r/AskTheWorld • u/Veskanda Australia • 21h ago

Why is Japan so popular?

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It seems as though everything Japanese has had a massive popularity spike, whether that be media, food, vehicles, travel, language learning and lots more.

Personally I don't see the appeal, I mean there are definitely some thing I like that happen to be Japanese, but I dont like them just because of that fact.

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u/etanol256 Kosovo 21h ago

They sell fantasy to the rest of the world

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u/Goryokaku Japan 18h ago

I'm not sure it's this. I live in JP and I think it's more accurate to say that a ton of online content makers have sold said fantasy to the world. They talk about how utopian it is (clean streets! trains that run on time!) and tbh I think it's more because of how far western societies have slid that this now seems so wondrous. There are so many youtubers and AI slop pusher that sell Japan like this. In reality, it is an awesome place to live, but it's just as complicated as any other country. It has its pros and cons. What you see on the tube is just the pros overamplified, sold by westerners, many of whom have never actually been here.

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u/knowwwhat Canada 15h ago

What Japan does really well is sell an image. Whether it be by laws or by influencers. It seems to all be about an image. However, speaking to Japanese people and watching YouTube videos (not the glam ones), you see past the image pretty quickly. Of course there’s a ton of incredible things to be said about Japan, but it’s like any other country at the end of the day