Exporting Postwar Japan: Japanese Business and Culture Abroad - Sponsored by the Japanese Company Histories (Shashi) Interest Group

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel

Abstract

Most historical studies of Japan's phenomenal postwar economic growth have revolved around how government-driven developments in the archipelago rippled through world markets. However, our panel argues that much of the success of Japanese exports can be attributed to initial grassroots corporate efforts in the U.S. market. Diverging from typical economic histories, we use various postwar Japanese commercial exports to examine the networks, discourses, and methods behind the intersection of business and cultural construction processes that have made Japan resonate with American audiences.

William Chou shows how Japanese automobile manufacturers used technical and marketing collaboration with U.S. partners to create images and responses to the Japanese "small" car in the American market. Alisa Freedman demonstrates how misrepresentations of Japan on American television comedies have perpetuated national stereotypes while verifying Japan’s international influence. Robert Hegwood highlights the role of Japanese Americans in shaping cultural images of Japan and in helping Japanese food corporations Kikkoman and Aji-no-moto re-establish a presence in the American market. Yoshiko Nakano explores how Japan Airlines inaugurated its international service with Orientalist images created in conjunction with American market researchers and advertising firms. Discussant Sayuri Shimizu contributes her expertise on U.S.-Japanese cultural and business relations. Through examination of the business models these case studies represent, our panel re-evaluates the history of Japanese growth, peers into the dynamics behind the evolving image of postwar Japan abroad, and contributes to discussions of Japan's current soft power projects.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing

Session Organizer

• William Chou, Ohio State University

Chair

• Sayuri Guthrie Shimizu, Rice University

Individual Presentations

• Orientalism in the Sky: Japan Airlines’ Kimono-Branding in the 1950s - Yoshiko Nakano, University of Hong Kong

• A Natural Affinity for Shōyu: Japanese Americans and Food Exports to the United States, 1945-1965 - Robert Hegwood, University of Pennsylvania

• Constructing the Transpacific Appeal of the Japanese Small Car: U.S.-Japan Exchange, Marketing, and Cultural Engagement, 1957-1982 - William Chou, Ohio State University

• TV Japan: Screaming Samurai Join Anime Clubs in the Land of the Lost - Alisa Freedman, University of Oregon

Discussant

• Sayuri Guthrie Shimizu, Rice University