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NEWS: Nikkei: 'Cool Japan' Initiatives Fail to Meet Expectations


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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:00 am Reply with quote
This is truly shocking news.
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Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:06 am Reply with quote
Typical business corruption. You just gotta love human greed. Rolling Eyes
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crosswithyou



Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Posts: 2892
Location: California
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:11 am Reply with quote
That's unfortunate.

I would be interested in hearing what some of the successful ventures were.
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Twage



Joined: 29 Jul 2003
Posts: 356
Location: North Bergen, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:02 am Reply with quote
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#854626



Joined: 04 Apr 2016
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:03 am Reply with quote
I'd because foreigners don't really get into the whole idols and maid cafe and tea stuff. They just want anime. Good anime without idols and maid cafe and tea. They wasted alot of money trying to spread japanese otaku culture, and foriengers. just sees it as a meme. They dont really invest in it or take it seriously. Samurai are pretty cool though...
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5296
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 12:23 pm Reply with quote
#854626 wrote:
I'd because foreigners don't really get into the whole idols and maid cafe and tea stuff. They just want anime. Good anime without idols and maid cafe and tea. They wasted alot of money trying to spread japanese otaku culture, and foriengers. just sees it as a meme. They dont really invest in it or take it seriously. Samurai are pretty cool though...
Now hold on a minute there, maybe no one in your country has any interest in maid cafes, but they have fount an audince in the UK.
https://www.facebook.com/mashumaronoyume/
https://www.facebook.com/JapaneseMaidsCafeLondon/
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Melicans



Joined: 01 Feb 2012
Posts: 620
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 2:10 pm Reply with quote
Not surprised this is the result if all that money was co-opted for personal businesses. If they invested smartly, and researched things that would actually return a net positive...
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 2:12 pm Reply with quote
So....they had expectations, then? Huh.
Maybe they should've told us what the heck they were, and we could've helped. Confused
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 4:20 pm Reply with quote
#854626 wrote:
I'd because foreigners don't really get into the whole idols and maid cafe and tea stuff. They just want anime. Good anime without idols and maid cafe and tea. They wasted alot of money trying to spread japanese otaku culture, and foriengers. just sees it as a meme. They dont really invest in it or take it seriously. Samurai are pretty cool though...


So when i go to an idol concert in the US and it is stuffed full and sold out, I can with evidence say that the have their place. Now marketing such a venture is another story.
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ninjamitsuki



Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Posts: 589
Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology)
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 4:42 pm Reply with quote
Cool Japan didn't really understand the reasons why anime and manga became popular abroad in the first place.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 5:11 pm Reply with quote
ninjamitsuki wrote:
Cool Japan didn't really understand the reasons why anime and manga became popular abroad in the first place.


The first thing they teach a salesman is, if you don't believe in your product, you won't be able to sell it with any sincere conviction.

Abe's government wanted to tell the outside world how "cool" anime was, but pin them down and ask them what anime they watched?
What self-respecting working mainstream Japanese adult, let alone a politician, would dare confess to such a career-crushing shame in public? (Except that you could say that you used to watch Doraemon as a kid, no harm in that, everyone did...Or, wait, didn't we have one politician a while back who said he liked Sgt. Frog?)

So the government just pretty much parroted the sales and exposure from the fact that EVERY OTHER COUNTRY liked Attack on Titan and Studio Ghibli....Laaame. Rolling Eyes
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 5:28 pm Reply with quote
A combination of minimal advertising, mismanagement, and misguided marketing may have contributed to Cool Japan's downfall. Plus, I think their stake in the tea business might have diverted their focus from the main objective of the project.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1823
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:14 pm Reply with quote
I would think that it would be more constructive/productive to provide assistance to companies and tourism organisations to provide clear information on their web sites in at least Japanese text (which Google translate could make a decent translation of) and have basic information in other target languages that was checked for accuracy by experts in those languages.

It's a bit difficult when a web site offers a graphic of kanji text and you don't read kanji.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:26 pm Reply with quote
Who could have guessed that throwing tax dollars at businesses with little to no oversight could result in *gasp* those tax dollars being a losing investment. Certainly there's nothing that the United States would know about that, right? Like the billions upon billions of tax dollars paid to telecom companies to improve the backbone and overall broadband performance that simply got pocketed while the businesses drove up rates as well.

Is there ever going to be a political force that will reason that accountability with tax payer money is paramount to the citizens' trust in the government? Probably not, but I guess it doesn't hurt to hope that someday it may happen.
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Compelled to Reply



Joined: 14 Jan 2017
Posts: 358
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:00 pm Reply with quote
Tea? Really? If I wanted some authentic Japanese tea, I'd buy ITO EN tea from Whole Foods Market. I know the government is supposed to give preference to smaller businesses, but frankly it would be better if the consortium plays as a mediator between all sorts of domestic companies and foreign distributors to major retailers. For an otaku example, the result could be like how you see imported figurines sold at Barnes & Noble.
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