[Torg] Torg Timeline + A United Living Land

[James Knevitt]

Valid points. I think the days of the Big Scary Japanese Corporation
are more or less over in popular culture; however, people re more
accepting of Japanese influence in 'Western' culture than they were in
the days in which NT was written. Then again, one could play NT
exactly as written -- it really isn't Japanese culture; it's
Marketplace culture dressed as Japanese culture. The over-the-top
corporate stereotypes still hold in terms of internal context simply
because that's the literal reality of Marketplace.

Now, as for NT's "no invaders here, everything is normal" attitude:
that could play fine if one not "in the know" interprets the subtle
shifts in culture and attitudes as the Japanese reaction to the
incredible events initiated by the invasion itself. This ostensibly
untouched Japan would be in a prime position to provide much needed
reconstruction dollars (yen?) to the Pacific Rim (including a
beleaguered California).

Stranger things have happened.

On 8/13/08, Kansas Jim <ksjim at sdc.org> wrote:
> James Knevitt wrote:
>
>> Well, it's not really the content that's important-- it's accepting
>> the presence of Japanese culture. How else would companies like Ichi
>> be able to just waltz into LA and very publically start buying up like
>> crazy in any modern politico-ecomonic climate?
>
> I'd say they would do it exactly the same way they did in the late 80s
> and early 90s, by throwing giant piles of money around! Especially since
> present-day Japanese corporate culture is a lot more like American
> corporate culture, it's not all insular, protective zaibatsus like in
> those previous days.
>
> Plus if you're actually sticking with Nippon Tech as a mega-corporate
> reality, I'd think that the Law of Intrigue would actually discourage
> doing anything very publicly; sneaky behind-closed-doors business
> meetings and deals is much more the style.
>
> (Not to mention that realistically speaking, anime is still a very niche
> market, if you want to make the masses more accepting of Japanese
> culture that's probably not the most effective vector to use. Take over
> American movie studios and start producing movies and TV shows which
> deal a lot with Japanese culture, that would be more effective. And hey,
> Sony's already firmly established in Hollywood....)
>
> --
> Kansas Jim, Torg guru (ksjim (at) sdc (dot) org)
> Torg website: http://www.sdc.org/~ksjim/index.html
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-- 
James Knevitt
jknevitt at gmail.com

"O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you."
-- TS Eliot, 'The Waste Land'