Abstract
This paper explores the efficacy of an international cultural policy based upon the export of a nation’s popular culture through the case study of Japanese comic books, called manga, in the USA. I begin by exploring the origin of the historical and theoretical underpinnings of ‘Cool Japan’ and providing a concise account of the Japanese cultural policies in this vein. Then, drawing upon participant observation and seventy in-depth, semi-structured interviews from informants in and around the American manga publishing industry, I discuss in detail what is actually involved in publishing Japanese comic books in the USA post-2007. Arguing that what they do is first and foremost to make manga American, I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the likely fortunes of ‘Cool Japan’ and any other cultural policy premised upon exporting popular culture.
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