<ARTICLES>An Imperative Cultural Trend?: International Film Co-production Policy in Japan

Abstract

In this article, I investigate the process of agenda building and implementation of the Japanese film policy which was concomitant with the Japanese cultural policy of ‘Cool Japan.’ This article is composed of three major analyses: 1) a review of the sociological literature and critiques on cultural industries and policy; 2) the discourse regarding the Cool Japan strategy and film policy in Japan; and 3) the incentive for international film co-production and the globalization of cultural policy in East Asia. First, this article explores the policymaking process associated with the Cool Japan strategy and Japanese film policy by analyzing the archival documents of the various governmental institutes in Japan. The Cool Japan policy has been built up as a national and cultural agenda by the government (an agenda-building effect) in the wake of globalization in East Asia. The promotion of the state of Japan is the main goal of this strategy, but the state does not always consider the current circumstances and problems of the Japanese film industry. The incentive for international film coproduction was created as the state was influenced by neighboring nations, even though the co-production strategy was initially exploited by a handful of directors who already had a track record of co-productions. I compare the cultural and film policies of South Korea and PRC with those of Japan by charting their interplay and examining their implications for global trends in the film industry. However, policy theory and discourse cannot be understood without also examining the industry situation itself. It is necessary to investigate the incentive provided for international film co-production in tandem with the Cool Japan strategy, in the name of which the government has committed several grave blunders. Thus, while the incentive for international film coproduction in Japan is policy-driven, at the same time it is also intertwined with media globalization in the competitive circumambience. Eventually, the question raised here must be: is it an imperative cultural trend or a commercial necessity for the Japanese film industry?