I can see an argument for that. The institutions of modern Japan were basically copy-pasted from Victorian England and Germany. And Japanese political-business-military interests are more deeply intertwined with the U.S. than China.
I found the song (from Alphaville) and looked at the lyrics. Yeah, entertainers and ex-pats just passing through have a superficially high profile, but not a place in the deeper power structures. I've worked in Japanese academia for nearly 40 years, was one of two foreigners in the country working as a cultural advisor for MEXT (the Ministry of Education), and had a tenured position in a Japanese college. But it is all such a kabuki show of faux-internationalization / westernization.
While there are remnants of the communal culture from pre-industrial times, most of society is rigidly authoritarian, and following Confucian ideas of social engineering. It is one of the most heavily tested and vaccinated countries in the world ... and without mandates. My guess is because a culture of unquestioned compliance to authority is so embedded, and the working class so close to the edge of poverty, that the majority are easily herded by the dark-triad power mongers you can find in any country.
On an individual level, I've found them to be as varied in cultural interests East, West, African. etc. as Western counterparts. Meh ... people are people. I've got to get my substack up and running so I can chat with anyone interested in this.
Cheers, Russian! And great handle you've got there ;-)
LOL. Although the financial elites had a pampered world of their own, Japan had a comic book equivalence of FILTH among English teachers ... 'Charisma Man', as well as the fashion models who would not otherwise have had a career back in the states.
Having already lived in the Tokyo area for decades when the movie came out ... I felt like the movie was almost a documentary. On the other hand, that was the same year that the first 'Pirates of the Caribbean' came out, and that is one slice of pure entertainment I will not soon forget.
I can see an argument for that. The institutions of modern Japan were basically copy-pasted from Victorian England and Germany. And Japanese political-business-military interests are more deeply intertwined with the U.S. than China.
I found the song (from Alphaville) and looked at the lyrics. Yeah, entertainers and ex-pats just passing through have a superficially high profile, but not a place in the deeper power structures. I've worked in Japanese academia for nearly 40 years, was one of two foreigners in the country working as a cultural advisor for MEXT (the Ministry of Education), and had a tenured position in a Japanese college. But it is all such a kabuki show of faux-internationalization / westernization.
While there are remnants of the communal culture from pre-industrial times, most of society is rigidly authoritarian, and following Confucian ideas of social engineering. It is one of the most heavily tested and vaccinated countries in the world ... and without mandates. My guess is because a culture of unquestioned compliance to authority is so embedded, and the working class so close to the edge of poverty, that the majority are easily herded by the dark-triad power mongers you can find in any country.
On an individual level, I've found them to be as varied in cultural interests East, West, African. etc. as Western counterparts. Meh ... people are people. I've got to get my substack up and running so I can chat with anyone interested in this.
Cheers, Russian! And great handle you've got there ;-)
LOL. Although the financial elites had a pampered world of their own, Japan had a comic book equivalence of FILTH among English teachers ... 'Charisma Man', as well as the fashion models who would not otherwise have had a career back in the states.
Having already lived in the Tokyo area for decades when the movie came out ... I felt like the movie was almost a documentary. On the other hand, that was the same year that the first 'Pirates of the Caribbean' came out, and that is one slice of pure entertainment I will not soon forget.