
Japan's curious passion for the business novel - elemeno
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35125739
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hitekker
I would say a lot of fiction operates as an outlet for our suppressed day-to-
day desires. By anecdote alone, there's likely an inverse relationship between
the level of emotional self-expression allowed in society and the degree of
escapism in that society's stories.

Japanese anime and manga comes to mind. Although not all of the medium
panders, the shonen, shojo, josei, seinen and other mainstream categories tend
to have highly dynamic, energetic, characters who speak and act in all sorts
of absolute ways: stories too unbelievable normally to occur in real Japanese
society.

We certainly have our own unbelievable, fulfillment stories in America,
especially in comic books. But where Batman, Superman, The Avengers have
become a hit around in international markets besides America, Japan non-cute
stories have yet to achieve that kind of universal appeal.

I will admit to some bias here since I grew up on Japanese culture, and like
anything else, I've come to, incorrectly, associate it with childishness.

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MikeNomad
I wonder what the Japanese Salaryman would make of Floyd Kemske's work:

[http://www.catbirdpress.com/authorpages/kemske.htm](http://www.catbirdpress.com/authorpages/kemske.htm)

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johnloeber
Idle thought: I wonder how well DFW's _The Pale King_ sells in Japan.

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aluhut
I hope they finally pick up Richard Morgans "Market Forces" for cinema. Asian
film art would fit perfectly.

