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There is a term in Japanese -- gaiatsu -- which means "pressure from outside", which is used to refer to the pressure that foreign countries, particularly the U.S., put on Japan to change its policies.

It is a paradoxical term, because on the one hand it seems to have a pejorative connotation, but on the other, Japanese themselves often say that they are incapable of significant change unless someone from the outside pushes them to it.  My take is that politically it is a convenient way to rationalize unpopular or uncomfortable policies with the people, when in fact vested interests often (though not always) have their own agendas for advancing these policies.  "What can we do?  The Americans/Europeans tell us we need to do it.  We don't want to be the odd country out/behind the times/backwards, do we?"  (Another characteristic trait of the Japanese is that they feel very uncomfortable being untrendy or sticking out from the rest.)

In any case, I think this Mr. Kawakami is exploiting Japanese susceptibility to gaiatsu/foreign pressure in all likelihood to further his own agenda and that of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers to extend their legal right to make money by renting out the use of cultural property that has been created by others without any obligation to add creative or cultural value themselves.

Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.

by marco on Mon Oct 2nd, 2006 at 08:18:24 AM EST
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