Japan bashing

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The term Japan bashing, or Japan-bashing, was first coined in the early 1980s by Robert Angel, a paid lobbyist for the Japanese government. At the time, Angel was president of the Washington-based Japan Economic Institute, an organization financed and overseen by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Wanting to counter growing U.S. criticism of Japan's trade policies, Angel searched for a way to discredit Japan critics by insinuating their criticism was based on racism and xenophobia. "I looked around for a phrase to use to discredit Japan's critics," Angel later said. "And I hoped to be able to discredit those most effective critics by lumping them together with the people who weren't informed and who as critics were an embarrassment to everybody else."

His model was the pro-Israel lobby's use of the term "anti-Semitism" to stigmatize opponents of Israel's policies. He tried out the term "anti-Japanism" in speeches and interviews, but it did not catch on. Then, inspired by the British term "Paki-bashing," he tried "Japan bashing". The term quickly caught on and gained widespread popularity. "The first people to pick up on it were the Japanese press," Angel said. "However, within a year the American press began to use the term." The term became a weapon in the public relations war being waged in Washington over trade policy and U.S.-Japanese economic relations.

[edit] Japan-bashing today

As Japan's "bubble economy" burst in the late 1980s and went into recession, the term's popularity subsided. This is despite Japan's continuing trade surplus with the U.S. (though American critics of Japan's trade policies almost always overlook the fact that on a per capita basis the Japanese actually purchase more American goods than Americans do from Japan). China's rise as an economic and military threat has also played a part in this.

Today, the term "Japan-bashing" is often used in reference to Asian critics who accuse Japan of attempting territorial expansionism and whitewashing history (see Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands), Dokdo (Takeshima), Yasukuni Shrine, and Japanese history textbook controversies).