Maintaining Cultural Boundaries in Retailing: How Japanese Department Stores Domesticate ‘Things Foreign’

Creighton, Millie

doi:10.1017/s0026749x00010805

Cited by 26 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Everyday commodities provide multiple axes around which these negotiations on identity take place. In Japan, mundane substances like food (see Bestor, 2011;Cwiertka, 2007) and the way it is presented (Goldstein-Gidoni, 2001), ordinary places like department stores (Creighton, 1991(Creighton, , 1998 and amusement parks (Hendry, 2000;Raz, 2000) play a significant role in shaping not only our consumer experiences but also the way we experience culture. Culture is more often than not a function of otherness; as we shall see, exploiting culture in marketing often implies appealing to its foreignness or strangeness.…”

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confidence: 99%

Deconstructing a global commodity: Coffee, culture, and consumption in Japan

Grinshpun

2013

Journal of Consumer Culture

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Since their entry to Japan in the latter half of the 19th century, coffee and coffee shops have been closely linked to the economic, political, and socio-cultural change undergone by the Japanese society. The cafés themselves have gone through numerous transformations in order to address the various social needs of their patrons. Today, coffee shops occupy a significant niche in the Japanese urban lifestyle. However, the cultural ‘baggage' of coffee as a foreign commodity still plays a central role in generating its consumer appeal. Coffee is a global commodity whose value on the world market is surpassed only by oil. Moreover, due to its peculiar historical background, it became a beverage charged with a wide range of cultural meanings; tracing these meanings in different contexts can shed light on the way cultural commodities ‘behave' in the globalized world. In order to examine the niche that coffee occupies in the Japanese consumption scene, I will analyze the manner in which representations of coffee are constructed and translated into a consumer experience. Through the case of coffee in Japan I will try to demonstrate the process of ‘movement of culture', whereby the relevance of a foreign commodity in the local context is determined by the complex interplay between two culturally engineered binary entities of ‘global' and ‘local', ‘foreign' and ‘native'.

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confidence: 99%

Deconstructing a global commodity: Coffee, culture, and consumption in Japan

Grinshpun

2013

Journal of Consumer Culture

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“…Walaupun cokelat tidak dikhususkan sebagai hadiah Valentine, kebanyakan orang Jepang percaya bahwa 14 Februari merupakan hari untuk memberikan cokelat saja. Menurut Creighton (1991), banyak upaya dari produsen barang lain untuk mempromosikan produknya sebagai hadiah Valentine, namun cokelat tetap dianggap sebagai satu-satunya hadiah yang sesuai untuk perayaan ini.…”

Section: Pendahuluanunclassified

“…Banyak orang Jepang menganggap hari Valentine adalah satu-satunya kesempatan untuk perempuan mengekspresikan diri seekspresif mungkin (Creighton, 1991). Hal tersebut dikarenakan kesalahan dalam translasi pada pihak Mary Chocolate saat mempromosikan hari Valentine.…”

Section: Pendahuluanunclassified

Tezukuri dan Percaya Diri: Representasi Perempuan dalam Iklan Cokelat Lotte Ghana Edisi Valentine

Pasaribu

Putri

2020

CHIE

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Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat bagaimana perempuan direpresentasikan pada iklan cokelat Lotte Ghana di hari Valentine yang ditayangkan oleh televisi Jepang selama satu dekade terakhir (2010-2019). Penelitian ini menggunakan metode analisis teks dengan teori representasi dari Stuart Hall dan konsep stereotip sifat dan peran gender dari Mary E. Kite. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa iklan cokelat Lotte Ghana mendukung wacana perempuan ideal yang sesuai dengan standar norma patriarki. Sekalipun perempuan dalam iklan ini memiliki karakteristik maskulin seperti aktif, percaya diri, berani, tetapi semua karakteristik itu tetap dibatasi dalam peran femininnya yang aktif di dapur dan membuat cokelat buatan tangan sendiri untuk laki-laki yang disukai. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa pada hari Valentine perempuan di Jepang memiliki kuasa serta peran aktif untuk berekspresi, tetapi kuasa yang ditampilkan tetap ada kaitannya dengan menyenangkan hati laki-laki, terbatas hanya pada hubungan laki-laki dan perempuan dan tidak berfokus pada perempuan itu sendiri serta tetap berada di ranah domestik. Selain itu, perempuan dalam iklan juga digunakan sebagai alat untuk menarik pembeli cokelat demi meraup keuntungan besar, sehingga dapat disimpulkan pada pembacaan di level yang lebih dalam, iklan Lotte Ghana merupakan wujud kelindan antara wacana patriarki dan kapitalisme.

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“…However, the practical employment of this device also works to reinforce the preexisting commonsense assumption that only the Japanese can speak their language fluently (uniqueness of the language a common theme in Nihonjinron texts). Creighton (1991) has documented how introducing evidence that contradicts this "truth" provokes anxiety in onlookers, and Painter (1993) and Yoshimi (2003) have suggested that TV producers attempt to create safe and relaxing uchi groups for their viewers to join. In the competitive Japanese media sector, it is unlikely that producers would wish to provoke anxiety in their audiences and as such expected representations are recycled.…”

Section: Foreigner Conductorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Banality of Boundaries: Performance of the Nation in a Japanese Television Comedy

Perkins

2010

Television & New Media

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Through the framework provided by what Billig (1995) terms 'banal nationalism', this paper analyses performance of national identity in the Japanese media. The specific target for analysis is an episode of nodame cantabile, first broadcast on the Fuji Television Network in 2006. After a review of literature on Japanese nationalism a number of bordering processes are identified, in particular: the presentation of a Japan-The West dichotomy; the re-presentation of social relationships and semiotic markers of Japanese-ness; narrative devices that promote confidence in the Japanese mode of social organisation; and the role of 'trickster' played by a 'foreign' conductor. The significance of these processes becomes clear when placed within the context of what, in the literature, has been termed the emergence of a diverse and multicultural 'New Japan'. Although the observations contained in this paper do not refute this thesis, they do add a cautionary note. As will be shown, the representation of Otherness found in this episode, and the way in which 'Japanese-ness' is placed in relationships with the Other, highlights difference and instrumentalizes foreigners in a way that reinforces ideas of national and cultural boundedness. In order for a 'New Japan' to emerge it is argued that alternative forms of representation are needed; however the possibility of this or any kind of neutral representation is called into question. The paper concludes by considering avenues for further research, as well as the limits and potential of this type of interpretive research.

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Maintaining Cultural Boundaries in Retailing: How Japanese Department Stores Domesticate ‘Things Foreign’

Cited by 26 publications

References 3 publications

Deconstructing a global commodity: Coffee, culture, and consumption in Japan

Deconstructing a global commodity: Coffee, culture, and consumption in Japan

Tezukuri dan Percaya Diri: Representasi Perempuan dalam Iklan Cokelat Lotte Ghana Edisi Valentine

The Banality of Boundaries: Performance of the Nation in a Japanese Television Comedy

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