When you think about it, it is surprising that a tiny country like Japan has as much influence and impact as it does or did. Say the word Japan to someone, and they will already have their own image of it in their mind and this image will be wildly different for everyone. In contrast, for countries like say, Kazhakstan, or Singapore, or pre-Bush Iran, or pre-Obama North Korea, or whatever, at best nobody cares, at worst, nobody is even aware of it. Like they say, bad publicity is better than no publicity.
Anyway, several decades ago, as Japanese car companies and cars were taking over USA, people were saying that Japan will become the next great superpower (same thing they're saying of China now). This era of thought can be seen in movies like Blade Runner (I think it was in Neo Tokyo). Obviously that never happened but I imagine that that the influence of the Japanese economy encouraged people to take up Japanese learning. I call this Peak #1.
Then in the 80s and 90s, Japan influenced the world again, this time artistically. This was when Nintendo saved the world gaming industry and what some call the golden age of anime. In this age, every good video game was Japanese-developed. No, practically EVERY game was Japanese. Also, Westerners can finally watch cartoons that are not for children unlike Disney and read comic books that involve something other than superheroes wearing their underwear on the outside. The majority of the media was untranslated. Which encourages people to learn Japanese. I call this Peak #2.
But now, Japan's economy has gone downhill (off topic: every econimy has gone downhill) and furthermore, people care less about Japanese media now, and for the stuff they do care about, it has been translated into English. People have fewer or no reasons to learn Japanese now.
Will this trend remain this way or will we somehow see a Peak #3? If a peak is coming, what will spark it?
Off topic: What will be the next hot language after Chinese if the hype dies down? Spanish? Arabic? Korean?
Or will the international community naturally unify into one single language, most likely English? After all, language only serves to be a barrier and there doesn't seem to be a rational reason to use more than one.
Anyway, several decades ago, as Japanese car companies and cars were taking over USA, people were saying that Japan will become the next great superpower (same thing they're saying of China now). This era of thought can be seen in movies like Blade Runner (I think it was in Neo Tokyo). Obviously that never happened but I imagine that that the influence of the Japanese economy encouraged people to take up Japanese learning. I call this Peak #1.
Then in the 80s and 90s, Japan influenced the world again, this time artistically. This was when Nintendo saved the world gaming industry and what some call the golden age of anime. In this age, every good video game was Japanese-developed. No, practically EVERY game was Japanese. Also, Westerners can finally watch cartoons that are not for children unlike Disney and read comic books that involve something other than superheroes wearing their underwear on the outside. The majority of the media was untranslated. Which encourages people to learn Japanese. I call this Peak #2.
But now, Japan's economy has gone downhill (off topic: every econimy has gone downhill) and furthermore, people care less about Japanese media now, and for the stuff they do care about, it has been translated into English. People have fewer or no reasons to learn Japanese now.
Will this trend remain this way or will we somehow see a Peak #3? If a peak is coming, what will spark it?
Off topic: What will be the next hot language after Chinese if the hype dies down? Spanish? Arabic? Korean?
Or will the international community naturally unify into one single language, most likely English? After all, language only serves to be a barrier and there doesn't seem to be a rational reason to use more than one.
