"Cultural Imperialism"

...recently, I wrote a small paper on the notion of cultural imperialism in Japan. In all honesty, it wasn't very good- I argued against its existence (that is, the idea of foreign cultures displacing local traditions) for the sake of purely being argumentative. I'm like that occasionally. Still, it did somehow manage to get me thinking a bit.

Here in Japan, "Western" items- food in particular- are rather different. Anyone who has mysteriously discovered corn in a sandwich without any particular rhyme or reason will understand what I'm talking about, otherwise it's something you really have to see to completely comprehend. In the paper, I argued that this bizarre assimilation and adaptation was a logical refutation of imperialism, but in reality I'm not so certain. With English writing everywhere, and a bizarre idolization of certain American things, there may be a small amount of truth to the idea.

To get more in depth, I'll have to include an anecdote. Today I was doing a small amount of shopping in the supermarket- nothing big, I needed a few basics. Anyway, I was in the produce section and near the premade salad mixes there was a small bag containing dressing and croutons that claimed "CAESAR SALAD MIX: The most popular salad in America!" Needless to say, I found it to be an odd selling point. Its existence alone seemingly proves that some form of idolization is present, it's like a type of advanced bandwagon appeal. And yet an equal- if not greater- amount of disdain can be seen everywhere in Tokyo. The rational piece of my thought process cannot help but think it's just the result of a generational gap- the elderly/occupation era citizens are less likely to think of the US in a positive light. It seems less predominant among the youth. But perhaps I'm totally wrong- after all, even here in Saitama I stick out like a sore thumb whereever I go.

In any case, it's interesting food for thought, if nothing else. Is Japanese culture subservient, or is the disdain greater than the admiration? There really isn't a solid answer, but again, it's worth thinking about a bit.