Resilient Borders and Cultural Diversity: Internationalism, Brand Nationalism, and Multiculturalism in Japan

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The acceleration of media culture globalization processes cross-fertilization and peoples exchange beyond the confinement of national borders, but not all of them lead to substantial transformations of national identity or foster cosmopolitan outlook in terms of openness, togetherness and dialogue within and beyond the national borders. Whilst national borders continue to become more and more porous, the measures of border control are constantly reformulated to tame disordered flows and tightly re-demarcate the bordersmaterially, physically, symbolically and imaginatively. Border crossing does not necessarily bring about the transgression of borders. Transgression of borders requires one to fundamentally question how borders in the existing form have been socio-historically constructed and also seek to displace their exclusionary power that unevenly divide us and them and here and there. This book considers how media culture and the management of peoples border crossing movement combine with Japan's cultural diversity to institute the creation of national cultural borders in Japanese millennials. Critical analysis of this development is a pressing matter if we are to seriously consider how to make Japans national cultural borders more inclusive and dialogic.

Reviews

Iwabuchi's is the only book by a Japanese author to emphasize the sociological link between cultural borders and ethnic minority groups in Japan, especially the zainichi. . . .Iwabuchi distinguishes himself from other mainstream cultural pundits in Japan by openly underscoring how national borders are reinforcing invisible ones within Japan. * Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review *
The sharp analysis in Resilient Borders and Cultural Diversity offers rich insight into the local effects of the globalization of Japan's media culture. This primarily cultural theory text is a rare gem that uncovers how practices inherent in globalization should lead us to action. The book delivers a sophisticated theoretical engagement with key questions in the study of globalization, cultural studies, and Asian studies. In addition, Iwabuchi's contributions to foreign policy debates, concerns with multiculturalism in Japan, and the broader literature on resident Koreans should not be overlooked. The author's fresh perspective on these issues urges further study on similar processes in other Asian countries. * The Journal of Japanese Studies *
We live in an age of dizzying cultural globalization, and yet paradoxically, wherever we look, nationalism seems to be on the rise. In this book, Koichi Iwabuchi gives a wonderfully nuanced and persuasive analysis of key cultural and political forces behind the paradox. He explores the complex ways in which the consumer branding of the nation by governments and media enterprises re-produces nation-consciousness in new forms. This important and illuminating work should be read by anyone seeking to understand cultural interactions and tensions between Japan and its neighbors today. -- Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Australian National University
Koichi Iwabuchis new book, Resilient Borders, confirms his reputation as a keenly astute analyst and critic of contemporary Japanese culture as it struggles to come to terms with the complex realities of cultural diversity, transnational flows and globalization. -- Ien Ang, Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies, University of Western Sydney
Koichi Iwabuchi is one of our most important culture media theorists, and this book is an incisive dissection and powerful critique of Japans efforts to police and protect its national boundaries in an era of relentless global cultural flows. The old Japan, Inc. is long gone, but a new Japan, Inc. has emerged in the 21st century as a national administration of soft cultural power instead of raw manufacturing power. Iwabuchi shows how the banal cuteness of character goods, J-Pop, anime, and other cultural products emanating from Japan disguises a potent brand nationalism that suppresses a genuine accounting for the multicultural and the marginal within Japanese society and avoids a serious engagement with its past and present East Asian neighbors. -- William W. Kelly, Yale University

Author Bio

Koichi Iwabuchi is professor of media and cultural studies at Monash University and director of the Monash Asia Institute.