Anime in the Middle East
Takamasa Sakurai wrote in the Daily Yomiuri: In March 2008, I was invited to give an anime lecture at a book fair in Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, men and women were not allowed to listen to my lecture in the same room. I could not see the faces of the female audience members, who were watching me on a big screen in the next room. Whenever I mentioned Naruto or One Piece, I heard shrill voices from the female group through a gap in the partition. Their passion shocked participating Japanese diplomats. [Source: Takamasa Sakurai, Daily Yomiuri, April 12, 2012]
Four years after my visit to Riyadh, I got the chance to go back to the Middle East to give a keynote lecture at an international symposium titled "Dialogue for the Future between Japan and the Islamic World" held in Amman by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. My topic was "How Youth Culture will Change the World." In front of 150 scholars and students, I talked about how Japanese pop culture has influenced young people overseas, and how this trend can have a positive impact on our shared international future as members of a global community. [Ibid]
Many Islamic scholars who might have been unfamiliar with the subject ardently listened to me and expressed favorable reactions after the speech. I also felt that the Japanese diplomats' attitude toward anime diplomacy had changed since the 2008 event. In the past any organized, session featuring discussions with experts in the field was regarded as minor. But the fact that I delivered this keynote speech at a state-organized symposium served as proof that these topics were important--thanks to people around the world who are passionate about Japanese pop culture. [Ibid]
One of the symposium attendants was Emi Kato of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, another organizer of the event. She studied Arabic at Jordan University and was in the audience during my 2008 lecture, when she worked as a researcher for the Japanese Embassy in Saudi Arabia. "I felt the [recent] symposium was meaningful because in addition to debate and discussion among experts, young people, who will forge the future of the world, also gave speeches, joined in debates and interacted with experts of all ages," Kato said. [Ibid]
The day before the symposium, Kato introduced me to Jordan University students who were learning Japanese. About 20 students welcomed me and five Japanese students, who were chosen to attend the symposium in Amman, with homemade sweets and other dishes. The students introduced themselves and eagerly shared their interests. Jordanian students said they were into manga such as Bleach and Naruto or idol groups including News and Morning Musume.Interpersonal exchange is just as important as symposiums or formal events, as such personal connections can be enhanced through networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. [Ibid]
After the symposium, the Japanese students and I visited the house of a local family. One of the family's sons had learned Japanese from Kato and is a big fan of Gintama, a manga and anime series that is very popular in China. The son spoke about his favorite anime the same way as Gintama fans in China do. [Ibid]
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Yomiuri Shimbun, Daily Yomiuri, Japan Times, Mainichi Shimbun, The Guardian, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
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