Will the world go hello kitty?

Japan’s way of coping with disruption is a blueprint for other societies

There is a popular internet trope that Japan lives in the future. From the Shinkansen to intelligent AI-enabled hospitals, in many aspects Japan indeed feels futuristic. But what if Japan is more? A mirror to the rest of the world, showing what awaits them decades down the road? In Pure Invention: How Japan Made The Modern World , author Matt Alt postulates that Japan has not just been shaping the world, but also laying out the blueprint for the future of our society.

The author argues that Japan, through its many everyday inventions, has moulded the times we live in. The Walkman, Game Boy, and Japanese cars, all changed the way we interacted with the world. At the same time, all the major concerns in society today, have long been experienced by Japan. The loneliness epidemic, in spite of society being more connected than ever before, has long manifested in Japan in the form of hikikomori – the phenomenon where people isolate themselves completely from society, rarely venturing out of their houses.

Similarly, the Japanese have long been familiar with Gig economy or Gig workers known as ‘freeters’ – those who did part-time gigs for the entirety of their careers. But why was Japan seemingly ahead of its time? The answer, per the author, lies in the country’s historical evolution. When the West came in contact with Japan during the mid-19 th century, it found a country with a sophisticated consumer industry, ranging from boxes to trinkets to gifts. This was a product of 250 years of peace and isolation during the Edo period.
Jump to mid-20 th century, and Japan is a devastated country in the aftermath of World War II. With the defeat of Japanese militarism, coupled with national humiliation, the Japanese psyche craves escapism to cope. It initially goes back to the paradigm of its early interaction with the outside world through products. This time it manifests as toys and small gadgets. The book highlights the story of Matsuzo Kosuge, a toymaker who lost everything during the war. But once peace returned, he used the mountains of trash that the American military was generating to restart his business. And his first hit post-war product? The American military jeep, a toy that became emblematic of a generation of Japanese children that had endured so much suffering.

True, the Japanese economy started booming in the 1970s and 80s, and Japanese cars and appliances flooded Western markets. But then came the economic crash of the 90s, plunging Japanese society, once again, into despondency. And yet again, per the author, the Japanese did what they knew best – create new forms of fantasy to escape into. Hello Kitty transformed from a cute mascot aimed at elementary grade schoolgirls, to something teenagers – and even young adults – looking for sugar daddies craved for. All because it provided them with a childhood comfort in the midst of economic gloom.

But the biggest vehicle for fantasy to come out of Japan that took the world by storm was video games. The massive success of Pokemon in the late-1990s, including in US, actually shocked its maker Nintendo. Add to this the subcultures of Japanese anime and manga fans, both in Japan and outside.

In that sense, Japan’s story shows how our societies could evolve as they face challenges like low growth and hyper digitalisation. Japan’s escapism saw it emerge as a fantasy powerhouse, per the author. Will other societies’ ennui take them down a similar path or will their escapism be an even darker version?

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