The Global Context of Japan Outside Japan
-------------------------------------------------
The global context of Japan outside Japan – Harumi Befu
Since 1980s – globalization buzzword in Japanese media
Japan is said to be “globalizing” in all respects, but above all, in its economic sphere
While Japan’s globalization in the economic sense had been widely discussed
-> social and cultural globalization has not been a topic of much discussion so far
Globalization <-> Internalization
Internalization implies a relationship between 2 or more nations: a minimum of two nations can engage in “ international” relations, i.e. Nepal and Japan who engage in a cultural exchange program
Globalization implies simultaneous extension and expansion in all directions
Why do we need to examine Japan’s globalization? 2 reasons
1. Ethnocentrism of the received globalization theories of scholars such as Appadurai, Wallerstein, …
= their theories leave the strong impression that there is only one center = West
The West’s ethnocentrism is made clear when we examine the contents of what it claims to globalize, these theorist claim that globalization involves such palpably Western values such as humanism, human rights, equality, democracy and progress -> at least one other center of globalization: namely Japan, so we need to speak of multiple globalizations
2. Need of ethnographically based studies
Without data deriving from such a basis generalizations tend to be speculative and intuitive
-------------------------------------------------
To analyze Japan’s globalization -> a fourfold framework consisting of human dispersal, organizational transplantation, cultural diffusion and imagining of Japan.
1. Human dispersal
The dispersal of Japanese resulting from Japan’s economic globalization may be classified into long-term (or permanent) and short-term (or non-permanen) categories.
Nonpermanent sojourners
The most prominent in this category are business expatriates and their families? Japan’s
The global context of Japan outside Japan – Harumi Befu
Since 1980s – globalization buzzword in Japanese media
Japan is said to be “globalizing” in all respects, but above all, in its economic sphere
While Japan’s globalization in the economic sense had been widely discussed
-> social and cultural globalization has not been a topic of much discussion so far
Globalization <-> Internalization
Internalization implies a relationship between 2 or more nations: a minimum of two nations can engage in “ international” relations, i.e. Nepal and Japan who engage in a cultural exchange program
Globalization implies simultaneous extension and expansion in all directions
Why do we need to examine Japan’s globalization? 2 reasons
1. Ethnocentrism of the received globalization theories of scholars such as Appadurai, Wallerstein, …
= their theories leave the strong impression that there is only one center = West
The West’s ethnocentrism is made clear when we examine the contents of what it claims to globalize, these theorist claim that globalization involves such palpably Western values such as humanism, human rights, equality, democracy and progress -> at least one other center of globalization: namely Japan, so we need to speak of multiple globalizations
2. Need of ethnographically based studies
Without data deriving from such a basis generalizations tend to be speculative and intuitive
-------------------------------------------------
To analyze Japan’s globalization -> a fourfold framework consisting of human dispersal, organizational transplantation, cultural diffusion and imagining of Japan.
1. Human dispersal
The dispersal of Japanese resulting from Japan’s economic globalization may be classified into long-term (or permanent) and short-term (or non-permanen) categories.
Nonpermanent sojourners
The most prominent in this category are business expatriates and their families? Japan’s