'Anime' – Japanese comics and cartoons – have long acquired fans overseas, but now the Japanese government wants to entrust them with another important task: to stimulate the economy and in particular to carve out a bigger slice, for the country of the Rising Sun, in the global cultural industry; an industry that, according to estimates, is going to expand by 40% in the world between now and 2010, reaching a turnover of 9 trillion dollars.
The dynamism of the Abe administration led to the creation of a 'Cool Japan' fund, which aims to promote many cultural initiatives – well beyond 'manga' and 'anime' – which are not known abroad. Like the 'Cool Britannia' program of the XNUMXs, which aimed to restore the English image in the field of popular culture – somewhat tarnished after the success of the Beatles – by pushing pop groups such as the 'Spice Girls'.
This fund, of 500 million dollars, should revive the tired face of a Japan known more for its low growth than for its innovative drive. Of course, many will object that it is not the government's job to choose and finance the best in the magmatic fields of the cultural industry. But Yoshiaki Akamatsu, the director of the 'Creative Industries Division' at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, assures that the government's role is to provide funds for high-risk projects (which could not be financed by private individuals); and it's not to decide if the contents are successful; the market decides that.
