Chapter 6
Mutual Rediscovery
p. 86-102
Texte intégral
Culture

Ideology and the Market
1Doi moi was a turning point in the Vietnamese perception of Japan. Before 1985, Japan’s representation was first and foremost an ideological one, as it was considered the United States’ “junior partner” in the context of the Cold War, in which the Japanese belonged to the enemy camp. Moreover, Japan was seen as one of the three world Capitalist centres, which was quite enough!
2Upon realising the failure of the radical socialist way to development that they had adopted after the country’s reunification, the Vietnamese seemed to turn their backs on the ideology; choosing instead the path of pragmatism, at least as far as the economy was concerned. The end of the Cold War tore down the ideological curtain that concealed all other possible analyses. Hence the Vietnamese would henceforth see Japan differently, as the Asia-Pacific giant. From an imperialist power associated with the American enemy, Japan was transformed into an economic power whose success was judged exemplary by the authorities. Japan’s fundamental role in East Asia was acknowledged, especially in the success of the NICs and the rest of the ASEAN, owing to the industrial investments and technology transfers that went with them. Further, the Japanese market became the preferred target for the Vietnamese since the embargo imposed on their country denied their companies access to the American market. Moreover, Japan became an essential partner for Vietnam in its strategy of opening up internationally, as the United States still refused to normalise its relations with Vietnam, and Europe remained cautious in its approach to the Vietnamese market. Japan also had an edge over Russia since it was on par with the United States in the fields of science and technology. Besides, Japan’s experience in development and industrial policy was endlessly rich in lessons for Vietnamese leaders. The strategies deployed by Japanese leaders in the field of energy or defence (defensive strategy under the American nuclear umbrella) served as inspiration to Vietnamese leaders, who were very partial to the models and policy guidelines they could borrow and adapt to their country’s context.
3Thus doi moi and the end of the Cold War coincided with a distinct warming up to Japan on the parts of Vietnamese leaders. As we will see, the same was true of Vietnamese public opinion and a general tendency in the whole of East Asia.
Images and Perceptions
4After the Second World War, and for several decades, the Vietnamese held a negative view of Japan, partially because of the painful memories of the past, but also as a result of the rapid growth in the 1960s. To the image of the cruel invader was added a caricatured, derogatory image of the “economic animal” living only for and through its work; an economic miracle incarnate. This vision would prevail in Asia and in the West for a long time. Violent anti-Japanese demonstrations during the official visits of Japanese Prime Ministers to Southeast Asia in the early 1970s testified to the people’s defiant attitude towards the Japanese, whom they once again regarded as intruders. But the Japanese, who were conscious of their image, patiently reconstructed it in Asia through generous public aid programmes and the large investments made by their companies. This approach, which was not unlike France’s policy of extending its cultural influence, or “Francophonie” (French-speaking world), can be called “Nippophonie” (Japanese-speaking world), but to a lesser extent, and would turn out to be completely effective in the medium term.
5Although Asian countries could not forget the Japanese military adventures and the tragedies of the Pacific War, in their public opinion, it can be seen that Japan’s image underwent “pacification”. As far as Vietnam is concerned, a large majority (69 per cent) of the people interviewed in opinion polls conducted by the Japanese press confirm that the past is no longer part of the continual discord between the two countries. Only a small percentage (16.3 per cent) thinks the past is to blame. In this regard, we must note the effect of the population’s demographic structure, since the majority consists of young people who had not personally known the World War. We must also note the quite understandable fact that the collective memory of the Indochina and Vietnam Wars left deeper scars on the Vietnamese people than the World War. According to Motoo Furuta, who teaches at the University of Tokyo and is one of the best experts on Vietnam, in primary and secondary school textbooks, depending on whether they were written before or after doi moi, we can see the same distinctions involving approbation for Japan.1 In recent textbooks, Japan is given far more importance. If critical appraisals of the Second World War period still exist, they are better placed in the international context of that time, and in particular, clearly show that the economic success after the War is no longer treated with contempt.
Are the Imperial Army’s deeds during the Second World War an obstacle to the development of the relations between your country and Japan?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| China | 48.6 | 34.6 | 16.8 |
| South Korea | 71.3 | 19.3 | 9.4 |
| Indonesia | 11.8 | 74.1 | 14.1 |
| Malaysia | 25.2 | 66.7 | 8.1 |
| Thailand | 35.5 | 60.1 | 4.4 |
| Vietnam | 16.3 | 69.0 | 14.7 |
Sources: France-Japon Eco, no. 65 (Winter 1995): 23, according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995.
6In the course of time, it would be seen that the way its Asian neighbours perceived Japan clearly changed for the better. With the notable exception of South Korea, which could not easily shake off the effects of half a century of colonisation, Japan’s image improved. A number of opinion polls conducted over the whole of Asia by major Japanese media, such as the daily Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995, show that Japan garnered a high percentage of favourable opinions.
What is your impression of Japan?
| Good (%) | Bad (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| China | 52.5 | 37.8 | 9.7 |
| South Korea | 29.8 | 67.6 | 2.6 |
| Indonesia | 71.5 | 13.9 | 14.6 |
| Malaysia | 93.2 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Thailand | 79.6 | 19.5 | 0.9 |
| Vietnam | 95.3 | 1.1 | 3.6 |
Sources: France-Japon Eco, no. 65 (Winter 1995): 23, according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995.
7Seen as a whole, these opinion polls bring out a marked difference between the judgements of Northeast Asian countries, whose approval is qualified, even hostile, and those of the Southeast, clearly in favour of Japan. In the Northeast, the United States is considered the biggest economic partner, whereas in the Southeast, Japan leads the pack. Not only is Japan’s economic presence no longer considered dangerous, it is on the contrary desired, encouraged, and in fact judged necessary.2
What does the word “Japanese” mean to you?
| Reply 1 | Reply 2 | Reply 3 | |
| China | Polite | Hard-working | Scientifically up-to-date |
| South Korea | War | Colonial domination | Frightening |
| Indonesia | Intelligent | Scientifically up to date | Hard-working |
| Malaysia | Hard-working | Intelligent | Polite |
| Thailand | Hard-working | Safe economic environment | Patriotic |
| Vietnam | Hard-working | Scientifically up to date | Intelligent |
Sources: France-Japon Eco, no. 65 (Winter, 1995): 22, according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995.
8The Japanese national also appears as the role model for all the countries of the region, with once again, the exception of Korea, where he is still synonymous with the soldier of the Imperial army. In an emerging and industrious Asia, the terms “hard-working”, “intelligent”, and “scientifically up-to-date” express a positive evaluation as well as a fascination, quite different from the envy aroused by the western high standard of living.
9The whole of the Asian region experienced a marked amelioration of opinion when questioned on what they felt about Japan. It is also in Southeast Asia that this progression is the most significant. In this region, Japan moved from being repulsive to the best guarantor of development and security. And it is in Vietnam that Japan seems to have the best support. Almost 80 per cent of the people who were interviewed felt that their opinion of Japan had improved from 1985 to 1995. This period corresponds to the ten years that had passed from the beginning of doi moi, when the country opened up to the world, to the mid-1990s that saw a rapid growth of Japanese investment in the country.
How have your feelings about Japan changed over the last ten years?
| Improved (%) | Worsened (%) | Unchanged (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| China | 25.8 | 12.0 | 52.0 | 10.2 |
| South Korea | 42.5 | 13.4 | 41.4 | 2.7 |
| Indonesia | 66.5 | 7.2 | 15.7 | 10.6 |
| Malaysia | 67.4 | 14.2 | 12.3 | 6.2 |
| Thailand | 53.0 | 22.0 | 23.2 | 1.8 |
| Vietnam | 79.9 | 5.0 | 9.0 | 6.1 |
Sources: France-Japon Eco, no. 65 (Winter 1995): 22, according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995.
10Besides, the responses of the Vietnamese to the question: “if you had the opportunity to do so, would you like to work in a Japanese company?”, as they appear in the results of the opinion poll conducted by Yomiuri, show that the Vietnamese are the most attracted by this prospect. Once again, these replies show that the Japanese companies established in Southeast Asia enjoy an excellent reputation as employers: they are seen as providing good working conditions, as well as offering promotion and training opportunities.
If you had the opportunity to do so, would you like to work in a Japanese company?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| China | 47.7 | 39.3 | 13.0 |
| South Korea | 35.4 | 56.6 | 8.0 |
| Indonesia | 65.3 | 23.6 | 11.1 |
| Malaysia | 65.6 | 23.0 | 11.3 |
| Thailand | 69.2 | 28.7 | 2.1 |
| Vietnam | 75.9 | 16.2 | 7.9 |
Sources: France-Japon Eco, no. 65 (Winter 1995): 24, according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995.
11In 2001, we conducted an opinion poll in Vietnam, retaining the structure of the questionnaire adopted in 1995 by the Yomiuri Shimbun. This poll was conducted amongst Vietnamese students of the MBA course at the Franco-Vietnamese Management training Centre housed in Ho Chi Minh City by the University of Economics and in Hanoi by the National Economics University. Our sample comprised 282 students mostly belonging to these two establishments, with an equal number of young men and women aged 20 to 35 years. The opinions were more varied as compared to the 1995 survey, probably due to the fact that the sample represents a student population that is still a minority in this country, which is far more aware of international realities than the whole of the Vietnamese population. This is, further, owing to significant changes in recent years, particularly the Asian crisis and the obvious lack of leadership in Japan, which is itself plunged in crisis, and therefore a great disappointment to many of its most fervent supporters in the region. This can be seen, especially in the responses to question 6: “Do you consider Japan the best guarantor of development and security in Southeast Asia?”. Lastly, Vietnam’s joining ASEAN changed the situation as far as the economic partnership is concerned (question 8). However, it appears that on the whole the 2001 responses do not contradict the earlier Japanese surveys. Thus we find the identical liking for the Japanese model (questions 10 and 11). Finally, the lure of Japanese firms for future Vietnamese graduates still remains very strong (see table on pp. 92 to 94).
Vietnam and the Ethnic Boom in Japan
12For their part, the Japanese are increasingly more attracted to Vietnam; its people, its landscapes, its handicrafts and its food. Change in this regard was radical. From a very small number in the 1970s, followed by a very modest number in the following decade, the flow of tourists would then increase rapidly from the beginning of the 1990s. In one decade, the number of visitors to Vietnam grew 20-fold, from 10,000 to 200,000, that is, more than 60 per cent in certain years. In 2001, Japanese tourists comprised around 9 per cent of the total number, of which the strongest battalions were made up of continental Chinese (around 30 per cent) and Taiwanese (10 per cent), even though the vast majority were seen to be tourists only by their visas, since the main aim of their trip was trade and business.
13Equally important are the flows of the viet kieu, the Vietnamese of the diaspora, visiting their families that stayed back in the country. So in 2001, Japanese tourists exceeded the number of American and French tourists.
Opinion poll of Vietnamese regarding Japan
1.What does the word “Japanese” mean to you?
| Reply 1 | Reply 2 | Reply 3 | |
| Men & women | Hard-working (57%) | Scientifically up-to-date (28%) | Intelligent (35%) |
| Men | Hard-working (52%) | Intelligent (35%) | Scientifically up-to-date (28%) |
| Women | Hard-working (61%) | Scientifically up-to-date (34%) | Intelligent (35%) |
2.What is your impression of Japan?
| Good (%) | Average (%) | Bad (%) | |
| Men & women | 58 | 40 | 2 |
| Men | 59 | 38 | 2 |
| Women | 56 | 42 | 2 |
3.Are the Imperial Army’s deeds during the Second World War an obstacle to the development of the relations between your country and Japan?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 23 | 67 | 10 |
| Men | 23 | 70 | 7 |
| Women | 23 | 63 | 12 |
4.How have your feelings about Japan changed over the last ten years?
| Improved (%) | Worsened (%) | Unchanged (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 55 | 16 | 26 | 3 |
| Men | 55 | 16 | 26 | 3 |
| Women | 54 | 16 | 25 | 3 |
5.Do you consider Japan a peaceful country?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 58 | 21 | 20 |
| Men | 55 | 24 | 21 |
| Women | 61 | 19 | 20 |
6.Do you consider Japan the best guarantor of development and security in Southeast Asia?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 27 | 49 | 24 |
| Men | 31 | 50 | 19 |
| Women | 24 | 47 | 28 |
7.Do you think Japan can have a leadership role in Southeast Asia?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 46 | 40 | 14 |
| Men | 44 | 46 | 10 |
| Women | 47 | 35 | 17 |
8.According to you, which are Vietnam’s most important economic partners?
| Reply 1 | Reply 2 | Reply 3 | |
| Men & women | ASEAN (49%) | Japan (22%) | People’s Republic of China (21%) |
| Men | ASEAN (44%) | People’s Republic of China (21%) | Japan (17%) |
| Women | ASEAN (54%) | Japan (25%) | People’s Republic of China (21%) |
9.Would you say that Japan-Vietnam relations in the last ten years have been essentially economic relations?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 73 | 18 | 8 |
| Men | 77 | 15 | 8 |
| Women | 68 | 20 | 8 |
10. Do you think Japan can serve as a model for Vietnam?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 60 | 32 | 8 |
| Men | 55 | 40 | 5 |
| Women | 63 | 25 | 12 |
11. If yes, in which area(s) can it be a model for Vietnam?
| Reply 1 | Reply 2 | |
| Men & women | Economic (70%) | Economic and cultural (30%) |
| Men | Economic (79%) | Economic and cultural (21%) |
| Women | Economic (64%) | Economic and cultural (36%) |
12.Regarding Japanese serials and commercials for Japanese products, does Vietnam television broadcast…
| Too many (%) | Enough (%) | Not enough (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 6 | 65 | 23 | 6 |
| Men | 8 | 64 | 20 | 8 |
| Women | 4 | 65 | 25 | 4 |
13.If you had the opportunity to do so, would you like to work in a Japanese company?
| Yes (%) | No (%) | Cannot say (%) | |
| Men & women | 69 | 21 | 10 |
| Men | 63 | 27 | 10 |
| Women | 73 | 17 | 10 |
Note: Hong Kong is included in PRC.
Sources: France-Japon Eco, no. 65 (Winter 1995), according to a survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun in May 1995.
14To meet this rapid increase in the number of Japanese visitors to Vietnam, Japan Airlines, ANA and Vietnam Airlines strengthened their connections with daily flights between Tokyo, Osaka and Ho Chi Minh City. A Hanoi-Tokyo connection is also on the cards. The absence of a direct flight between the two capitals during the last decade has resulted in the Japanese mostly visiting the south and the centre of the country. Moreover, the large majority of these visitors are less than forty years old and have two distinct characteristics: they mainly comprise young women (Office Ladies) and students.
Number of Japanese tourists visiting Vietnam (1993–2000)

Source: Niën Giam Thông Ké (Statistical Directory), General Statistics Office (Hanoi, 2001): 209.
15The direct consequence of this recent predilection for Vietnam is that the Japanese have become increasingly interested in “ethnic” products. From 1999, Japan has been the leading importer of handicrafts and art objects. Products made of wood and bamboo for furniture and interior decoration are particularly appreciated in Japan. In 2000, the country bought more than $60 million worth of these products. Bamboo, a traditional material in Japan, is also much sought after in the modern urban milieu. It is always in vogue. And in a chic boutique in Aoyama, which specialises in bamboo articles, a number of Vietnamese products can be found. This is followed by silk, ceramics and other porcelain items that are much in demand in Japan, whose orders are worth nearly $5 million. Besides, this proclivity is nothing new: Vietnamese ceramics were being exported to Japan since the 16th century. Excavations have uncovered them in a large number of sites in Okinawa, Sakai (near Osaka), Hakata and Edo (present-day Tokyo). In Japan, in private collections or in museums, lovely pieces of Vietnamese origin can be seen. They are particularly appreciated for their use in the tea ceremony.
16A major cultural power in Asia, Japan’s influence on Vietnam is also seen to a large extent in its multimedia products, such as disks, video games, cartoons and, of course, manga. A Japanese comic series has become a bestseller in Vietnam: Conan, the great detective, the hero born of the imagination of Gosho Aoyama. The Conan phenomenon deserves special mention as he is a real cult hero amongst young readers; more popular than other well-known comics such as Doraemon or Dragon Ball, which have also stolen the hearts of millions of Vietnamese children. This series sells at the rate of almost 25,000 copies per week, as against an average of 500 for other Vietnamese comics. But curiously, Japan is missing on Vietnamese television. Other Asian countries supply the bulk of the television programmes that are most popular with local viewers: Korea comes first, followed by Hong Kong and Taiwan, and these countries are formidable competitors to the Japanese in this sector. Korean programmes that flood the television channels have a very successful run and are regularly ranked first in the local TV ratings.
17If the modern, urban Korean lifestyle is very close to the Japanese lifestyle, Korea has the advantage of offering more affordable dreams to the Vietnamese. Korean ladies’ fashion successfully counters Japanese creations, which are too expensive for the average consumer. So a handful of Korean manufacturers dominate 60 per cent of the cosmetics sold legally in Vietnam, as against the 30 per cent claimed by Shiseido, that has a dozen boutiques in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Genuine Shiseido products are priced at 200,000 dong, whereas imitations from China, Taiwan or the Cholon market are available in supermarkets, small shops and even in some bookshops for 10,000 dong. Although the young people of the region see Tokyo as the uncontested fashion and pop culture capital, the Vietnamese turn to Seoul to acquire inexpensive, fashionable clothes, cosmetics and various accessories, apart from handicrafts. The Japanese, or rather, Japanese women have a great liking for products of Vietnamese origin, particularly household goods, tableware and clothing. So, according to the economic daily Nikkei, the ao dai, traditional Vietnamese dresses sell like hotcakes in some chic boutiques in the Daikan-Yama neighbourhood. In the Tobu department store, in another Tokyo neighbourhood, Ikebukuro, Vietnamese products such as ao dai sell very well during the Asian weeks that they organise regularly. Further, Vietnamese fashion shows held in Tokyo generally are a huge success (see box on p. 98).
18For several decades, Tokyoites had considered that fashion, the art of living and gastronomy from Europe and the United States were the only legitimate ones, but now they show a growing interest in all that comes from other Asian countries. Ethnic fashion is in, and restaurants that offer ethnic food grasp this all too well! Vietnam is now cashing in on this tendency, whereas in the past, the Japanese as a whole gave scant consideration to these traditional products, whether they were simple articles of daily use, handicrafts, or works of art. They now seem to be less obsessed by luxury brands and more interested in authentic items. Further, they are more price-conscious than before. In terms of purchasing power, Vietnam is a real Land of Plenty for Japanese visitors, and Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have become latter-day El Dorados for Japanese with shopping on their minds. This inclination has compelled the Vietnamese to make a marked progress to improve the quality of their products, knowing that their prices would be competitive anyway.
Japanese Vietnamology and Vietnamese Japanology
19In the academic world, Japan has risen to the highest ranks in the field of Vietnamology.3 The Japanese Association for Vietnamese Studies (Nihon Betonamu kenkyusha kaigi), established in 1987, is today one of the biggest in the world. It has more than hundred members. Japanese expert knowledge about Vietnam is of a high order. The specialists on this country are based almost everywhere in University establishments, research centres and private think-tanks.
20This Japanese school owes a lot to its past collaborations with French researchers, whether the EFEO (French School of the Far East), the École pratique des Hautes Études (School for Higher Studies) or the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (School for Higher Studies in Social Sciences), to mention only the main institutions. Paradoxically, Japan has a larger number of inheritors of the great tradition of French Vietnamese studies than France, which, after a period of decline, now sometimes has the benefit of collaborating with Japanese Academics. If Japanese Vietnamology grew significantly from 1975, it is far from new. Long before the First World War, the Japanese admittedly focussed on the East to derive the knowledge they needed for their modernisation, yet did not neglect Asia so as to not lose their cultural heritage. They plunged into the study of China and Sinisised countries, including Vietnam. For they thought knowledge should find a balance between western science and technology on the one hand, and the Japanese and Asian spirit and culture on the other. It was the magic formula summarised by the slogan “Wakon Yôsai ”, literally “Japanese spirit and western science”. In the period between the two World Wars, and more precisely in the 1930s and 1940s, Japan felt the urgent need to update its knowledge of Southeast Asian countries. Japanese specialists on Europe were therefore mobilised as they had easier access to works published in English and especially in French. A new specialisation appeared, “French Indo-Chinese studies” (Futsuin Kenkyû). For, during the Greater Asia Co-prosperity Sphere propaganda in the forties, many publications speculated on the similarities between the two peoples.
21After the Second World War, one had to wait for the early 1960s for Vietnamese classes to be opened in several universities, arising due to sympathy for independence struggle movements and those against the Vietnam War. But it was actually after the hostilities had ended in the mid-1970s, that Vietnamese studies flourished. The rising power of Japanese research on Vietnam fully contributed to Japan’s diplomatic objective of getting closer to this country, as Motoo Furuta points out: “Perhaps, the best symbol of this era of intellectual exchange between the two countries was the Hoi An International Symposium, held in March 1990, in Da Nang, in the central region of Vietnam…. The Hoi An International Symposium was successful not only for the rich insights contained in the papers, but also because it symbolised the dawn of a new era of international exchange between Vietnam and Japan.”4
22In Vietnam, Japanese studies is relatively new field. A report drawn up by the Japan Foundation in 1999, based on surveys conducted by the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi, shows that there were around hundred specialists (95 in 1996), of whom 41 per cent had doctorates, spread over various disciplines, including History (29), Economics (25), International Relations (7) and Linguistics (6). The majority (60 per cent) were interested in the Meiji modernisation period and in the Post-War economic development. The dynamism of Japanese studies in Vietnam owes a lot to official development aid as well as to foundations such as the Japan Foundation, the Sumitomo Foundation and the Toyota Foundation, that have been offering around hundred scholarships in techno-logy every year since 1997. The Japan-ASEAN programme launched in 1995 by the Government enables some hundred young Vietnamese to be invited for study each year. Lastly, the number of Vietnamese students staying in Japan is consistently increasing despite the prohibitive cost of studies in that country. In fact, a large majority benefits from scholarships.
23At the institutional level, Vietnam has around 15 establishments that concentrate on Japan. The biggest is the Vietnam Centre for Japanese Studies, founded in 1993 by a Government order, within the framework of the National Centre for Human and Social Sciences. With around 30 researchers, the Centre comprises five Research Departments for Economics, Politics, History, Culture and Language, and Nippo-Vietnamese relations. It is interesting to note that a country like France has no such centre on Japan.
24In addition to this facility, the Japanese Government’s initiatives saw the recent establishment of several Colleges, the construction of which began in 2001, notably two establishments for teaching International Trade, one in Hanoi, the Ecole supérieure de commerce extérieur (Institute of Foreign Trade), a joint venture; the other, the Vietnam-Japan Human Resources Cooperation Centre, at a cost of $3 million at Ho Chi Minh City, also offers courses in Japanese management, language and culture. Lastly, we must mention the opening of the Vietnam ELearning Centre in 2001, inaugurated in Hanoi by Hiranuma Takeo, the Minister for the Economy and International Trade (METI). In these centres, Japan’s objective is training future executives and public and private company directors in Japanese managerial practice and initiating future engineers and technicians to Japanese technology. In certain spheres, we find very focussed programmes such as those offered by Nedo, a Japanese body responsible for the development of the coal industry, that trains yearly around 60 engineers and technicians of Vietnamese mines belonging to Vinacoal, a company that exports 3 million metric tons of anthracite every year, a third of which goes to Japan.
Influences, Cross-culture and Cultural Traditions
25It is probable that the rapprochement and the various exchanges between the two countries represent an enduring trend in their relations. Many convergent indices speak for their mutual rediscovery. Yet the general impression is that we are still in an observatory phase. In Vietnam, as in other Asian countries, relations can be assessed over a long term, and when all is said and done, ten years is not such a long time.
26So we feel it is much too early to talk of “cross-culture”. Seen from this angle, the initiative taken by Arnold, the Saigon hotelier, however interesting it may be, still largely comes within “fundamental research”. It also arises from typically Japanese cultural characteristics that are strongly marked by insularity and a feeling of “irreducibility”, whereas Vietnamese culture is still under construction, after a decade resolutely in favour of economic take-off and quite naturally, material prosperity. It is also no doubt too early to predict that Japan will be the one to derive more benefit from the current opening process in Vietnamese culture, be it in advertising, fashion or popular culture. The Vietnamese may also turn to the United States that is still a reference point and a source of fascination. Moreover, there is a large viet kieu community in the United States, which represents a powerful vector for the propagation of ideas and trends. Many films produced in the United States are immediately recorded, sometimes in the cinema hall itself, and displayed for sale in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City shops.
27In fact, soon we will be seeing a mixture of American, Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultural influences here, as in other places in the Asia-Pacific region. This does not mean that Vietnamese culture will disappear. Just like Japanese culture, it seems strong enough to adapt to these influences without in any way losing its originality. In this respect, it is possible to draw a parallel between the situations in Japan and Vietnam, for both countries have developed, throughout their histories, a capacity to absorb foreign influences whilst preserving their own traditions.
Notes de bas de page
1Motoo Furuta, “Betonamu no Nihonzô” (Vietnam’s image in Japan), in Nihon no imeiji no Kosaku, ed. Yamauchi Masayuki (Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku
2Yves Bougon, “Le Japan a gagné la guerre de l’image”, France-Japan Éco, no. 65 (Winter 1995): 22–24.
3Motoo Furuta, Japanese Research on Vietnam, in Social Science (Tokyo: University of Tokyo, 1997), pp. 18–19; Masaya Shiraishi, “A Short Essay on Scientific Exchanges Between Japan and South-East Asia”, The Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, no. 1 (Tokyo, 2000): 9–106.
4Furuta, Japanese Research on Vietnam, in Social Science, p. 19.
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