Explaining the Inexplicable:Making sense of cultural codes

in Japanese advertising

Talk prepared for STRC 3801 (Intercultural Communication)

Temple UniversitySchool of Media and Communication

Philadelphia, PAOctober 18, 2012

Todd HoldenProfessor

Mediated SociologyTohoku University

Sendai, Japan

Introduction

I want to thank you for welcoming me into your classroom

Especially on a day when you had other listening options • I have lived and worked in Japan for 25 years• And, although Intercultural Communication is not

really my area of expertise, it is something I have lived for half my life.– given that my wife is Japanese– and my college-aged children were raised in both

Japan and America

IntroductionFor about a decade, I wrote a travelblog

for the e-zine Pop Matters, that became a published memoir called Peripatetic Postcards

– It is a compilation of vignettes about Inter-Cultural Communication in places like Paris, Istanbul, Cairo, Vienna, Bangkok, Seoul and many other cities around the globe.

– Basically, these were stories about what happens when one enters a context without knowing the cultural values, practices, assumptions, and expectations.

– In short, the practical part of what you are learning about in this class

Introduction

Today I want to look at Intercultural Communication through substantive areas that I know rather well:

• Cultural Anthropology• Interpretive Sociology• Advertising• Semiotics– With an emphasis on visual and non-verbal communication

Introduction

What I want to suggest is that ICC is basically a process of making sense of alien cultures (language, practices, beliefs, systems)

• And as difficult as communication can be, it is doable To demonstrate this, I want to look at one form of cultural

communication: television advertisingIn a specific context: Japan

Advertising—and particularly in Japan—is one of the most complex communication forms

• Thus it presents numerous challenges for outsiders• As well as many instructive ways of understanding ICC

An Opening Example

Let’s start with this advertisement

A little Background

Do you know what the advertised product is?– Canned coffee

How many of you are familiar with the concept of canned coffee?– It was a Japanese invention– It comes in hot and cold versions– It was originally sold from vending machines• Although today it is also sold in convenience

stores

Coffee in JapanCoffee, itself, is a symbol• Once a luxury item for people of a certain status• Associated with leisure– Also with pleasure

• Now it is more commonplace

Which it to say that just looking at the can in the ad, a native might see an object that symbolized:

• Luxury• Leisure• Pleasure• Convenience

Coffee in Japan

While for many of us, coffee may be commonplace, for others, in other places, it may not be the same

• This is something we might easily take for granted in traveling there

In fact, Japan has a tradition of being a “tea culture”• Tea is served at the end of Japanese meals• Tea is refillable (while coffee is not)• And, of course, there are rituals associated with the brewing

and serving of tea– Rooted in cultural/religious practice– that symbolize a certain lifestyle, social organization, and set of values

Coffee as a Symbol

For older generations (in Japan), coffee may symbolize:

• The West• A “bohemian” lifestyle (as coffee houses often were in

the 1920s)• “Cool” spaces (as such houses were after the war)– Places where jazz or other artistic sensibilities were

encouraged, presented, and consumed.– Also spaces where certain social types congregated

Coffee as a Symbol of Change

Over the past decade, though, there has been an explosion of chain coffee shops

– Like Starbucks, Dou Tour, and Veloce– Considered “trendy” [i.e. fashionable]– Quickly transforming Japan into a “coffee culture”– And creating spaces (and opportunities) for social

interaction, performance, participation, and conspicuous consumption

Symbols in Place

Still, when one walks into a Starbucks in Tokyo . . .• even if the basic menu, physical configuration, and

music appears to be the same as it is in the city s/he comes from– Can the visitor from Philadelphia assume that it IS the

same?

Are the logics and values and messages present in the space being received and understood by the consumer in the two cities/from the two cultures identically?– Likely not

Symbols in Place

What is difficult for the outsider/visitor to appreciate is that those logics and values may be invisible/not easily perceptible and knowable to the naked eye or ear

• Hence, how s/he tries to treat people and acts in that space as s/he would in her “world” (i.e. cultural context), may not be anything like how those people and acts are normally treated.

Connecting to Your Course Material

Question:• Have you had reading or exercises in class to this point

that have said anything related to this?– Either validating those claims• that context counts• that there are invisible processes at work• that reception and understanding differs for

different people in any given place at any given time– Or disputing these ideas?

The Example ReplayedLet’s now return to the opening advertisement

• In watching it a second time, assume that you are like the Philadelphian walking into the Tokyo Starbucks– In short, you aren’t a native– Also, assume that you are not familiar with the language,

history, culture of the larger milieu• Can you explain what is going on in this communication?– Can you take educated guesses about what is happening?

And why?

This is the fundamental problem confronting anyone engaged in Intercultural Communication

The Example Replayed

Filling in the Blanks

First off, do you recognize the actor at the end?What is he doing at the beginning?• How would you characterize this activity?• (i.e. is it: leisure? Skill? Work? Play?)

What is his relationship to the other man in the ad?• Do they interact?• If so, how?

What is the envelope that the other man puts in his tunic and later falls to the floor?

Filling in the Blanks

What ethnicities are shown in the ad?Does their status seem related to their ethnic

differences?What can you say about the generations depicted?What can you say about the genders depicted?

After work, where do the two men go?

Filling in the Blanks

• Are there indicators of power (relations)?• Is a particular view of gender communicated?– If so, what is it?– Provide one or more examples

Let’s watch the ad one more time, with the idea of gender and/or power relations in mind

Thinking About Gender

Filling in the Blanks

Some Other Questions:• What, if anything is the view of living things?• Are there views of “new” and “old”?• Are there views of inside and outside?• How, if at all, is human interaction treated?

– Emotion– Physical contact– Intimacy

• Do any particular gestures strike you?• Do you feel that “Identity” can be found in this

communication?– If so, what kind(s) of identity?– And if so, what are the indicators of “it”?

What the Ad is Really About Alien Jones is on earth researching how humans live• This is a take-off on his movie Men In Black• But instead of Tommy Lee Jones, a human, searching out and

eliminating aliens, he is the alien• This is also a kind of pun, in that, traditionally, Westerners have

been singled out with the word “alien” (outsider, other)– Historically, they are treated as if they are from a different

planet.– In fact, the narrator’s introduction refers to: “on this planet . . .”• But since all the action occurs in Japan• Japan stands for (encompasses) the entire world of human

organization and activity –Which is a comment on Identity

Cultural Messages in Ads

This series with Tommy Lee Jones now exceeds 30. Here is the first ever made.• It depicts a menagerie of Japanese status groups and lifestyles

Cultural Messages in Ads

Two things are of note: 1) As different as people

are, they are all the same (in their choice of gathering and food for consumption)

2) At the end there is commentary about Japan, itself:• the beauty of the

Sunrise• The picture of

the rising sun: is a national symbol

What these Ads are Really About

Each installment has placed Jones in a different occupation in Japan

This enables him to observe the behaviors, beliefs and traditions of Japanese life

In turn, this has produced commentary on how Japanese think and live

The ad makers thus poke mild fun at the people viewing the ad (i.e. Japanese, themselves) and the larger society in which they live.

What these Ads are Really About

These ads also reinforce the historical belief that outsiders do not fit in Japan

• In part due to Japan’s unique, inscrutable nature• At various times this has translated as:

“outsiders do not belong in Japan”• So, these ads may play into that chauvinistic

ideology that underlies some of the nation’s history and relations with others.

What these Ads are Really About

Above all, these ads reinforce the view that Japan and Japanese are different

• Which often translates as “special”/privileged• Occasionally this can be that outsiders are strange• Usually, though, it is Jones who sees the behaviors as peculiar– When this occurs, the ad makers take the observation in 2 directions:

– Japan is/Japanese are: unusual (which is to be lauded)– Japan is/Japanese are: unusual (which is to be criticized)

The campaign’s tag line is always the same: “What a worthless, wonderful world this is!”

Reassessing the First Ad

Let’s return to the first ad to understand more detail about what is being communicated:• Jones engages in the traditional practice of cormorant fishing• The bird is used to catch the fish, but with a loop around its

neck, so it cannot swallow• Allowing the fishermen to retrieve the fish

• The “master” explains the details of the job, including that it will take 10 years to learn the trade

What the First Ad was Really About

• The Master stuffs his remuneration into his tunic• At home he is met by his wife who demands the

money;• He responds that he wasn’t paid;• Jones stares at the ground, sheepishly, aware of the

attempted deception.

What the First Ad was Really About

• The wife aggressively pats his chest and the money falls onto the floor

• Scooping it up she turns with satisfaction and announces, “hurry, let’s eat!”

What the Ad is Really About

Leaving Jones to ponder the what he has learned• which amounts to a meditation on power relations

He draws parallels between:• the cormorant and its fish• and the fisherman and his take-home payIn other words:• the fisherman pulling on the rope around the bird’s neck• and the fisherman’s wife pulling the chain around the fisherman’s

neck

What the Ad is Really About

Which is surely social commentary; it may (or may not) contribute to an understanding about:• Japanese family• gender relations• Japanese identity

Ads and Cultural Analysis

While any single ad might be suggestive of ideas and practices in a culture . . .

No single ad can stand as a proof of the prevailing cultural views

For this, we rely on research methods:– of collecting large number of ads (or other materials)– in a systematic way– Coding them for their content (say, related to

presentations of gender and gender relations)– And then drawing conclusions from a larger sample

Ad Analysis: Practice in Intercultural Communication Skills-Building

However, for you, looking only at this single ad, your process is no different than engaging in Intercultural Communication

• Where you are an outsider• Stepping into a situation in which you are unaware of the:– Traditions– Rules– Language– Behaviors– Sets of relationships– Expectationsof those you are interacting with

Evidence of Intercultural Communication

If we look at this Tommy Lee Jones ad as an instance of Intercultural Communication, what “cultures” might be engaged?

• (Japan and alien-others)• (gender groups)• (Traditional work/lifestyle versus contemporary

lifestyle) [i.e. that of the ad viewer]• (Japanese identity)

Fit to ICC Paradigms

We know, though, from the paradigms that you have studied, that analysts may treat data like this ad in different ways

• For instance, how would social science paradigm look at this ad?

• How would the interpretive paradigm look at this ad?

• How would the critical theory paradigm look at this ad?

Inferring from Signs

Much of communication is achieved through reference to signs• Where signs are visual (non-verbal) and verbal• And from those signs, meaning is constructed

Inferring from Signs

For instance:

• A roadside shop• Serving noodles—a

definitive comfort food for Japanese

• A place, a food, an experience that creates a certain equality amongst the diverse cross section of the patrons who stop there

Inferring from Signs• Salaried workers• Truck drivers• Young couple killing

time• The chef and waitress• A sleepy student• An alien

Inferring from Signs

In this way, the kind of communication processes that we are talking about are closest to the interpretive paradigm– Although, as I’ve suggested, ad analysis often falls

into the social scientific paradigm– Occasionally, Critical Theory will look at advertising• but most often as a “system” and supporting

certain interests within a larger set of social relations (such as economics) or politics.

About Sign Theory

Interpretive theory borrows heavily from Semiotics (the theory of the sign).

The traditional model of sign is from Saussure:– Signifier (Sr): the sound-

image or its graphical equivalent• The physical form of the sign

– Signified (Sd): the concept or the meaning• Concept evoked from the

signifier

– Sign: the combination of the Sr + Sd• Which creates meaning

Theory to RealizationAn example in the Jones ad is the

lettering:

( 宇宙人 = うちゅうじん = Outer Space)

( ジョーンズ = Jones)• which for the Japanese viewer

carries a particular meaning• First, the text is a mix of Kanji

(Chinese characters) and Katakana (words derived from outside Japan)

• So, this immediately signifies that there are foreign elements present

Theory to Realization

In addition, his descriptor is:

( 地球 = ちきゅう = the earth)

( 調査中 = ちょうさちゅう = in the midst of investigation)

• So, this immediately signifies that Jones:– is from another world– is different than us (the viewer)

Other (In)Visible Signs

From the Cormorant ad, other signs(conveying meaning) would include:• The clothes the fishermen wear• The fact that when the master (Boss) speaks, the apprentice

(Jones) responds “hai” (yes, I understand) quickly, obediently– Furthermore, there is the associative signs: here is a

“boss”, who commands respect, and the product is also called “Boss”• So, inferentially the drink should command respect?

• The fish they take from the bird and put in the basket– And the fact that Jones adds the wrong-sized/kind of fish

to the haul

Other (In)Visible Signs

More (meaningful) signs include:• The portable fan on the floor• The removal of shoes in the home• The baby on the woman’s back• The large number of children in the family• The apparent reluctance of the children in the

presence of the father

Other (In)Visible SignsMore (meaningful) signs include:• The wife asking for husband’s pay• The wife patting his stomach without hesitation

after his reply• The (semi-)public touching

– striking, in that physical contact is less common in traditional Japanese relationships

• Jones’s sheepish face, recognizing that the boss tried to lie to his wife

• The tag line that “this is a worthless, wonderful world”

• The “gokun” sound that Jones makes after he drinks his coffee

Deeper Theory

A further development of semiotic theory was advanced by Roland Barthes

It’s a little too abstruse for the current discussion, but it basically argues that the first complete sign serves as the signifier (i.e. the physical form of a thing) for a second sign. It gives rise to a new Signified to form a new, deeper (larger) Sign.

Deeper TheoryBut a more important way to think about

this is that:

(1) The first sign operates at the level of DENOTATION (or observed meaning)

(2) The second sign operates at the level of CONNOTATION (or implied meaning)

This is the way that signs serve as uncover cultural codes

Or, what Barthes (unfortunately) called “myth”

Since there is nothing “mythic” about it—this is the level of “deep cultural TRUTH”

Deeper Cultural Signification

A good example of this sort of deep cultural signification is found in the following ad. Note the use of images, sounds, writing (script), and non-verbal action as first-order Denotations that help deliver the second-order Connotation.

Cultural Connotation

The case in this ad, is sakura (cherry blossom)

• Revered in Japan– Because nature is revered– Also because it is a symbol• not only of beauty• But of evanescence–The ephemeral

nature of youth (and life)

Inferring from SignsHere, persistence is shown in an interesting

way: by referencing famous athletes from Japan’s two national sports– Sumo– Baseball

Who, though in the twilight of their careers, continue to play

• And indicate their desire to “continue to fight hard”

In keeping with Cultural Mythology:• they are at a shrine• they are also seen tying their fortune at

the shrine• (presumably) in hopes of continuing

their careers

Building Meanings from Signs

But it is the coupling of one sign (the cherry blossom = ephemeral nature of youth/life)

With the sign of age resisting demise

That creates the more compound sign: the nature of existence

The soundtrack (the song “Sakura”) also creates a certain nostalgia for older viewers who recall listening to it in their youth, some decades before.

Complex Signs

The following ad has some more complex signs: here it is the juxtaposition of actions and reactions that help make meaning.

Complex Signs

It begins with Jones winning an election

Complex Signs

And the citizens are optimistic and ecstatic:

– “we want him to try his best”

– “I REALLY like him!”

Complex SignsQuickly followed by their desire

for him to quit:

– “I don’t have any comment” (There’s really nothing to say)

– “I think it might be better for him to quit”

Compound SignsThese two signs paint a message of a

very fickle, unstable constituency• Thus, the ad communicates a critical,

editorializing perspectiveThere are also other evidence of

juxtaposition at work. For instance:• The shrinking head as he is being

publicly humiliated in the legislature• Leads to the (traditional) bouquet

offered him at the end of service– symbolizing his departure from

office• A sign, itself, of his failure in

office

Compound SignsSo, too, the use of juxtaposed news

programs:

Where Jones “has it made” as a honored guest on one news broadcast

Followed by the news story reporting on his trouble and resignation.

• Again a (critical) commentary on how media build up and then tear down public figures.

Compound Signs

The same is true with the heights of mass adulation . . .

Followed by the send-off, attended only by his skeleton crew of staff

Symbolized, first, by the bright yellow of promise . . . contrasted with the final, somber grey and black of demise.

The Centrality of Signs

This shows us important strategies that are applied not only to decoding ads, but to engaging in ICC:

• attending to signs both verbal and nonverbal;• In isolation, combination, and juxtaposition• At “levels” of surface (denotation) and deeper (hidden)

structure (connotation)

This is true of any context, of any social situation:– Such as this class at this moment– But also in any episode of intercultural communication– And surely when going to a foreign society and trying to

make sense of it

Deepest Culture

Earlier we talked about the Barthes model of Second-order connotation, revealing cultural myth.

This is the toughest part of meaning-construction to perform.• Surely for cultural outsiders, but even for natives.

Deepest Culture

Yet this is where some of the most important “work” occurs in decoding, acting on, and reproducing everyday culture . . .• and, with it, society.

Deepest Culture

Here is an ad for Softbank (a mobile phone service similar to, say, Verizon or Sprint).• One of a long-running series of ads• As a cultural detective, trying to make sense of the signs . . .

What do you see? And what, if anything, does it mean?

Decoding this Example

Again, Alien Investigator Jones makes an appearance

What might he be investigating this time?Where is he?How is he dressed?

Does this have any particular significance?Who is he with?Does any of the situation seem a bit odd?

What specifically?

Deepest Culture

Watching it again, what interactions strike you as:• Interesting• Curious or strange• Worthy of comment or deeper inquiry?

Decoding this Example

One thing that you need to know is that this sort of absurd alternative reality is a feature of Japanese advertising

In this case, the series has featured this family in which the father, now retired, is a dog

And the son is a black adult

There is a daughter (Japanese) who may still be in high school, but wears an unsightly Kelly green uniform, unlike any seen in Japan

DenotationThere are two key features of this

particular installment:

1. The appearance of Spaceman Jones2. The idea that the eyebrows are

connected.

I have no real explanation for why Jones is present—his character belongs to a very different product. However, these corporations have decided to join up for this particular campaign.

Most important in this ad, though, is that the eyebrows are a form of denotation. Each member of the family has eyebrows that are connected.

From Denotationto First-Order Connotation

The continued appearance of this sign (of connection) sends a Connotation:

• that the people here are connected to one another

The inference is that the product (the cell service Platinum—whatever that is) has an ability to better connect users.

From Denotationto First-Order Connotation

But, given that the people identified in this ad are all so diverse, this is also a deeper connotation: that people of varying characteristics can be brought together by and share in the service.

Second-Order ConnotationHowever, connotation also can take us to a deeper level of

understanding (about culture/society).

Historically, the central organizational unit in Japan was called the “ie”

• In the past, this could be a family or collection of families—even a village

• After WWII, it was typically merely one family (a “nuclear family”)

• Yet, by 2000, the family had become atomized/disconnectedEither through:– declining birthrate and/or– children moving away from home to cities or pursuing

lifestyles different than traditional values and practices.

The “Ie” as MythSo a Second-Order reading of the signs in this ad concerns

the “myth” of “ie” in JapanThe myth is:• the idea that a base atomic unit does exist• that this unit is a family• that the composition of that unit has been changing• but that the family is still together

And prescriptively, viewers/society should have a more open, accepting view about the nature and functionality of this modern unit

Signs of Change?

That more open view would recognize:

• A (retired) father who is (like/no more than) a dog

• A son who is preppy and black

• A housekeeper who is an alien

The Persistence of Gender Stereotypes

Of note (both interpretively and “critically”): only the mother remains close to recognizable

Her appearance, role and behaviors seem the closest to what home-makers have been historically

Hence, she serves to reproduce the “myth” of women as homemaker in Japanese society

Conclusions

So, what can you take away from this discussion today?

Obviously, this is a very particularized world I showed you: Japanese advertising

• And within that, one very particularized ad campaign• Thus, generalizing from it should be done with

extreme caution

ConclusionsHowever, through situations, words, gestures, sounds and images, Japanese ads are

very consistent communicators of cultural contentAbove all:• Identity• Nationalism• Gender• Generations• Traditions/Histories

Also relations of:• Power• Economic activity and exchange• In-groups and Out-groups (i.e. majorities and minorities)

Additionally, capitalism, consumption, ideologies, practices and organization are also frequently depicted

Conclusions

What I most wish to impress upon you, though, is that communication within any one culture is deep and complex

• requiring great effort in decoding and interpretation

And surely the attempt to communicate between cultures is that much more complicated:

• As all cultures possess their own history, stereotypes, subjectivities, ideologies, languages and gestures, (among others)

Conclusions

Now, imagine that we are not just trying to make sense of communication between cultures within any one society . . . but between cultures ACROSS societies

As in the case where a people of one society (like America or China or Korea or France) try to make sense of the cultural products/communications from people of another society (such as Japan)

• And those people (of various affiliations) try to explain it to, and come to some agreement amongst, each other

It can, of course, be frustrating

But it is also challenging and exhilarating—• As I hope it is for you!

Thank you very much for your attention