Fascinated by Japan

Once one starts listing the examples of Japanese culture infiltrating the United States, it's pretty hard to stop. One of the most-anticipated summer movies, Speed Racer, is based on a '60s anime. Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron and M. Night Shyamalan are all attached to anime-based projects.

Anime peppers cable channels like IFC, Spike and, of course, Cartoon Network, whose Toonami block features Japanese animation every Saturday night. Manga fills racks upon racks at Borders and Barnes and Noble. Japanese aesthetic has found its way into mainstream department stores, helped along by pop star Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers line of clothing and accessories, Le Sport Sac bags featuring Tokidoki designs (created by an Italian artist obsessed with Japan), and famed artist Takashi Murakami's bags for Louis Vuitton.

Cosplay and anime conventions don't just happen in hot spots like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, but all over the country. The nation's first J-Pop mall is in the works in San Francisco, created by Japanese film distributor Viz Pictures, and will feature a Japanese-only film theater, bookstore, café and fashion boutiques with the U.S.'s first boutique for Gothic Lolita fashion. Names once foreign to Americans-- Pokèmon, Tamagotchi and Totorro--have become beloved household brands.

Yet the import market for Japanese pop culture is still in its infancy, and oftentimes it's entrepreneurs who are bringing the best items here to sell to early-adopting arbiters of cool, whether they are 7-year-olds clamoring for Naruto or hip 20-somethings sporting Domo-kun t-shirts.

The proliferation of Japanese culture first struck Roland Kelts when he noticed a giant Pikachu floating merrily alongside Snoopy in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

One common denominator among businesses that successfully sell Japanese products in the United States is the careful curation of their product mix. Just because something is big in Japan doesn't mean it'll be a hit here.

"What is interesting about [businesses] that have been successful [selling Japanese products] is they're not going to Japan and seeing what's hot in Japan right now," Kelts says. "They're keeping a very firm grasp on what their American customers would like. So I think respecting the cultural differences is still important. It's not exactly localization. They're not changing the products to suit the American customer. They're just selectively offering Americans what might work here."

Back to Top Email Printer Friendly View

RATE THIS ARTICLE
Rate it:

Overall Rating: Good