Technology in Japan
Ghost in the Shell


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•Blade Runner creates a futuristic noir atmosphere by heavily borrowing from Asian motifs, albeit
vague and general ones, in its design of city icons and social spaces. (Wong Kin Yuen)
•I hope to validate Antony King's argument that colonial cities have the best chance of
establishing a cityscape of the future that embraces racial and cultural differences (Wong Kin
Yuen)
Image result for november 2019 blade runner Related image Walled City, Tung Tau Tsuen Rd (1987) by
Greg Girard. Photo: courtesy of Blue Lotus Gallery

Introduction
•Orientalism > Techno-Orientalism
–„The phenomenon of imagining Asia and Asians in hypo-or hypertechnological terms in cultural
productions and political discourse“ (Roh et al)
–„Cyberpunk, with its fetishizing gaze upon Japan as a seductive and contradictory space of
futuristic innovation and ancient mystique, sharply focused the SF critical and creative lenses
upon Asia.“ (Roh et al)
–„Japan has been located in the future of technology. Morley and Rovins say: ‚If the future is
technological, and if technology has become 'Japanised', then the syllogism would suggest that the
future is now Japanese, too.‘ (Ueno)
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Image result for techno orientalism

Is Japan a hi-tech country?
•late 70‘s and 80‘s – Japan‘s success on the consumer electronics market
–Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic…
–TV, VCR, Walkman, CD, DVD…
–technology as a big factor in the Japanese „economic miracle“
•big companies in worse condition in present day
–more focus on technology development, less focus on consumers (application)

Technology and the economic miracle
•postwar Japan importing foreign technological know-how and improving technologies
•keiretsu groups trying to cover as much market share as possible
–funds for technological innovations
–environment of extreme competition
•copying of design and production techniques
•investments in large, high-value sectors as automobiles or electronics
•state support of big companies, cheap and educated workforce

Japan as a follower
•Robert J. Crawford: Reinterpreting the Japanese Economic Miracle
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•Japanese society not as supportive of innovative approaches, preferring collectivism
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Japanese craftmanship in history
•Karakuri ningyō
–mechanized puppets, 17th-19th century
–archer puppet
–tea serving puppet
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–only after the introduction of the clockwork from the West

Daily life and technology
•different technologies in use
–„gadgets“ vs. practical daily needs
•cell phones, e-readers, wi-fi access, e-mail…
•washlets, bath warming, automated orders…
–"Japanese companies generally lag foreign companies by roughly five-to-10 years in adoption of
modern IT practices, particularly those specific to the software industry,“ (Patrick McKenzie)
•Galapago syndrome?
–e.g. cell phones, cash machines, videogames
•conservative approach? innovations not welcome?
– „shame society“
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Smartphone usage in Japan
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•Japan ranked 44. out of 48 with 25.7% in 2013
–source: „Our mobile planet“ survey
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Technology in future Japan
•high research and development spendings
•Robots?
–declining/aging Japanese population, workforce needed
–"Robotics is to be for the Japanese economy in the 21st century what automobiles were in the
20th," says Jennifer Robertson, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan.
•Space engineering, medical technologies...

Ghost in the Shell
•Kōkaku kidōtai (Mobile Armored Riot Police)
•1995
•directed by Mamoru Oshii
•based on 1991 manga by
• Masamune Shirow
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•2017 a Hollywood adaptation
• w/ S. Johansson
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Sources
•Crawford, R. Reinterpreting the Japanese Economic Miracle. Harward Business Review, 1998. URL:
https://hbr.org/1998/01/reinterpreting-the-japanese-economic-miracle
•Fitzpatrick, M. Why is hi-tech Japan using casette tapes and faxes?, BBC. URL:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34667380
•Roh, D.; Huang, B.; Niu, G. (eds.). Techno-Orientalism: Imagining Asia in Speculative Fiction,
History, and Media. Rutgers University Press: 2015.
•Ueno, T. Japanimation and Techno-Orientalism. URL: http://www.t0.or.at/ueno/japan.htm
•Wong, Kin Yuen. On the edge of spaces: 'Blade Runner', 'Ghost in the Shell', and Hong Kong's
cityscape, Science-Fiction Studies 27:1-27, 2000.
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