Japan
could be seen to be the exception. (例外 - reigai) Although practically
US colony and despite the cultural magpie tendancies of Japan, the
language barrier and distance from the rest of the Western world sets
it firmly just another Westernized Asian country. In the 80's there was
Internationalization (国際化 -こくさいか - kokusaika) though this buzzword
(りゅうこうご) has fast faded in popularity, efforts are still made, the most
recent being the "Yokoso Japan" campaign.
I had initially seen the output of this campaign 2 years ago with
Prime Minister Koizumi asking Western inhabits to open themselves to
Japan ; "Come on holiday...And do a bit of business". Ironic
really as Japan does the opposite to the western world (Well "had" for
200 years in the Tokugawa era, known as 鎖国 - さこく - sakoku period; with
vague sentiments as such present in society today.
The posters present a naivety and cuteness. The lost foreign
traveler, the mixed couple being photographed, again another lost
gaijin,etc having directions explained. These posters present the
continued concept that foreigners couldn't possibly know their way
around or speak the language, a UK equivalent if immigrants hadn't come
in the 1950's : A Ben Sherman wearing Englishman pointing
enthusiastically at a bus stop making driving motions to a turban
wearing Rastafarian.
"You too can say welcome" goes the motto, speaking to Japans people
encouraging acceptance, friendliness and a welcoming attitude in these
short weeks, but shouldn't those qualities be a natural reaction to
visitors and not a prompted pavlovian response?
