Institute of Social Science from March 2014 to September 2014. I also incur a big debt of gratitude to Professor Baba Akira at the University of Tokyo because, without his help, I would have never been able to have access to video games companies. I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt thanks to Kondō Seiichi, Patrick Galbraith, Matthew Alt, Roland Kelts, Professors Matsui Takeshi and Yokota Masao, Munakata Saho, Sakamoto Yūko, Fukunaga Kenichi, Ishikawa Shinichiro, Sasaki Toshiharu, Wakabayashi Hideki and all my interviewees for answering my questions despite their busy schedule and introducing me to other individuals.
Also, I should not fail to express my deep gratitude to my interpreters, Wada Miki, Tsujii Toshimi and Satō Shō, for their professionalism, reliability and availability. Special thanks as well to Sebastian Maslow for advising me to contact Professor Glenn Hook for completing a thesis, to Professor Vincent Michelot and Dr. Guy Faure for supporting my application to the School of East Asian Studies, to Professor Nancy Snow for her essential support at the beginning of my fieldwork, and to Hayashi Rie for introducing me to Wada Miki.
Of course, I owe a big debt of gratitude to my family, in particular my mother for her continuous words of encouragement, my father for his support, and my uncle Christian for his useful comments on an earlier draft of my thesis. In addition, I wish to thank my PhD mates at the School of East Asian Studies for all the good moments I spent with them, my capoeira club Cordao de Ouro at Sheffield for providing me with stress release, and all my friends wherever they live for keeping me sane in many ways during this odyssey. I am especially grateful to my Japanese friends for introducing me to their fascinating country.
Abstract
This thesis fills a gap in the literature on the state-business relations in Japan by examining the relationships between the state and the cultural industries (anime, manga, and video games), a topic that is under-investigated. The concept of the developmental state is used to analyze the Cool Japan policy that the government implements to promote the expansion abroad of the Japanese cultural industries, and to study the reactions of anime studios, manga publishers and video games companies to this policy.
Cool Japan testifies that developmentalism is still alive in Japan. Neoliberalism and the globalization process have not caused the demise of the Japanese developmental state, illustrating its adaptation to a new context. The government still assumes that it has a role to play in order to ensure the competitiveness of the domestic economy by conducting industrial policies such as Cool Japan. The Japanese authorities have institutional links with the sectors covered in this research, in particular with their business associations, and a relative degree of autonomy. These are characteristics of a developmental state.
This doctoral dissertation offers evidence that Cool Japan is another case of the sectionalism of the Japanese bureaucracy. A very large number of state actors is involved in this policy, thereby raising the issue of the collaboration between them. The main gap identified is about the timing of the Cool Japan policy. Indeed the anime, manga and video games industries started the exports of their products before the implementation of this policy. Before the 2000s, the government ignored them because bureaucrats deemed that they were not profitable and unworthy of their interest. These sectors reject state intervention in their products if they receive a financial assistance.
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Abbreviations
ACE: Anime Contents Expo
AJA: Association of Japanese Animations
AMP: Association of Manga Publishers
ARD: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Consortium of public broadcasters in Germany)
BIDEC: Bio-industry Development Center
BOJ: Bank of Japan
CCTV: China Central Television
CD: Compact Disc
CEO: Chief Executive Officer
CESA: Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association
CODA: Content Overseas Distribution Association
CoFesta: Japan International Contents Festival
C/FO: Cartoon/Fantasy Organization
CSAJ: Computer Software Association of Japan
DCA: Digital Comic Association
DCAJ: Digital Content Association of Japan
DCMS: Department of Culture, Media and Sport
DPJ: Democratic Party of Japan
DVD: Digital Versatile or Video Disc
Famicom: Family Computer
FTA: Free Trade Agreement
GAD: General Affairs Division
GCA: Game Connection America
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
GDH: Gonzo Digimation Holdings
HD: High-definition
ICT: Information and Communication Technologies
IFPI: International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
IMF: International Monetary Fund
IP: Intellectual Property
IPSH: Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters
JACE: Japan Association of Corporate Executives
JAIF: Japanese Association of Industrial Fermentation
JAniCA: Japan Animation Creators Association
JAMMA: Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association
JAPEA: Japan Amusement Park Equipment Association
JAROL: Japan Robot Leasing Company
JBPA: Japan Book Publishers Association
JCCI: Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry
JDB: Japan Development Bank
JECC: Japan Electronic Computer Company
JETRO: Japan External Trade Organization
J-LOP: Subsidy for the Localization and Promotion of Japanese Visual Media
J-LOP+: Subsidy for the Localization and Promotion of Japanese Visual Media+
JTA: Japan Tourism Agency
JMPA: Japan Magazine Publishers Association
JNTO: Japan National Tourism Organization
JPSA: Japan Personal Computer Software Association
LDP: Liberal Democratic Party
MAFF: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
MAG: Manga-Anime Guardians
METI: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
MIC: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
MITI: Ministry of International Trade and Industry
MLIT: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
MOE: Ministry of Education
MOF: Ministry of Finance
MOFA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
NES: Nintendo Entertainment System
NHK: Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
NSA: Nihon Shopping Center Amusement Park Operators Association
OECD: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
OMDC: Ontario Media Development Corporation
PC: Personal Computer
PROMIC: Foundation for Promotion of Music Industry and Culture
SARFT: State Administration of Radio, Film and Television
SHSP: Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy
SMEs: Small and Medium Enterprises
TAF: Tokyo International Anime Fair
TMS: Tokyo Movie Shinsha
TPP: Trans-Pacific Partnership
TV: Television
UK: United Kingdom
UHD: Ultra-high-definition
UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
US: United States
VCD: Video Compact Disc
VCR: Videocassette Recorder
VHS: Video Home System
VIPO: Visual Industry Promotion Organization
WTO: World Trade Organization
ZDF: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (Second German Television).
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