In a search on Google, the key words Cool Japan brought up 10,900,000 entries. This is no small topic!
On November 15, I gave a Keynote speech at Ohtemae University in Osaka open to the public, on the topic Cool Japan from the Eyes of a Renaissance Samurai. The main message of my talk was that Japanese people themselves can learn by seeing what is cool in their own culture from the eyes of non-native Japanese, as well as inspire younger generation Japanese to appreciate and keep alive the better parts of that culture.
Cool Japan now has a huge following in countries ranging from Europe to the Americas to Australia and Asia. It centers on popular culture, such as Anime, Manga, and Samurai, but also includes elements of Japanese lifestyle and culture, such as Sushi, music, and youth fashion.
Having spent more that 3-1/2 decades, a full generation, deeply involved in Japanese culture, I have experienced Cool Japan from the inside, as well as witnessed many changes, for better and for worse since I first arrived in Japan in the summer of 1972.
- While Japanese culture has a large following overseas, what gets published or presented in English is only the tip of the iceberg, a tiny fraction of what really is cool about Japan.
- The one group who probably appreciates Cool Japan the least is the Japanese themselves, particularly the younger generation, whose lifestyle and values are increasingly facing West not East.
- The elements of Cool Japan are surprisingly accessible if you have the right vehicle and mindset, and can be enjoyed by people of any nationality. Moreover, my mission is to provide the vehicle, the map, the navigation, and the tour to and from Cool Japan.
I introduced elements of Aikido, Nanba movement, and Calligraphy which contain the traditional essence, but are perfectly adapted to modern and global culture. To me what is particularly cool is the connection between Jazz and Calligraphy, something noticed as early as 1956, when Miles Davis released the album Kind of Blue, a masterpiece of improvisation, in which every song on the album was recorded in one take. On the jacket cover, Bill Evans writes about Japanese painting and calligraphy as a supreme art of improvisation. Kind of Blue
There are also wonderful elements of traditional culture which are fast fading from the scene. I read a passage from In Praise of Shadows (1933), an essay on aesthetics by 20th Century novelist Tanizaki Junichiro.
Tanizaki, who struggled with the juxtaposition of Western Culture on traditional Japanese culture, wrote that while Western paper had utilitarian value, it completely lacked aesthetic value. Western paper had a coated finish that reflected light, giving a cold and lifeless impression, whereas traditional handmade Japanese and Chinese paper had a soft skin that absorbed light, and a soft white appearance that calmed the mind, like freshly fallen snow. Western eating utensils too had a cold and shiny appearance, being made of glass, polished silver or nickel, whereas Japanese prefered to eat with wooden chopsticks and earthen-fire pottery. What is particularly interesting about this is the strong emphasis on aesthetics in daily life, and the sensuality of daily impressions.
That is a cool message for anyone in today's world of high-speed information and virtual experience.
I also introduced the eLearning program at Ohtemae University, for which I am developing curriculum content and will be conducting courses on Japanology, Nanba, Guerrilla Marketing, Powerful Presentations, and other topics. Through this program, participants in any country in the world will be able to attend online videocast classes, both live and recorded.
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