...Nye as ‘‘the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than through coercion’’1— has proven a seductive one for Japan. Since the concept was popularized in the 1990s, Japanese scholars and policymakers have enthusiastically taken it up, eagerly exploring how Japan’s soft power resources could be exploited to burnish Japan’s image in the world and help reshape its environment in subtle but important ways. Some—perhaps encouraged by the new attention given to the popularity of Japanese anime and manga, and by the general buzz about ‘‘Cool Japan’’—have even described Japan as a ‘‘Soft Power Superpower.’’2 It sometimes seemed, in more overheated moments, that Pokemon and Sailor Moon would conquer the world, succeeding where the Imperial Army and Navy had failed.3 That soft power would prove attractive is unsurprising. Although Japan has considerable hard power resources, it has shown great reluctance to actually use them in the way that students of international relations would T 1 The idea was originally advanced by in Joseph Nye, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power (New York: Basic Books, 1990). He has since expanded on the concept in Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs, 2004). 2 See the very useful volume by Watanabe Yasushi and David L. McConnell, editors, Soft Power Superpowers: Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the United States (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008). 3 Former Prime Minister Aso Taro...
Words: 8400 - Pages: 34
...disparate differences. This paper will discuss some of the two countries’ major characteristics including geographic, social, and political characteristics and look at their histories and economies. Another reason that it is natural to compare them is their economic growth has mirrored one another. Both emerged from a war with its economy devastated and its infrastructure in ruins. Both countries changed with the economic climate of the time and took advantage of foreign investment in order to rebuild. Finally, both countries used their strengths to develop their economies to the point that they are world leaders in their field. Finally, both counties enjoy close political and economic relations with the United States, with each country being among our Top 10 largest trading partners. We have been a good friend to both, which has helped to stabilize relations in the regions between the two. Brief History (Since World War 2) The Korean Peninsula was occupied by Japanese forces for 35 years, from 1910 until the end of WW2 in 1945. Due to existing agreements, Japanese forces in Northern Korea surrendered to the Soviets and those in South Korea to the United States. The Korean War (1950-1953) was an attempt by communist North Korea (with China’s covert and the overt backing) to subvert the whole of Korea to Maoist rule. Although never officially ended, the war concluded in 1953 with an agreement between China and the United Nations to divide North and South Korea into 2 countries. ...
Words: 2960 - Pages: 12
...[pic] TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 INTRODUCTION 5 KONGO GUMI ENVIRONMENT 7 Feudal Japan 8 The Restoration of Edo 8 The Meiji Restoration 9 World War 1 12 The Mid War Period 13 World War 2 15 The Occupation of Japan and Post War Reconstruction 16 The Economic Miracle 17 The Lost Decade 18 Global Financial Crisis 19 Natural Disasters 20 Abenomics 21 STRATEGIES KONGO GUMI USED TO SURVIVE TURBULENCE 23 Kongo Gumi in the 20th Century 23 Meiji restoration 23 The Mid War Period 24 World war 11 24 KONGO GUMI WOULD HAVE SURVIVED IF: 25 WOULD KONGO GUMI HAVE SURVIVED IF IT MADE IT THROUGH TO THE ABENOMICS ERA? 26 LESSONS FROM KONGO GUMI 27 CONCLUSION 28 REFERENCES 31 Appendix 1 – Infographic of Japan’s timeline EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Kongo Gumi was a success as it operated in a stable industry. The belief system has survived for thousands of years and has many millions of adherents. With this firm foundation, Kongo had survived some tumultuous times. The temple construction had until recently been a reliable mainstay, contributing 80% of Kongo Gumi's $67.6 million in 2004 revenues. The story of Kongo Gumi suggests that firms should blend elements of conservatism and flexibility. This means that firms should stay in the same business for more than a millennium and...
Words: 6387 - Pages: 26
...Contents Write an Individual Essay on business or business cultures in Japan. Give a detailed argumentation for your descriptions. 2 Japan Business Background 2 Meiji era 3 End of the Second World War 3 The Economic Miracle 5 The “Bubble” and the “Lost Decades” 7 SWOT Analysis 9 SWOT Analysis Findings 9 Japanese Industries 10 The Future 11 Reference: 12 Write an Individual Essay on business or business cultures in Japan. Give a detailed argumentation for your descriptions. Japan Business Background Despite the growth of China and India as both regional and global economic super-powers, Japan remains a major force in world status with leading players in sectors such as banking and finance, software, automotive and pharmaceuticals. and it would be unwise to switch attention away from this potentially lucrative market. The approach that the Japanese people make to business is determined by their historical values and their society as a whole. Japan has the world’s third largest economy, with a very strong democratic setup and stable macroeconomic policies. There were many historical events that took place, which had a large effect on the economic development of the country. Meiji era This era of Japan’s history, which ran from 1868 to 1912, symbolised the shift of Japanese society from being isolated to becoming its modern form. The first industrial revolution, of the Meiji era occurred as response to the growing...
Words: 2688 - Pages: 11
...Harvard Business School / Harvard Kennedy School Microeconomics of Competitiveness Japanese Skin Care Cluster Jinfeng Huang | Victor Stone | Tatsuhiko Sunouchi | Victoria Tan | Takeshi Tashiro May 10, 2013 Table of Contents 1. Japan Competitiveness………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1 1.1 Country Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1 1.2 Macroeconomic History………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2 1.3 Political Risks…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2 1.4 Abenomics…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 1.5 Social Infrastructure and Demography…………………………………………………………………………………..........4 1.6 Microeconomic Competitiveness and National Diamond Analysis…………………………………………………4 1.7 National Cluster Mapping……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8 1.8 industrial Cluster Policy Since 2001……………………………………………………………………………………………….9 2. Skin Care Industry Overview………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 2.1 Competitions and Key Players……………………………………………………………………………………………………..10 2.2 Market Dynamics………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Words: 8271 - Pages: 34
...Globalization ,Education and Japan Ikuo ISOZAKI(Dr. & Prof.) Chiba University,JAPAN Introduction The word “globalization” is the buzzword of the moment. Similar to the word “democracy”, it could be one of those words that become more ambiguous in meaning as they are more widely used. Globalization, however, is not too difficult a word to understand when we interpret it as a phenomenon where goods, people, information and services are now more easily coming together over national boundaries. Behind globalization, no doubt, is rapid technological innovation. The idea is that globalization is dramatically making our globe smaller, our spectrum wider and our various networks larger. Some people argue that there are downfalls however, including flooding information and heightening psychological insecurity from various types of inequality. We are required to face globalization while fully understanding the positives and negatives of globalization. Globalization is likely impacting not only on how economies work, but also on what a state actually is. For example, some experts maintain that the function of a state is diminished by globalization and forced to focus efforts on localization and regionalization. I would like to examine from various aspects how globalization influences states,and public policies, especially on the educational policy by taking Japan as an example...
Words: 4654 - Pages: 19
...Kentucky Fried Chicken Today Every day, more than 12 million customers are served at KFC restaurants in 109 countries and territories around the world. KFC operates more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 15,000 units around the world. KFC is world famous for its Original Recipe® fried chicken, made with the same secret blend of 11 herbs and spices Colonel Harland Sanders perfected more than a half-century ago. Customers around the globe also enjoy more than 300 other products -- from Kentucky Grilled Chicken in the United States to a salmon sandwich in Japan. In my paper I will be reviewing KFC in Japan and explaining the following: 1. KFC’s History 5. The Culture 2. Management 6. Economics 3. Legal Practices 7. Geography 4. Political Structures 8. Competition KFC is a predominant franchise that’s nationwide. KFC is part of Yum! Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company in terms of system restaurants, with more than 36,000 locations around the world. KFC is ranked #239 on the Fortune 500 List, with revenues in excess of $11 billion in 2008. KFC’s History Colonel Harland Sanders was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1952 the Colonel begins actively franchising his chicken business by traveling from town to town and cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and employees. In 1960 the Colonel's hard work on the road begins to pay off and there are 190 KFC franchisees...
Words: 2584 - Pages: 11
...Content Content | 1 | Case I | 2 | Case II | 11 | Case III | 20 | References | 30 | Coursework | 31 | Case Study I The Globalization of Starbucks Thirty years ago, Starbucks was a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market selling premium-roasted coffee. Today it is a global roaster and retailer of coffee with some 17,000 stores, 40% of which are in 50 countries outside the United States. Starbucks set out on its current course in the 1980s when the company’s director of marketing, Howard Schultz, came back from a trip to Italy enchanted with the Italian coffeehouse experience. Schultz, who later became CEO, persuaded the company’s owners to experiment with the coffeehouse format – and the Starbucks experience was born. The strategy was to sell the company’s own premium-roasted coffee and freshly brewed espresso-style coffee beverages, along with a variety of pastries, coffee accessories, teas, and other products, in a tastefully designed coffeehouse setting. From the outset, the company focused on selling a “third place” experience, rather than just the coffee. The formula led to spectacular success in the US, where Starbucks went from obscurity to one of the best-known brands in the country with over 137,000 employees and $10.7 billion in annual revenues. Thanks to Starbucks, coffee stores became places for relaxation, chatting with friends, reading the newspaper, holding business meetings, or (more recently) browsing the Web. In 1995, with 700 stores...
Words: 4255 - Pages: 18
...The Effects of the Automobile Industry on Japanese Culture HUM432 The Effects of the Automobile Industry on Japanese Culture The Japanese Culture The Japanese culture is one of the oldest cultures in the world. Its current state is the culmination of 30,000 to 50,000 years of history (Varley, P. 1973). It has been influenced by the introduction of aspects of many cultures from the Asian and Western worlds. It has resulted in the development and adoption of technologies which have in turn impacted the culture itself. The automobile industry is one of the largest technological industries that have developed in Japan. The growth of the automobile industry in Japan has had both positive and negative effects on the Japanese culture. The Japanese culture in 1950 prior to the accelerated growth of the automobile industry was complex and comprised of practices and institutions which developed based upon both ancient beliefs and contemporary influences. Ancient beliefs were a result of spiritual ideas, and internal political and economic structures that developed over time on this island nation, for the most part isolated from the western world until the 1800s. Western political and economic influences had an effect the culture thereafter. Spiritual beliefs in Japan are primarily an outcome of the influence of Shintoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, with some impact made by Christian missionaries who arrived on the island in 1600s. Shintoism, the earliest religious belief system...
Words: 6013 - Pages: 25
...pp., including references and index. ISBN 0-8223-2891-7. In this book, Koichi Iwabuchi, a Cultural Studies scholar based in Japan, explores intellectual discourses, marketing strategies and audience consumption of Japanese popular culture in a transnational Asian context. In other words, he examines Japan's encounter with a 'modern' Asia by focusing on the diffusion of its commercialized popular culture. This has been made possible by the globalization of media, which itself encouraged an incipient expansion of a hitherto largely domestic-oriented Japanese media production system to other Asian markets. There have been two results from this expansion of mediated popular culture. In the first place, it brings into question the assumed hegemony of American mass culture (from Disney to McDonald's) and shows how, in East and Southeast Asia at least, Japanese contemporary culture is extremely significant – especially in the global cities of Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and so on. Second, and more troubling so far as Iwabuchi is concerned, Japan's 'return to Asia' from the 1990s, when it began reasserting its Asian identity, contains echoes of World War II colonialism since Japanese tend to regard themselves as 'above' other Asian countries because of their superior technology and production capacity. This means that there is a continuous potential for serious misunderstandings between the Japanese and their Asian neighbours. Iwabuchi contextualizes...
Words: 5521 - Pages: 23
...The Issues of National Importance Based on Current Events 1. Nature And Animal Conservation Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves. Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other challenges are making conservation a struggle. 2. Tobacco It is well know that tobacco smoking kills millions. But it also exacerbates poverty, contributes to world hunger by diverting prime land away from food production, damages the environment and reduces economic productivity. Second hand smoking also affects other people’s lives. Despite many attempts to prevent it, a global tobacco control treaty became international law in 2005. However, challenges still remain as tobacco companies try to hit back, for example, by targeting developing nations, increasing advertising at children and women, attempting to undermine global treaties and influence trade talks, etc. 3. COP19—Warsaw Climate Conference Posted Monday, December 02, 2013. An overview of the Climate Change Conference (also known as COP 19), held in Warsaw, Poland in November 2013. Predictably and sadly, the same issues have resurfaced: West stalling on doing anything, lack of funding, disagreement on priorities, etc. Climate Change And Global Warming Introduction Last updated Monday, November 11, 2013. The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and...
Words: 2601 - Pages: 11
...[pic] Executive Summary The following report is an examination of the Far East Asian country of Japan. This report includes a look at the past, present, and future of Japan’s economic stance, cultural values, and business opportunities. Our group examined the relations between the Georgia-based insurance company AFLAC, and their Japanese counterparts. This report explains AFLAC’s strategic motives and successes they have found in doing business in Japan. It also identifies some of the weakness and threats that are in the near future if current practices are not altered. With over 70% of the revenue coming from the Japanese market, AFLAC should be concerned with any changes in economic forecasting for the country as it will be sure to have a direct effect on the future of AFLAC U.S. Japan has long been, and continues to be a major ally to the United States in terms of business relationships and cultural influences. Our report serves to outline some of the noteworthy things to consider when conducting business with the Japanese. Through an examination of AFLAC’s individual experiences in Japan, this report demonstrates the need for professional businesspersons to be aware of the countries cultural, personal, and business preferences. With the increase in the age gap of Japan’s population, in addition to the change of workforce demographics, it is becoming increasingly more important for U.S. businesses to consider expanding their products and/or services...
Words: 8401 - Pages: 34
...struggles in the past and even more recent years with economics. Many factors and issues that Japan faces have come into play, therefore affecting their economy. Over the past 70 some years, Japan has however developed into an advanced and rich economy. Japan has a mixed economy that is made up of both private ownership and governmental intervention, including the MITI’s guide of national resources to meet commercial pursuits and the use of keiretsus provide goods and services to end users (Luthans & Doh, 2015). The keiretsu uses a close interlocking structure between manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors. Another characteristic that has helped Japan since the post-World War II era is the guarantee of lifetime employment for a large part of the urban labor force. However, more recently we have seen Japan’s economy slow in growth and corrode because of global factors and the demographic crisis they are experiencing (CIA, 2016). The economy has tumbled into a recession four times since 2008, but did rebound because of government stimulus. The massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country in 2011 was hard hitting to Japan in many ways and rippled through the economy that year and the following year. The country saw an upward growth in 2013 due to the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe’s, “Three Arrows” economic reform. The Three Arrows included monetary easing, flexible fiscal policy, and a structural reform. In 2015, Abe revised his Three Arrows to set a goal of raising...
Words: 3643 - Pages: 15
...China Fragile Superpower This page intentionally left blank Fragile Superpower Susan L. Shirk China 2007 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2007 by Susan L. Shirk Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shirk, Susan L. China: fragile superpower / by Susan L. Shirk. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-530609-5 1. Nationalism—China. 2. China—Politics and government—2002– I. Title. JC311.S525 2007 320.951—dc22 2006027998 135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Sam, Lucy, and David Popkin This page intentionally left...
Words: 135807 - Pages: 544
...global production in important industries a. Automobile Industry i. Toyota b. Electronics Industry 3- Collateral impacts of the disaster a. Increase in electricity costs b. Explanation of why the yen is so strong. i. Supply Chain ii. Cheap Investment iii. GDP Impact iv. Export Economy v. Currency vi. Monetary Policy 4- Innovation in supply Chain and the Disaster in Japan a. The Top 10 Supply Chain Innovations from 1880-1990 (1) b. Supply Chain Innovation c. Supply Chain Innovation - Environment d. Long-Term Disarray after Japan Disaster Conclusions Bibliography Butterfly Effect of Japan´s Disaster on Global Production. 1- Japan Background a. The relevance of Japan in global production and supply chain Japan is an island nation located at the East of Asia, in the Pacific Ocean. Its currency of legal course is the YEN (¥). Japan has the tenth largest populations in the world with over 127million people and a GDP of USD$ 5,068,996 million by 2009. The main industries of Japan’s economy are manufacturing and technology, mainly in automobiles, transportation equipment, electronics and steel. Japan is a country with...
Words: 7626 - Pages: 31
