Japanese ‘fever’ hits young Indonesians

Japan, once the pride of Asia, might be economically weakening due to its long economic stagnation and the rapid rise of China in recent years. But, perhaps unnoticed, Japan has been emerging as a cultural powerhouse in Asia through its soft power projection.

It has not been an easy ride, Japan faces stiff competition from China, which has a huge diaspora in many countries, and rising South Korea, whose hallyu (Korean Wave) is spreading widely in Southeast Asia. Yet it seems Japan is markedly gaining the upper hand over its rivals in Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia.


Popular cultural products like manga comics, cartoon films, food, fashion, arts, J-Pop music and finally the Japanese language have penetrated Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.

Children at a young age are exposed to Japanese comics and cartoon films.

“I became interested in Japan through cartoon films. I like Naruto characters very much,” a teenager, who prefers to use her Japanese nickname Hitachiin, said during a Japanese education exhibition in Jakarta on Saturday.

Many people are also becoming patrons of Japanese food, which is healthy but out of reach for many. Japanese restaurants are mushrooming in Indonesia’s major cities, with long queues at expensive Japanese restaurants in Jakarta’s posher malls a common scene on weekends.

“Every week, we dine at a Japanese restaurant because our children like Japanese food. In the beginning I didn’t like it much but now it has become my favorite food,” Susi Alexandria, a housewife living in South Jakarta, said.

Another example of this growing Japanese cultural fever is its language.

“I am very happy to say that around 750,000 Indonesians are currently studying the Japanese language in Indonesia,” Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yoshinori Katori said recently during a language debate contest in Jakarta.

According to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation, 3.56 million people around the world are currently learning Japanese outside Japan. Surprisingly, Indonesia ranks third in the world after South Korea’s 960,000 learners and China with 830,000.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/11/28/japanese-fever-hits-young-indonesians.html