EDITORIAL: Sharing is Caring: 'Japan's Galapagos Effect'.

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The term ‘Galapagos Effect’ has been coined by many writers to explain Japan’s unique technological advancements being kept from the rest of the world. You do not have to be an expert on the country to know about its amazing inventions and unique gadgetry – most of which has neglected to leave its shores.

One of the biggest examples of this would be Japan’s mobile phone system; it is completely unique to those used by other countries. The mobiles are also equipped with a number of advancements, such as linking your mobile directly to your bank account and being able to screen videos from your mobile to your laptop instantly. Of course, this progression has begun with mobiles from other countries now too, but it is often through very different processes and, for Japan, is old news.

Aside from being a pretty cool and apt term for this, when I first heard of the ‘Galapagos Effect’, I thought it could also be applied to Japan on a much wider scale.

My love for Japan began when I overheard a friend talking about a Japanese group called NewS. I wasn’t taken straight away, but after hearing that these guys also acted in drama series, I was quite enamoured. I began to embrace Japanese popular culture, humour, fashion, language and the wider culture as a result. But it wasn’t long before I realised just how difficult it is for a Western fan to gain access to Japanese content.

I was reading stories about my favourite stars appearing on variety programmes, but found it so hard to find the programmes online. The songs I love through the dramas and anime series I have been able to access are not available on iTunes or in Western music stores. It becomes a hard battle to get to almost anything and it has seemingly gotten slightly worse as time has gone by. It sometimes makes me feel as though Japan is trying to keep everything inside its borders and away from the outside world and this is precisely why I feel as though the ‘Galapagos Effect’ is something that is at play on many levels in Japan.

Now, I do not want to seem ungrateful, there are many Japanese things that are made available to Western audiences today. There are anime and drama series streamed online fully dubbed and subbed in English, there are also many Manga series and Japanese films available at shops and all this is before mentioning annual and bi-annual UK festivals such as HYPER JAPAN that are held which work to show all of what Japan has to offer. However, I cannot help but feel that there is so much more.

Perhaps the wish to remain ‘pure’ is present here. This is quite understandable in a world now subject to globalisation, and what some academics term “Americanisation” or “McDonaldisation”. As UK-based readers, you can probably relate to the idea that facets of certain cultures, especially our own, have absorbed American ways as a result of the proliferation of the American programmes and Hollywood films available on a global scale. I even catch myself correcting people who say “elevator” as opposed to “lift” when in England, so I could be a slight purist myself! :P

One can see that tradition and heritage are very important to the Japanese people, they seemingly take great pride in their history and ancestral culture and wish fervently to keep it alive alongside their fast-paced technological modernity. It makes sense to me that a reflex for them would be to limit the amount of cultural artefacts that are allowed to pass Japan’s borders.

Personally though, I feel that Japan could be missing out on absolutely huge sources of revenue by choosing this path. For any readers that may also be a fan of South Korean popular culture, like myself, you will know how much easier it is access its content than their Japanese neighbour. Many K-Pop groups or entertainment agencies have their own YouTube channels, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages – complete with English and Japanese translations on most. Of course, it is still not exactly a breeze to get to South Korean content and you may also find yourself insanely frustrated at poor quality, slowly buffering videos and lack of English subtitles just like with Japanese content, but when you have been faced with the task of digging your way through the internet sand in order to get to Japanese treasure chests, you probably feel that this search requires a lot less effort and time.

It makes me very sad that a great country like Japan is missing out on so many opportunities in this contemporary, connected world. This sadness is only intensified every time my mentioning that I am going to Japan on holiday this year is answered with: “Japan? But you like South Korea, don’t you?!”

“I like both!” I answer, but I neglect to mention my annoyance that I can’t as easily show my friends the gold that Japan has as I can with South Korea

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On the other hand though, Japan’s enigmatic nature is perhaps a selling point. Japan is different from the rest of the world and that is part of its charm. The fact that it is almost a fantasy land compared to what I already know and have experienced is part of what draws me to it personally and I am sure that I speak for many other Japan-lovers in that respect.

This has also lead to a phrase in my household, whenever a Johnny’s Entertainment group’s PV is taken down from YouTube, you say “Johnny-san’s been on the internet again!”

[Image Source: Google Images].