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NEWS: Prime Minister Asō: Anime, Manga Are Part of Japan's Recovery

Take it from Cali, Aso-san. Focusing only on entertainment jobs is a dead-end.

Quote:

As he did when he was foreign minister, Asō has used anime as an example of cultural exchange in South Korea and Russia. However, Studio Ghibli co-founder and director Hayao Miyazaki has criticized Asō's public emphasis on his manga reading and downplayed the use of Japanese entertainment to promote the country and to raise its youth

That made me lol. Its like a misguided otaku has risen to power and started raving, "Hey its awsome we will use the power of love and anime and manga to SAVE OUR COUNTRY!", all shounen burning passion style.
And Miyazaki is all, "Woah, calm down there, fanboy"

Well i have no idea why anyone would listen to a weirdo like Miyazaki on Politics... the guy lives in a box in the 1940's

If the PM is serious about expanding Japan's anime profits, he should make sure that creating new seasons of Full Metal Panic becomes a national priority.

muppsatan wrote:

Well i have no idea why anyone would listen to a weirdo like Miyazaki on Politics... the guy lives in a box in the 1940's

To be honest, I do think he has a point on the use of entertainment and popular culture to promote a country. For argument's sake, if someone suggested using Neighbours to promote Australia internationally, I'd be protesting pretty strongly.

muppsatan wrote:

Well i have no idea why anyone would listen to a weirdo like Miyazaki on Politics... the guy lives in a box in the 1940's

To be honest, I do think he has a point on the use of entertainment and popular culture to promote a country. For argument's sake, if someone suggested using Neighbours to promote Australia internationally, I'd be protesting pretty strongly.

GATSU wrote:

Take it from Cali, Aso-san. Focusing only on entertainment jobs is a dead-end.

Oh yes, clearly that's only what California focuses on. That's why the entire entertainment and leisure industry had 182,000 jobs out of 32,100,000 people living in CA (~.6% of the population).

Never mind the fact that it produces almost 13.2% of the nation's agriculture value in dollars (About twice that of second place, Texas @ 6.8%). I work in the agriculture industry in California, and it gets very annoying when traveling to other states with people laughing and asking if there are really farms in California and if we see movie stars every day.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GQRTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=E9700A1&-searchtype=1&-geo_id=04000US06&-_lang=en
http://stuffaboutstates.com/agriculture/index.html

In a Thursday evening press conference, Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō promised to add 4 million jobs in his country by 2020, with 500,000 coming from the country's so-called "soft power" in anime, manga, and similar areas of culture.

in 1990 there were almost six people of working age for each retiree, but by 2025 that number will have fallen almost to two.

In the years after World War II, about half of Japan's economic effort was agricultural. Today the sector has shrunk to just 1%.

As Japan's economy grew in the second half of the last century, many farmers found they could make more by selling their land for use in industry or for housing.

Today, land is expensive everywhere.

He also vowed that the country's real gross domestic product will increase by 120 trillion yen (US$1.2 trillion) by 2020. According to Asō, the market for Japan's cultural exports could worth 20 to 30 trillion yen (US$200-300 billion) if business opportunities are exploited. Japan's cultural exports is one of the three pillars upon which Asō is relying for economic growth; the other two are a 'low-carbon revolution" and a "society of health and longevity."

Oh yes, clearly that's only what California focuses on. That's why the entire entertainment and leisure industry had 182,000 jobs out of 32,100,000 people living in CA (~.6% of the population).

Dom: Though at least Japan hasn't out-sourced its manufacturing like us yet.

agr964 wrote:

GATSU wrote: Take it from Cali, Aso-san. Focusing only on entertainment jobs is a dead-end. Oh yes, clearly that's only what California focuses on. That's why the entire entertainment and leisure industry had 182,000 jobs out of 32,100,000 people living in CA (~.6% of the population). Never mind the fact that it produces almost 13.2% of the nation's agriculture value in dollars (About twice that of second place, Texas @ 6.8%). I work in the agriculture industry in California, and it gets very annoying when traveling to other states with people laughing and asking if there are really farms in California and if we see movie stars every day. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GQRTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=E9700A1&-searchtype=1&-geo_id=04000US06&-_lang=en http://stuffaboutstates.com/agriculture/index.html

But that's not the case for Japan. For you see according to BBC News, Japan suffers from food crisis due to high-population density in urban district, an ageing population with impending shortage on workforce in order to feed themselves, poor eating habits that place import food in high-demands while wasting away local food products, a ridiculously low economic development on agriculture sector due to over-development in urban industry during the last economic boom, and an unsustainable food choice on tuna which leads to illegal tuna catching. Japan can only produce 39% of the food it needs to feed its people, while the rest had to rely on import.

Now let's once again look at what Prime Minister Tarō Asō has in store:

Quote:

In a Thursday evening press conference, Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō promised to add 4 million jobs in his country by 2020, with 500,000 coming from the country's so-called "soft power" in anime, manga, and similar areas of culture.

None of them has any immediate effect on the current Japanese food crisis: the new jobs won't help the nation to generate more incomes in order to import more food, when the nation's real problem is an ageing population with impending shortage on workforce:

Quote:

in 1990 there were almost six people of working age for each retiree, but by 2025 that number will have fallen almost to two.

Entertainment industry based on urban culture won't help the Japanese to produce more food, when the nation's agriculture sector got pummeled due to over-development in urban industry during the last economic boom:

Quote:

In the years after World War II, about half of Japan's economic effort was agricultural. Today the sector has shrunk to just 1%.

Quote:

As Japan's economy grew in the second half of the last century, many farmers found they could make more by selling their land for use in industry or for housing. Today, land is expensive everywhere.

None of his other stuffs makes much sense at this point either:

Quote:

He also vowed that the country's real gross domestic product will increase by 120 trillion yen (US$1.2 trillion) by 2020. According to Asō, the market for Japan's cultural exports could worth 20 to 30 trillion yen (US$200-300 billion) if business opportunities are exploited. Japan's cultural exports is one of the three pillars upon which Asō is relying for economic growth; the other two are a 'low-carbon revolution" and a "society of health and longevity."

An nationwide entertainment(low-carbon emitting industry) industrial revolution that exploits(exports) a 400 years old Japanese culture as a "society of health and longevity", but in reality Japanese society is suffering from an immediate food crisis due to its failed educational and social systems of elitism and group-mind mentality at the core of its culture? What Asō needs is a lesson in life, in business, and in entertainment industry. Before he single-handily responsible of starving his people as the Prime Minister of Japan.

People don't need entertainment in order to survive, they need food. In the life of business, advertising venues are disposable incomes. And today's entertainment industry is just one big advertising campaign that made itself into a business by promoting ideas. With that said, what the Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō really suggesting is to seriously investing the Japanese economic future on a nonessential entertainment industry, by wasting the nation's financial resources on an advertising campaign, that promotes the Japanese society that's starving, aging and weakening, due to failed Japanese educational and social systems of elitism and group-mind mentality at the core of the Japanese culture.

Even if they did focus more on agriculture they still have a tiny amount of arable land ( 11.64% of their land or appx 43,000 sq km ,appx 1/3 of a square meter per person; compare this to the US having appx 5 sq meters per person) that is increasingly being sold off to developers. Gotta wonder if they really could support their own food supply. I'd guess they'd still be importing a significant amount of food >.>

agr:
I'm actually talking about how our entire "industry" revolves around selling the state to the rest of the world. All it's led to are a bunch of freeloading losers who can't produce shit for the local economy, but who can pile up a ton of debts the ones who can produce anything have to pay for in their place. And if we cared that much about agriculture, we'd put up a fight against cloned food and salmonella-tainted spinach and pistachios. But as it is, all we're doing is dumping most of it on Third World countries, so they aren't allowed to "compete" the way China did with our garment industries.