How was Japan viewed in the 1980s?
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 28, 2024, 05:12:31 AM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  General Discussion
  History (Moderator: Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee)
  How was Japan viewed in the 1980s?
« previous next »
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: How was Japan viewed in the 1980s?  (Read 2197 times)
ηєω ƒяσηтιєя
New Frontier
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 9,229
United States


Political Matrix
E: -5.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« on: February 25, 2021, 02:51:53 PM »
« edited: February 25, 2021, 06:50:34 PM by ηєω ƒяσηтιєя »

Japan was it's peak economically in the '80s. What was the general consensus about Japan back then?

It would be great to hear from those of you who were around back then to share your memories and thoughts.
Logged
vitoNova
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 3,267
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2021, 03:09:47 PM »

70s = non-factor.

80s = The Enemy.   Just watch Rising Sun or Black Rain.

Then the Lost Decades happened, and white people finally felt safe from the yellow menace. 

Logged
Statilius the Epicurean
Thersites
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,596
United Kingdom


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2021, 04:01:33 PM »

People were seriously predicting that Japan was going to take over the world.

An interesting cultural document of this time is the 1991 (released just before the Lost Decade) movie Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, where Godzilla is shown helping the Imperial Japanese Army and killing American soldiers during the Pacific War, and the plot of the movie is aliens going back in time to prevent Japan from becoming the global economic superpower that it is in the future.
Logged
FEMA Camp Administrator
Cathcon
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 27,284
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2021, 04:21:18 PM »

People were seriously predicting that Japan was going to take over the world.

An interesting cultural document of this time is the 1991 (released just before the Lost Decade) movie Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, where Godzilla is shown helping the Imperial Japanese Army and killing American soldiers during the Pacific War, and the plot of the movie is aliens going back in time to prevent Japan from becoming the global economic superpower that it is in the future.


In a similar vein, you can see cartoons either produced in the late 80s or derivative of works from that era portray Japan as (essentially) a superpower--pivotal figure in the capitalist bloc, target of left-wing terror factions, even Japanese veterans from wars in South America!
Logged
Cassius
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 4,591


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2021, 05:07:21 PM »

Debt of Honor is a vintage example of 80’s/90’s Japanophobia in literature, although it was only published in ‘94 so it actually missed the boat to some extent given that Japan’s economic boom had turned to bust at that point (to be fair a Japanese economic crisis was a key plot point in the novel, albeit one caused by American trade restrictions as opposed to an economic bubble).

Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun touches on a lot of similar themes to Debt of Honor, although in a more sophisticated fashion, and both it and Jurassic Park make a lot of hay out of the stereotype of the Japanese as having oceans of money to throw at dubious projects. Of course that wasn’t actually too far off the mark given what Japanese banks and investors were doing in the late 80s.

I do sometimes wonder whether we’ll one day look back on the current hysteria over China in much the same way as we look back on 80s Japanophobia (which isn’t to say there aren’t differences).
Logged
World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
Moderators
Atlas Superstar
*****
Posts: 34,248


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2021, 05:15:45 PM »

It should be noted that in addition to the Japanophobia in the dominant culture this is also when the anime and video game fandom subcultures started that went on to drive Japanophilia in the late 90s and 2000s.

There's at least one very famous (among Asian-Americans) hate crime that was driven by Japan-will-take-over-the-world hysteria.
Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,802


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2021, 05:28:56 PM »

30s= Germany is going to takeover the world
60s= USSR is going to takeover the world
80s= Japan is going to takeover the world
Logged
TDAS04
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 23,463
Bhutan


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2021, 06:13:28 PM »

You would think that 1980s Americans would at least be grateful to those who gave us video games.
Logged
If my soul was made of stone
discovolante
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 4,261
United States


Political Matrix
E: -8.13, S: -5.57

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2021, 06:19:49 PM »

You would think that 1980s Americans would at least be grateful to those who gave us video games.

Given that the Japanese revitalized the American video game market after American companies blew all their goodwill making countless nearly-identical consoles and ridiculous abominations like E.T., Custer's Revenge, and the Atari 2600 adaptation of Pac-Man, I imagine there was a fair bit of resentment there just as there was over the automotive industry.
Logged
ηєω ƒяσηтιєя
New Frontier
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 9,229
United States


Political Matrix
E: -5.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2021, 06:50:16 PM »

Japan's PM during most of the '80s (Nakasone) was buddy-buddy with Ronald Reagan. Nakasone made a racist remark in 1986 and had to apologize.

I already knew some info about Japan during the '80s but it's interesting to learn even more. Apparently, in the '80s, the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was worth more than all of California. That's insane.
Logged
Battista Minola 1616
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 11,279
Vatican City State


Political Matrix
E: -5.55, S: -1.57

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2021, 07:23:48 PM »

You would think that 1980s Americans would at least be grateful to those who gave us video games.

Given that the Japanese revitalized the American video game market after American companies blew all their goodwill making countless nearly-identical consoles and ridiculous abominations like E.T., Custer's Revenge, and the Atari 2600 adaptation of Pac-Man, I imagine there was a fair bit of resentment there just as there was over the automotive industry.

Not only did they make such ridiculous abominations, but after realizing those didn't sell at all, they had the galaxy brain idea to bury the physical copies in an Alamogordo dump.
Logged
If my soul was made of stone
discovolante
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 4,261
United States


Political Matrix
E: -8.13, S: -5.57

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2021, 07:28:14 PM »

You would think that 1980s Americans would at least be grateful to those who gave us video games.

Given that the Japanese revitalized the American video game market after American companies blew all their goodwill making countless nearly-identical consoles and ridiculous abominations like E.T., Custer's Revenge, and the Atari 2600 adaptation of Pac-Man, I imagine there was a fair bit of resentment there just as there was over the automotive industry.

Not only did they make such ridiculous abominations, but after realizing those didn't sell at all, they had the galaxy brain idea to bury the physical copies in an Alamogordo dump.

The reputation of video games in the American market was so tarnished by the events of 1983 that Nintendo made the American NES look like a VCR and invented R.O.B. to go with it so that it wouldn't seem like a video game, the sort of thing that became associated with market bubbles and New Mexico dumps in the public consciousness.
Logged
Diabolical Materialism
SlamDunk
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,642


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2021, 06:18:56 PM »

30s= Germany is going to takeover the world
60s= USSR is going to takeover the world
80s= Japan is going to takeover the world
2020s= China is going to takeover the world
Logged
ηєω ƒяσηтιєя
New Frontier
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 9,229
United States


Political Matrix
E: -5.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2021, 08:12:37 PM »

30s= Germany is going to takeover the world
60s= USSR is going to takeover the world
80s= Japan is going to takeover the world
2020s= China is going to takeover the world
Well, China is trying to takeover the world.

Anyways, this thread is about 1980s Japan NOT current day China.
Logged
Obama-Biden Democrat
Zyzz
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,828


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2021, 11:07:55 PM »

By the 80's, a lot of people were horrified of Japan taking over the world economically. Superior Japanese robotics, management and work ethic was supposed to lead Japan to being the #1 great power, ahead of the US and USSR. Japanese GDP growth rates were through the roof the whole decade.



Logged
Beet
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 28,802


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2021, 01:05:56 AM »



From the Publisher's Weekly (1991):

"As the U.S. converts its global military supremacy into economic leverage, America and a rearmed Japan will be set on a collision course; the rivalry between them could well spill over into a "hot war," the authors maintain. Friedman, a political science professor at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, and freelance writer LeBard sometimes overstate their thesis, yet their scenario is plausible and is buttressed by an appraisal of the two nations' conflicting imperial ambitions from the 1890s to the present."

https://www.amazon.com/Coming-War-Japan-George-Friedman/dp/0312058365
Logged
Diabolical Materialism
SlamDunk
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,642


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2021, 01:30:10 PM »

30s= Germany is going to takeover the world
60s= USSR is going to takeover the world
80s= Japan is going to takeover the world
2020s= China is going to takeover the world
Well, China is trying to takeover the world.

Anyways, this thread is about 1980s Japan NOT current day China.
1930s Germany was certainly trying to takeover the world, or at least a good chunk of it. My point is that I think hysteria about modern day China will be seen the same way that hysteria about 1980s Japan is seen today.
Logged
Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee
North Carolina Yankee
Moderator
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 54,123
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2021, 11:41:55 PM »

30s= Germany is going to takeover the world
60s= USSR is going to takeover the world
80s= Japan is going to takeover the world
2020s= China is going to takeover the world
Well, China is trying to takeover the world.

Anyways, this thread is about 1980s Japan NOT current day China.
1930s Germany was certainly trying to takeover the world, or at least a good chunk of it. My point is that I think hysteria about modern day China will be seen the same way that hysteria about 1980s Japan is seen today.

The big difference though is that China has more ability to sustain its growth because it has a much larger population, whereas ultimately, Japan hit a brick wall economically. People have talked about China doing the same but until it does, as long as it is larger economically, it will increasingly be the rival of the United States and thus fear of China will last as long as that dynamic does.
Logged
Statilius the Epicurean
Thersites
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,596
United Kingdom


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #18 on: February 28, 2021, 01:22:30 PM »

Also China is explicitly revanchist and totalitarian. 
Logged
FEMA Camp Administrator
Cathcon
Atlas Star
*****
Posts: 27,284
United States


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2021, 05:15:30 PM »

Also China is explicitly revanchist and totalitarian. 

And in this sense it couldn't ever really be comparable to a (democratic) Japan that is still constitutionally-prohibited from having a military that is anything more than defensive.
Logged
ηєω ƒяσηтιєя
New Frontier
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 9,229
United States


Political Matrix
E: -5.42, S: -1.22

Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #20 on: February 28, 2021, 11:00:43 PM »

70s = non-factor.

80s = The Enemy.   Just watch Rising Sun or Black Rain.

Then the Lost Decades happened, and white people finally felt safe from the yellow menace. 
Rising Sun was released in 1993 - so not the '80s.

However, there was still some residual fear of the Japanese - economically wise - in the early '90s.
Logged
Diabolical Materialism
SlamDunk
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,642


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2021, 01:12:08 AM »

30s= Germany is going to takeover the world
60s= USSR is going to takeover the world
80s= Japan is going to takeover the world
2020s= China is going to takeover the world
Well, China is trying to takeover the world.

Anyways, this thread is about 1980s Japan NOT current day China.
1930s Germany was certainly trying to takeover the world, or at least a good chunk of it. My point is that I think hysteria about modern day China will be seen the same way that hysteria about 1980s Japan is seen today.

The big difference though is that China has more ability to sustain its growth because it has a much larger population, whereas ultimately, Japan hit a brick wall economically. People have talked about China doing the same but until it does, as long as it is larger economically, it will increasingly be the rival of the United States and thus fear of China will last as long as that dynamic does.
That's fair. Ultimately I'm pretty bearish on China's long term prospects. I don't think their current growth in influence is sustainable and will come crashing down in the near future.
Logged
Meclazine for Israel
Meclazine
Atlas Icon
*****
Posts: 13,651
Australia


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2021, 07:11:46 AM »

My primary school in country Queensland had a sister school with Japan in the 80's.

All good if I get to go to Japan, but no such luck. I got the stiff end of that stick.

We did have some teachers and students from Japan come to our school one day after three years of this partnership. We sang some stupid Australian colloquial songs and these Japanese people just nodded a lot smiling with genuine anxiety about what they should be doing

Nervous affair all round because they didn't say anything.

I like Japan a lot.
Logged
TheElectoralBoobyPrize
Jr. Member
***
Posts: 1,519


Show only this user's posts in this thread
« Reply #23 on: March 03, 2021, 11:18:37 AM »

All you have to do is watch the beginning of Back to the Future II for the answer to this question.
Logged
Pages: [1]  
« previous next »
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.058 seconds with 12 queries.