33 years ago (1989) at around the end of September of that year, the Sony Corporation acquired Columbia Pictures from the Coca Cola Company prompting an arguably xenophobic and racist backlash against Japan and the Japanese in the US as exemplified by the cover of the English language version of Newsweek which blared about the Japanese "invasion" of Hollywood with a Caucasian-looking Columbia Pictures torch-bearing icon, clad in what seems to be some kind of weird pseudo-geisha attire. Back then, it may be recalled that it was Japan, not China, that was the boogeyman for many Americans (and Europeans, including the former French prime minister Edith Cresson who famously referred to the Japanese as "yellow dwarfs" and "ants").
Interestingly, the Japanese language edition of Newsweek has the same illustration of a kimono clad figure but with the headline "Sony's attack." No mention about an invasion from Japan. I wrote a letter to Newsweek about this, asking them why they didn't stick to their xenophobic principles for the Japanese edition and use the same sensational headline as that used for the US edition. I did not receive a reply. Were the honchos at Newsweek thinking that the sensational US edition headline was too provocative and didn't have the guts to admit to their Japanese readers that they thought the Japanese were "invading" the US? Or perhaps they did not want to let on to their Japanese readers that they were racist and/or xenophobic?
In any case, for those who are interested in this bit of business history about Sony's advance into the picture making business and its struggle in accommodating Hollywood culture (as well as about Panasonic's acquisition of Universal Pictures which happened a year after in 1990), you can read about these events and the aftermath in my book "Mergers, Acquisitions, and Global Empires" (Routledge, 2012, available from major book sellers and as mentioned in this website).
This article was originally in LinkedIn.
33年前（1989年）の9月末頃、ソニー株式会社がコカ・コーラ社からコロンビア映画を買収し、日本人のハリウッド「侵略」を喧伝するNewsweek英語版の表紙には、コロンビア映画社の聖火を持つ女神のアイコンが奇妙な擬似芸者の衣装を身にまとった様子で登場し、米国では日本と日本人に対する外国人恐怖症と人種差別主義の反発が起こったのである。当時、多くのアメリカ人（と、日本人を「黄色小人」「アリ」と呼んだことで有名なフランスの元首相エディス・クレソンを含むヨーロッパ人）にとって、ブギーマンだったのは中国ではなく日本だったことが思い出されるかもしれない。
興味深いことに、ニューズウィークの日本語版には、着物を着た人物の同じイラストが掲載されているが、"ソニー進撃 "という見出しが付けられている。日本からの侵略については触れられていない。私はこの件について、ニューズウィーク社に手紙を書き、なぜ日本語版では外国人嫌いの原則に忠実で、米国版と同じセンセーショナルな見出しを使わないのか、と尋ねた。しかし、返事はなかった。ニューズウィーク社の幹部は、米国版のセンセーショナルな見出しは刺激的すぎると考え、日本人が米国を「侵略」していると考えていることを日本の読者に認める度胸がなかったのだろうか。あるいは、自分たちが人種差別主義者、外国人恐怖症であることを日本の読者に知られたくなかったのだろうか？
いずれにせよ、ソニーの映画製作ビジネスへの進出とハリウッド文化への対応に苦心したビジネス史（及び1990年に起きた松下電器株式会社のユニバーサル社買収について）に興味のある方は、拙著「Mergers, Acquisitions, and Global Empires」（Routledge, 2012、主要書店で販売、本ウエッブサイトでも紹介）にこれらの出来事とその後を紹介していますので、ご参照ください。
Comments