Week 3 Blog - Winnie Chen

As though being in a war-torn state allows for the remaking and restructuring of something old to new, the allies, enemies, and destruction created by World War II especially gave Japan new opportunities to rebrand and reorganize itself internally and externally. According to Tang Siew Man’s article “Japan’s Grand Strategic Shift from Yoshida to Koizumi: Reflections on Japan’s Strategic Focus in the 21^st Century”, Japan’s national aesthetic are the changes made to fit contemporary times under the Koizumi Doctrine in response to the Yoshida Doctrine. When one thinks about national aesthetics, it is usually an item or industry that promotes the country’s status or popularity. However, coming from war and moving onto modern times, Japan was able to create its national aesthetic by implementing the Koizumi Doctrine, which committed to “economic reform at home and the inescapable phenomenon of economic interdependence” (Man 126). In order to continue its shift towards modern national change, Japan needed to work and act together internally and internationally, which influenced Japan’s quest for economical and technological structural power. As a result of this change to Japan’s structural environment, Japan has achieved high success in various industries outside of policy and law, such as textiles and fashion, as explained by Chantel Fernadez’s “How American Style Fueled Postwar Youth Fashion in Japan”. However, despite Japan’s success in modern, transitional change, perhaps Japan can achieve maximum “national aesthetic” status by integrating and gathering support from Japanese citizens during the process of its change. As of now, Japan’s national aesthetic is turned towards robotic technology, which gears away from the policies of the Koizumi Doctrine.

Question: What is Japan’s motive in changing its modern national aesthetic for the second time?

Works Cited:

Man, Tang Siew. "Japan’s Grand Strategic Shift from Yoshida to Koizumi: Reflections on Japan’s Strategic Focus in the 21st Century."Akademika 70 (2007): 117-36. Print.

Image: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02101/japan-robot_2101387b.jpg