ABSTRACT
In recent years, the creative industries have become an increasingly important concept in Japan. The focus of many debates is no longer exclusively on manufacturing and productivity, but has shifted to nurturing creativity and culture. Research around Japanese creative industries is growing—however most of them are focused on the popular, but niche, genre of manga and anime. Much of this research is concerned with so-called “Cool Japan,” which is a discourse about the popularity of Japan’s content—mostly manga and anime—in overseas market and a set of economic, political and diplomatic policy to capitalize on it (Daliot-Bul 2009; Condry 2009; Valaskivi 2013). Addressing limitations in existing literature, this chapter seeks to present a complex picture of Japanese creative industries. I will analyze how Japanese creative industries are organized and the uneven impact of globalization felt in different parts of the industries. This unevenness reveals tensions and complexities in Japanese creative industries that, in turn, reconfigure production paradigms.
