Dear all

This is Renato Rivera at Meiji University.

I have been following this discussion concerning the usages and nuances of the terms "Cool Japan" and "Japan Cool". I would have to agree that within the Government there was definitely some awareness of the Cool Britannia movement, though it is not clear exactly how much it was used as a model. Professor Kaichirou Morikawa at the School of Global Japanese Studies here is much more knowledgeable concerning this particular aspect, and he often goes into detail about how Cool Britannia as a derivative of Rule Britannia could still credibly convey a politically-charged national image of "greatness" due to Britain's reputation as a WWII victor, while Japan remains somewhat schizophrenic in that regard and as a result cannot realistically give off a universally accepted image of a "great" or "cool"
country. Thus, "Japan Cool" makes more sense in terms of specific attributes which make Japan attractive to some cultures rather than the entire nation trying to aggrandize itself, but stopping short for fear of potential political tension.

For the title of one the first papers I published on this subject in Japanese back in 2003, I used the phrase "Japan Cool" to refer to (then) in-vogue Japanese pop culture works. It was an off-hand reference to the Gross National Cool popularized by McGray. It has also been featured in similar usages in books by Kate Allen, etc. However, for the "Cool Japan Summer Program" we decided to adopt the Government's usage, for various reasons. I should point out that this usage is still controversial even within our own institution, and it was in fact a topic of debate within last year's program.

Also, I conceded this usage of the phrase for the course I currently administer entitled "Reconstructing Cool Japan":
http://www.meiji.ac.jp/shogaku/tokushoku/spt_practicum/
cooljapan2011.html
blog here (with photos):
http://mieruka.meiji.jp/2011/rebuild2011/

The reason for this was that within the actual lessons I encourage the students to consider critically the motivations of the Creative Industries office, and so actually taking a look at the name and all its implications is no small part of the analysis process.
Incidentally, I also incorporate a tour of an animation studio in order for the students to have a tangible experience of the industry rather than be content with abstract discussion.

I apologize for this long post, suffice to say that the name "Cool Japan" itself certainly does create quite a stir, at least when discussed in an English forum. My own usage of the term is most often strictly reserved for direct reference to the actual policy.

regards,

-Renato