Cultural re-importation through soft power and transnational cultural flows mediated by digital influence: the case of city pop music in Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia

Abstract

Japanese popular culture (pop culture) has penetrated and influenced foreign cultural markets through various means. Japanese city pop music, popular from the 1970s through the 1980s, has charted a new trajectory in this transnational cultural spillover. The attractiveness of the city pop genre was rediscovered abroad; the hit songs were disseminated through social media, which eventually led to a revival of this genre’s popularity in Japan. This study refers to this phenomenon as cultural re-importation and proposes some theoretical deliberations to capture it. It recognises that the complex process of re-importation is mediated by digital means of communication, such as social media platforms YouTube and TikTok. This study employs three theoretical perspectives on the cultural spillover mechanism, namely, Japan’s soft power, transnational cultural flows, and digital influence. To elucidate these processes empirically, we analysed data from in-depth interviews with 35 young people from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. Secondary data were collected as well, including online news and media releases. Based on the interview findings, this study posits that cultural re-importation is a complex interplay of several factors.

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