Comparative Study Of The Development Of Cultural Industries In Japan And Korea

Culture, as a form of goods and services entering the market, has increasingly shown great economic value in the development process of modern society. Cultural industries has become the leading industry in some countries'GDP and occupied a pivotal position. No matter in developed or developing countries, cultural industries are playing a vital role in promoting the country and have become a key force for economic and social development.In the past two decades, the cultural industries in Japan and Korea developed rapidly. Japan addressed the 21st century "cultural nation" approach in 1996, seeking to show its new status in world rapid economic development based on cultural industries. As one of the "Asian Tigers", Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis to bottom in 1997. But through a series of adjustments on the development strategies, Korean economy rise again within a few years. Cultural industry has become the most active and fastest-growing part in Korean national economy.Japan and Korea both belong to Northeast Asia and have many geographical and cultural similarities, but differ much in terms of economic strength, structure and development path. To study these two countries comparatively in the development of cultural similarities and differences between industries, especially from the perspective of the cultural industry, developing process, managing and operating system, economic performance etc, will capture some useful experience and lessons for our own country.This thesis is composed of eight chapters. Main content of each chapter is as follows.Chapter 1 introduces the background and inceptions of this thesis. It introduces the current studies on this subject, the structure and research method of the thesis, then discuss the innovation and insufficiencies of the study.Chapter 2 focuses on the basic concept of cultural industries, characteristics, and related theories and explanations. "Cultural industries" was originally created by the West in the 20th century then was widely used in Europe. The concept of cultural industries in different countries and regions is different. Japan and Korea emphasis on the "contents" of cultural industries, accompanying by advances in technology, digital content.Over the years, theories on the cultural industries have undergone a gradual development along with the development of modern economics. Theory of cultural industry has become a new branch of economics and gained public and academic recognition. Japan and Korea have achieved remarkable results in the practices of cultural industries, but development in theory has been slow. Japan and Korea did not follow the traditional path of industrialization and theoretical basis. Instead, they extended traditional manufacturing theories of industrial organization, management and other aspects of experience during their economic development.Chapter 3 is a review of development process of cultural industries in Japan and Korea. In terms of developing cultural industries, Japan and Korea have similarities, but different characteristics as well. Both countries take exporting to overseas as cultural industry development priorities. Japanese cultural industries reflect more on "inheritance" and "sustain", to achieve a harmonious integration with other industries. In contrast, Korean cultural industry has some "start-up" features, relatively pays more attention to supporting and developing the contents and the industry.Chapter 4 is comparative analysis of managing system in Japanese and Korean cultural industries. Cultural industries in both countries are driven by the governments under the strong guidance. To achieve the revitalization of the two countries spare no effort from the highest government level, the formation of the national will, and set by government agencies, legal and policy system, financial support policies in the domestic form development of cultural industries and efficient management system. Japan sharp in the management of the "government, industry, science" and "production, learning and research" model, the parties bear their respective responsibilities, work together to achieve the promotion and development of cultural industries. Korea, the mastermind of the changes in the Government's own characteristics and cultural industries to changes in the cultural industries on the frequent changes in management institutions, various departments in the development process repeated adjustments.Chapter 5 is comparative analysis on operating systems of cultural industries in Japan and Korea. This chapter analyzes characteristics of Japanese and Korean cultural enterprises, effects of traditional Japanese enterprise culture on Japanese cultural industry, effects of Korean family-based enterprise culture on Korean cultural industries. Also, it discusses different characteristics of in detailed fields of cultural industries in Japan and Korea.Chapter 6 discusses path of cultural industries of Japan and Korea, from perspective of strategic planning, laws and regulations, investment and finances, industrial clustering and professionals in the industry. Both countries select flexible ways on getting capital input in the development of cultural industry. Japanese governments use "visible hand" with the market "invisible hand" together to play a role. Korean is more emphasized on developing the industries through government guidance. Cultural industries were developed significantly through the cluster of factors of production, optimization of resource allocation, lower transaction costs, higher economic efficiency, speedy institutional innovation, and extended industrial chain. Japan and Korea put great emphasis on the importance of well-trained professionals while constructing the management system of cultural industries. Colleges in both countries offer special animation, games design courses, even specialized research institutions were built to focus on training related professionals. Meanwhile, the government guide and assist education programs from personnel motivation to job arrangements, to develop corresponding set of talents for the cultural industries, which is a proprietary mechanism. Chapter 7 compares the market performance of Japan and Korea cultural industries from several aspects, such as market scale, industrial competence, export etc. Japan, as the second largest cultural industrial country in the world, has more strength in cultural industry scale, competence and export income although it now slows down in development. Korea, as a follower, developed cultural industries rapidly and has become an important member in global cultural industry. Its sustained capability of developing its cultural industry is to be examined in the future. This chapter also discusses difficulties and challenges in both countries during the development process of cultural industries.Chapter 8 is to analyze the insights for China from experience of Japan and Korea to further develop cultural industries in China. The main experience from Japan and Korea for China to learn is that the Government committed to lead the development of cultural industry, to set up corresponding policy and law improvement, to provide flexible investment and financing system and personnel training. This paper presents six specific policy recommendations as conclusions:First, the strategies to develop cultural industries should be more exact and stable. Second, the governmental macro adjustments should be more emphasized on administration and coordination. Third, the systematic reform should be improved gradually. Fourth, the financial innovation should support the cultural industries from all aspects. Fifth, the training of professionals for cultural industries should be enhanced. Six, the development of original products should be focused to prevent the down of the industry. Seven, the domestic customer environment should be well cultivated, as well as the overseas market.