As the second-largest economy in the world, as one of the most dynamic societies in terms of information technology adaptation, adoption and proliferation, and as a country whose cultural legacy stretches back many centuries, Japan represents a unique environment in which to observe the complexities of content sensitivities and risks.
On one level, the Japanese market responds to the usual kind of geopolitical and cultural content issues that are found across many global markets, and yet on another level this locale has very specific issues that are confined locally. Because many companies typically localize for Japan as their default east Asian locale (the old FIGS+J standard or other similar baseline localization practices), it’s critical to understand that despite Japan’s image of being a very modern society on a business level, complex undercurrents of cultural practices with deep socio-historical roots must be accounted for if a business is to succeed in shipping content to the Japanese market.
In this column, I’ll focus on a couple of specific Japanese content issues with which I’ve had direct experience in managing and carefully resolving.
Four fingers Perhaps one of the more well-known Japanese content issues and perhaps also the often most misunderstood is the infamous “four-finger” issue. This pertains to the use of a human figure that has only four fingers instead of the standard five, especially as related to human figures in cartoons, animation and other non-photographic representations (see “Bob the Builder” example). For those who’ve heard of the issue, the explanations for the sensitivity usually fall into one of three explanations:
The number 4 in Japanese, shi (or し in Kanji), also means death, although the preferred spoken version is yon. One Japanese cultural custom related to this has been to avoid doing things in groups of four — such as a tea setting for four people that always includes a fifth cup. This is, however, only a tertiary reason for the sensitivity.
Within the yakuza (the Japanese mafia), there is a practice called yubitsume which is performed to make an apology or to atone for a grievance against someone. It involves the ritual cutting off of the little finger (knuckle by knuckle for each offense) and presenting it to the person to whom the apology is being made. The resulting four-fingered appearance has become closely associated with the yakuza and is thus considered quite a negative image, especially as yubitsume is a practice almost exclusively linked to the yakuza.
At a deeper cultural level, the four-fingered appearance relates to a social class issue, with a group known as the burakumin (from the Japanese word buraku meaning village), which for the most part are analogous to the “untouchable” caste in India. The burakumin were known for performing undesirable jobs such as animal handling, butchering, leather crafts and related work. Thus, the display of four fingers, shown to represent the four-legged animals with whom the burakumin worked, became a derogatory symbol and deeply offensive to those in that caste. Legally, the caste system in Japan was eliminated in 1871 with the new Meiji government; the discrimination persisted, however, for well over a hundred years and still exists today to a degree. What has made the four-finger issue particularly volatile for producers and distributors of content was that burakumin activist groups, such as the Burakumin Liberation League, would often take legal action or threaten such action if a company didn’t at least provide some compensation in addition to making requested content changes. While the line between acceptable and unacceptable on this issue is often a gray zone, some content isn’t perceived as problematic, such as The Simpsons cartoon which is popular in Japan (the characters in the show all have four fingers). The four-finger issue is useful to consider not only as a specific risk but also to illustrate that a seemingly straightforward issue can have very deep cultural meaning; thus, content producers must be extremely diligent — even in perceived “safe” markets such as Japan.
Geopolitical issues As far as geopolitical sensitivities that are particularly important to the Japanese government, there are at least three significant ones which I have touched upon previously in this column and deserve mentioning here as well: the Sea of Japan/East Sea maritime naming dispute, the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, and another territorial dispute over Take-shima/Dok-do. If there are three issues that can surely yield a government response to a company’s content, these rank high on the list. As for the first issue, the sea lying between Japan and the Korean peninsula has a name that has a long history of being disputed.
Particularly in recent years, both Japan and Korea (South) have taken great measures to convince other countries, international organizations and map publishers that their specific viewpoint is historically accurate. The standard label of “Sea of Japan” is considered acceptable in every country beyond Korea, but within Korea the name “East Sea” is required. Many cartographers have opted for a compromise solution such as double labeling the feature as “Sea of Japan (East Sea).” The issue is still under consideration by the United Nations and the International Hydrographic Office based in Monaco, but no resolution is on the horizon. The Korean government is far quicker to correct content that might contain “Sea of Japan,” but the Japanese government has also become more proactive in recent years about stopping the adoption of “East Sea” even as a secondary label, so content providers need to be sensitive as to the end point of their distribution.
Regarding the Kuril Islands, which became disputed when Russia occupied the four southernmost islands that Japan had long considered integral to its sovereign territory, this issue has seen periods of tension since the end of World War II. The decades of attempted diplomacy have not yet yielded a resolution, and the government of Japan has required that maps of Japan include the southern Kuril Islands (known as their “Northern Territories”) as part of their sovereign territory — primarily in educational and official government resources. Significantly, in 2005 the European Union parliament released a statement declaring its belief that the islands should be returned to Japan, much to Russia’s ire. Then in 2006, Russia offered to give back to Japan two of the four islands (less than 10% of the disputed area) if Japan would agree to drop the remaining dispute, but Japan remains resolute in pursuing its entire claim.
Also in the geopolitical arena, a high sensitivity remains around the ownership of the Take-shima/Dok-do islets that are the subject of a dispute with Korea — with Take-shima being the Japanese name and Dok-do the Korean name for these large rocks in the middle of the Sea of Japan/East Sea. Korea currently maintains occupation of this feature, but both sides fervently claim it as historically part of their sovereign territory. Beyond the nationalism associated with the dispute, a serious benefit of resolving the ownership is a generous 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone that would be a significant benefit. Some politicians have floated the idea of a joint economic zone between the two countries.
Regional impact of content Last, I’d like to point out that as with any market into which you might be distributing content, it’s vitally important to consider the regional impact of such content. Within East Asia, there is a matter of ongoing, high sensitivity towards Japanese-oriented content, particularly within China and Korea. Most people are aware of the ongoing animosity toward Japan because of the regular visits of its prime minister to the Yakusuni Shrine (a Japanese war memorial which includes those who fought in World War II), as well as furor over Japan’s current attitude towards reconciling the country’s World War II imperialism and the effects on surrounding countries — even something as simple as the appearance of the Japanese Imperial flag (see sidebar). Such ongoing issues make it imperative that content developers consider how their decisions can balance the creation of very local appeal and still maintain good relations with other regional markets.
Again, so much more could be covered here to address other content sensitivities in Japan, going beyond the most obvious issues. For now, it’s helpful to appreciate Japan as a great example of a modernized culture that maintains deep historical roots. Thus, the juxtaposition of the ubiquity of information with a long-standing social structure reminds us never to assume that even seemingly “globalized” countries won’t maintain very specific content risks — such as the United States — definitely another ripe topic for a future column.
Tom Edwards is a geographer and the principal consultant of Englobe, a Seattle-based consultancy for geocultural intelligence and content strategy. Previously, he spent 13 years at Microsoft as a geographer and as its senior geopolitical strategist.
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