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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
JAPAN'S IMPACT ON THE ASIAN IMAGE
t has long been seen as the fountainhead of consumer electronics technology. Its cars are consistently among the world's most admired. Its corporations own two major Hollywood studios. Its kiddie culture has all but killed off Mickey Mouse and Barbie. Its $4 trillion GDP is number two behind the U.S. and its workers earn 25% more per head than Americans.
Bravo Castrati!
That's how many Asian Americans see Japan. A nation that should command the stature of a powerhouse -- and elevate the image of all Asians in the process -- possesses the geopolitical profile of, say, Switzerland, a nation a thirtieth its size. Japan's leaders are seen as mere hand puppets in a sad half-century charade of democracy. Its homes are cramped. Its men function as soulless drones whose women fly into the arms of western males. Even its vaunted economy has been on the ropes for ten years and looks ready to go down for the count. What little testosterone it possessed seems to have left with Ichiro.
A nation that should champion the Asian image has only reinforced every insulting stereotype. To many Asian Americans, Japan has done less than its smaller, poorer neightbors. Little Hong Kong exports asskicking action stars. South Corea exports people who take hooey from no one. Taiwan exports tech entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley. Impoverished China, Vietnam and even nutcase North Corea showed balls in standing up to the west. But mighty Japan? Spiritually it seems never to have recovered from its defeat in World War II.
Is Japan carrying its weight or slacking in the Asian image department?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:00:36 PM)
TSJ,
Look the Chinese invented the compass, gunpowder, and ketshup. Chinese are not bitching other people stole our ideas.
Automobiles are invented by the Dutch and English
Video games as we know it was invented by the Japanese.
The Chinese invented the first computer with the abacus.
You have a very narrow view of R&D before the US all scientific and engineer breakthroughs came from Europe. Did the European claim we stole the automobile, the planes, the electromagnetic technology from them.
Only in the USA do the mass population think that we're the end all of all discoveries.
No wonder the Japanese kicked our ass in the auto market. And the world is kicking our ass in the steel market.
We are only good as consumers in the USA.
AC Dropout
Tuesday, July 16, 2002 at 10:21:21 (PDT)
Since my other post didn't make it, and it was totally inline with what TSJ is saying (for the most part). I'll make this short.
Honda did a brilliant job with ASIMO, but who invented robotics?
huu76
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 22:00:53 (PDT)
TSJ-- you are stupid
The meaning of innovate is to make changes for the better which the japanese do quite well. The Japanese are very innovative!!!!! The Americans are inventive. Two different meanings. Japanese are smart. They let America waste time on R&D and buy the ideas to market and sell.
Japanese are innovative and resourceful but lack the immigrant population from EUROPE to be inventive.
Innovate
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 20:38:07 (PDT)
AC,
Actually, using the word "state-sponsored" is correct. A few years ago, the U.S. decided to try and crackdown which U.S. products were being pirated/replicated in China. It turned out that the majority were actually government-owned factories. Not only were there copied products, albeit some with slightly different spellings. One of the products I saw was a radio with the name "Cassio" on it.
It wasn't only Japanese or US products being replicated, but they even discovered products with the LG logo. This was one of the first reported incidents in which Korean products were being replicated.
The Chinese government also engages in major IPR theft. Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights against China is a very difficult issue currently which is why so much pirated software exists in China. Additionally, I recall seeing all kinds of movie videos and music tapes that were produced at these government-owned facilites. It was kinda funny because they even had fake Kelloggs Frosted Flakes that were produced in these facilities. The range of products being replicated was enormous.
Fake products are made all over the world, but the difference with China is that government-owned facilities are the ones producing these goods and the revenue of course goes straight to the state. It's hard to enough to crack down on businesses like this in the U.S. or Taiwan or Korea, but in China, the state is the responsible/guilty party.
Hope this clarifies my earlier post. Not trying to hate China, but just stating what I know.
c-web
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 17:43:09 (PDT)
Thanks america, and western civilization, for inventing a bunch of toys for asians to make something real out of. Time to move on to more important stuff, and leave america behind, that is, if they ever stopped importing and using asians to support them in a welfare-like manner.
goodbye USA
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 17:37:22 (PDT)
"You're an idiot. USA doesn't innovate on the world market. It is the Japanese that innovate. We just consume in the USA."
You are wrong! Japanese don't invent anything! They just make it better for less. Let's name products in a timeline, shall we?! Did Japan invent any of these products? Telephone, automobile, TV, computer, video game, VCR, pager, CD, cellular phone, DVD, HDTV?! NO!!! The US (with some help from the Germans) designed them all. Japanese just steal other peoples' ideas and make them better. So in other words, they are more resourceful, if anything, but by no means innovative.
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 11:46:24 (PDT)
c-web,
State sponsored is a little over stating don't you think. If a company pays tax, does that consitute as state sponsored.
I think it is just that it is unregulated in China at the moment. Also it ties into consumer growth in the country. Which will allow the consumers in PRC to ulitmately get use to purchasing licensed goods.
I would not worry about it too much. It's not like those foriegn companies were going to make any money in China anyways, if they tried to price it normal retail value. Chinese people wouldn't have brought it at those price points 10 or 15 years ago. However, as the consumer market matures, they will start becoming aware and spend those high amounts of money.
AC Dropout
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 09:44:20 (PDT)
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