Historical Framework

This site was designed with the purpose of investigating cultural relations between the U.S. and Japan. Our goal was toexplore a diverse set of cultural practices that evidenced themselves in Japanese culture in hopes of finding a commonality that would help us prove our thesis. It is our belief that since all our case studies are focusing on different aspects of the same culture they must inherently be related. In this way we hoped to get a richer understanding of the culture as a whole. By looking at various aspects of the culture and putting together their inter-relatedness we formed a broad picture of a culture that was deeper than any of us had anticipated. This method allowed us to gain a depth of understanding no book or article could have conveyed.

In order to understand the process of cultural exchange between Japan and the United States, one must first examine their historical interaction in general areas of importance such as economics, politics, technology, the media, and gender relations. The time period we chose to focus on, 1932 through 1999, covers the events that led to Japan's involvement with the United States during and after World War II, the consequences of the American Occupation of Japan in the two decades following the war, and the development of today's current state of interaction.

Every element that we researched does indeed relate in some way to every other element have studied. Each part of the culture we researched influenced all the other parts that were investigated. After this discovery we became confident that we had finally gained a sufficient understanding of this foreign culture to begin drawing parallels between it and our own culture. The amount of parallels that existed between each example was staggering. As our group delved deeper into the flow of cultural material between Japan and the US, we began to see a common factor. In the process of cultural exchange between the two countries, both the sender and recipient of a particular cultural element will cause changes in the product, idea, and/or vehicle of the element because of differing perceptions and traditions in each country. These changes in turn may be reflected back to the original culture and influence the way the product is used, produced, or perceived, resulting in an everchanging flow of exchange.

Anime:
Anime, the genre of film that includes all Japanese animated series and movies, is an ideal subject in which to study cultural interaction between Japan and the United States. Inspired by American animation, created by Japanese animators, anime is an ever-changing medium that is heavily influenced by changes in both American and Japanese culture.

Baseball:
Although the rulebooks of Japanese and American baseball may appear the same, the underlying cultural differences between the two countries lead the spirit of the games in different directions. As Japanese baseball players play in America and American baseball players play in Japan, the styles and mentality of the games can change.

Food:
The influence of Japanese food in America can be seen in the different ingredients, dishes, and restaurants that have been popularized in America. However, as Japanese food is experienced in America it loses its sence of harmony, which is a significant aspect of the Japanese meal as a whole.

Godzilla:
Godzilla illustrates a particularly specific version of cultural diffusion between Japan and America; that of the evolution of an idea which has become part of both cultures and which was also directly caused by viciously oppositional events of the two cultures, World War II and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As living fiction, Godzilla embodies the fears, hopes and concerns of the two cultures in a constantly changing manner throughout the time period.

The Pill:
The ban on the Birth Control Pill in Japan, and its recent legalization, are effective examples of Japanese-American cultural dialogue and the factors working for and against it. Whereas the other examples within this site have illustrated a facile and often encouraged diffusion, the Birth Control Pill illustrates how cultural diffusion can be challenged and resisted -- and will still, in some form or another, always take place.

Video Games:
The relation between the Japanese and American video game cultures directly mirrors the relations between Japanese and American cultures as a whole. It is a complex system of cultural interaction and evolution, very few games can be found without some influence from Japan or America.

Culture is not merely represented by the elements that we most associate with it, such as music or art, but is also a reflection of such underlying social structures as economics, politics, media relations, technology, and gender roles. We have included historical overviews of different facets of Japanese history in order to better understand the underlying factors involved in the exchange.