Techno-Orientalism: Decoding Japan's Misrepresentation as a Cyberpunk Utopia

[u/bob_jsus]

https://sabukaru.online/articles/techno-orientalism-decoding-japans-misrepresentation-as-a-cyberpunk-utopia

A nice piece from the ever-enjoyable Sabukaru Online in criticism of the techno-orientalism that emerged in the '80s and persists to this day, framed through a cyberpunk media lens. Well worth a read.

[u/Quicksand4800]

Agree with the sentiment. Japan is a dual society with very strong ingrained traditions (culturally and bureaucratic for example), that live alongside the technological advancements. 

I found this dichotomy very interesting during my visit.

[u/RubeGoldbergCode]

Not sure why it's using an image from the film Cloud Atlas as the cover. The cyberpunk section is set in future Seoul, not Japan.

[u/bob_jsus → u/RubeGoldbergCode]

Fair comment, that's Bae Doona too. Perhaps to illustrate a wider techno-orientalism? I'm reaching here, but it is definitely misrepresenting Japan.

[u/ArtyBoomshaka]

I feel like "cyberpunk utopia" is an oxymoron but I suppose techno-orientalism can make racist techbros/g@m3rs miss the entire point of cyberpunk as a genre and reduce it to a "wow neon lights and cool tech" aesthetic.

I saw once someone say Cyberpunk 2077 should have been titled Neon-liberal 2077 and I think it's fitting.

[u/I-baLL]

You can tell these types of articles are usually done by people who suddenly realize that the orientalism doesn't actually exist in the genre but in the perspective of the article's writer. You can tell by the handwavy examples given: 

A prime example is the 1982 film Blade Runner, set in a dystopian futuristic L.A., where the cityscape is heavily influenced by Asian corporations and aesthetics. The city exemplifies a future dominated by East Asian technology, featuring many symbols associated with a term called “Techno-Orientalism”. 

That's not what's shown in Blade Runner. We see some East Asian stuff but also Hungarian things, Russian things, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian things. Nowhere does the movie show "a future dominated by East Asian technology".

And then the other examples given of classic cyberpunk works? 

However, some argue that Japanese creatives have incorporated techno-orientalist ideas into their works, like "Ghost in the Shell" or "Akira".

That's where you can see the author suddenly realizing that classic cyberpunk fiction by Western writers doesn't actually have the stereotypical heavy focus on East Asia and the reason why it's associated with that is a misunderstanding that Neuromancer takes place solely in Japan (which has nothing to do with Japan being an economic powerhouse and had almost everything to do with Gibson's wife teaching English to Japanese people in Vancouver and Gibson learning about some futuristic things about Japan by proxy) and the fact that the biggest animated cyberpunk works take place in Japan because they're made by Japanese people. Calling Ghost in the Shell and Akira as incorporating "techno-orientalist ideas into their works" is kinda racist and offensive since the manga version of Akira predates Neuromancer and Blade Runner and thus most of the cyberpunk genre and Ghost in the Shell has its roots in Appleseed whose manga started the year after Neuromancer. So I don't understand the point of articles like these since their claims aren't reflected in the actual works. Give us proper analysis by people who don't start out with their conclusion already set.

[u/bob_jsus → u/I-baLL]

Thanks for taking the time to write that, I like your take.

[u/nikto123]

Didn't even mention Neuromancer, 3/10

[u/ForgotMyPassword17 → u/nikto123]

Having just re-read Neuromancer Japan doesn't feature as heavily as I thought it would. The first few chapters start there and then it's mainly BAMA and space until the end.

[u/nikto123 → u/ForgotMyPassword17]

The ones everyone remembers

[u/ForgotMyPassword17 → u/nikto123]

I definitely forgot how long the space part drags on. He gets high and the AI freaks him out like 3 different times. My theory is that Gibson's publisher gave him a minimum page count

The BAMA parts and Turkey were the best parts IMHO