ABSTRACT
While, in the 1950s, a Japanese aesthetic in design, shibui, and a Zen approach to life, gained an appeal in the West, it was not until the 1960s that Japanese consumer products became essential items in the Western lifestyle. But as the West-Japan trade deficit grew and Western industries collapsed in the face of Japanese competition, the Japanese salaryman – with his dedication to the corporation – became viewed in the West as a “corporate samurai” echoing the past image of the fanatical Japanese. While the romance of Old Japan, as portrayed in James Calvell’s novel Shogun, and subsequent television series, was hugely popular, disquiet about Japanese economic success increased. In the British press, the anxieties about Britain’s economic decline (and Japan’s rise) led to the Japanese being represented as disturbingly weird, a view applied to their interest in video games, manga (comics) and anime (animated movies) which were becoming extremely popular in the West. However, with the stagnation of the Japanese economy, the Chinese economy overtaking Japan’s, and the increasing popularity of Japanese cultural products in the 21st-century internet age, the Japanese were now viewed as the creators of exciting and innovative products of a “cool” popular culture.
