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East Asian Rivalry, Digital Media and Proximate Enemies in Japan

Koichi Iwabuchi 1

1호주 모나쉬 대학, 모나쉬 아시아연구소

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ABSTRACT

The substantial expansion of global capitalism in the post-Cold War context has accompanied the ascent of Asian economies and (commercialized) cultures as mostly exemplified by China and South Korea. In contrast, Japan’s experience has been marked by struggles with economic slump after the collapse of the so-called bubble economy. Nonetheless, Japans cultural power has been growing as Japanese media culture has been received favorably internationally. However, the advent of capitalism and the expansion of cultural markets have enhanced the production capacity of other Asian countries as well and South Korean counterparts have even surpassed those of Japan. Accordingly, we have observed the intensification of economic and cultural rivalry between Japan, China and South Korea and the rise of inter-Asian antagonism and the “othering,” joined by political contestation over historical issues. This paper discusses how the rise of anti-Chinese and Korean sentiments in Japan, which also generates hate-speech movements against resident Koreans, overwhelm, if not suppress, East Asian cultural exchange. This is considered within the social context of regional circulation and consumption of media cultures which has considerably advanced East Asian cultural exchange since mid-1990s. It will be argued that growing East Asian rivalry with the relative decline of Japan, the vague sense of socio-economic frustration, and the upsurge of digital media communication have been complicatedly conjoined to engender the attacks and search for proximate enemies as the object of animosity.

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