<It might be in time>
◼️ An Accelerating Era
Recently, I have begun to feel a distinct sense of acceleration in the passage of time. The fact that subjective time feels shorter as we age can be explained by Janet's Law. However, one cannot deny the feeling that important events in global affairs are occurring frequently and that the very mechanisms of the world are changing rapidly. After the Cold War, the consensus that democracy and global capitalism were the only game in town began to crumble in the 2010s, and as we entered the 2020s, multiple fronts began to move simultaneously. The fundamental reorganization of European security due to the war in Ukraine, the full-scale decoupling of the US and China, the tectonic shifts in intellectual labor due to the civilian penetration of AI, the multipolar challenge to dollar hegemony, and the institutional fatigue caused by populism within the West. Usually, these things progress over decades. However, they are currently proceeding in parallel.
◼️ The Propagation of Thought
At the pinnacle of the world structure sits an ideology symbolized by BlackRock—that "everything can be quantified and optimized"—along with an obsession with ownership, a will to permanence, and a zero-sum view of power. Along with the belief that "control of scarce resources is the source of power," which the petrodollar system presupposes, these embody an Old Testament worldview that the chosen should rule and enemies should be eliminated. The sense of compassion, which is a symbol of Japanese identity, is an ideology that neutralizes such a gaze. The concept of impermanence is also a philosophy that fundamentally undermines the will to permanent rule. Originally, it would have taken centuries for these ideas to reach the core of the world. However, in this accelerated era, it is possible that this could happen within a few years.
◼️ The Power of Content
In recent years, Japanese anime and manga have swept through Western cultural content. Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man. As Marvel and Disney lose momentum, Japanese content sits at the center of what young people around the world are most enthusiastic about. Godzilla Minus One's Academy Award for Best Visual Effects was a symbol that Japanese products were also technically evaluated in the heart of Hollywood. A sequel is also scheduled for the fall. Why is Japanese cultural content so supported by the world? While Western content focuses on binary oppositions of good and evil, the victory of heroes, and the clarity of catharsis, Japanese content has logic and sadness even in its enemies, something is lost even when they win, and it takes the sorrow of existence itself as the backbone of the story. This is an expression of the unspoken sense of compassion and the concept of impermanence. Perhaps viewers around the world are attracted to something whose true identity they do not yet know. Sensibility has reached them before ideology.
◼️ The Disappearance of Barriers
The greatest physical barrier to the propagation of thought is language. It took decades for Soseki to be read in English with specialized translators and publishers, but now we are in an era where text written in Japanese is converted into English, Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi in real time. In other words, the speed of the propagation of thought has, for the first time, caught up with the speed of the generation of thought. Even more importantly, translation AI is approaching an accuracy that carries not just words, but cultural context as well. The possibility has emerged to deliver the unique nuances of the sense of compassion while retaining them. It has become an era where concepts can be propagated without dilution. It took hundreds of years for Buddhism to spread across Asia, and it took hundreds of years for Christianity to cover Europe. Both were limited by language and translators, but now, thanks to AI translation functions, the time lag that was required until now has been eliminated.
◼️ Generational Change
Now that a quarter of a century has passed since the beginning of the 21st century, the generation baptized by Japanese culture consists of multiple layers. Those in their 50s who spent their childhood in the 1970s grew up with Space Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, Mobile Suit Gundam, Grendizer, Voltes V, and countless other anime and manga. And these were not just for children. Space Battleship Yamato faced the fear of extinction and self-sacrifice head-on, with a gravity that included the death of Captain Okita and the resolve of each crew member. 999 expressed the concept of impermanence by depicting the preciousness and beauty of finite life, and Gundam presented a structure in which enemies have justice and allies have evil in a full-scale way. Those in their 50s had the dismantling of the binary opposition of good and evil hammered into them during their adolescence. Grendizer caused a social phenomenon in Europe and the Middle East, and Voltes V became a symbol of social change in the Philippines. The sensibility nurtured by this generation has a higher ideological density than subsequent generations, and they have all come to occupy decision-making positions in various fields. In other words, that sensibility has gradually, but surely, been incorporated into the seats of power. The following generation in their 40s grew up with Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, and Sailor Moon in the 1980s and 90s, and those in their 30s walked with the shock of Attack on Titan in addition to Naruto and Death Note in the 2000s. The Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man generation is now entering society in their 20s. The baptism of Japanese culture is not just an entertainment experience. It is an experience that crystallized a worldview where good and evil are not simple, empathy for the sadness of enemies, and the sensibility of sacrifice and impermanence into stories. Even if that influence is not consciously recognized, it will be engraved into the framework of judgment. On the other hand, while the cultural foundation of Davos regulars, Wall Street decision-makers, and Western political leaders is Hollywood-style binary opposition and a biblical worldview, that generation is exiting the stage. The cultural sensibilities of their successors will eventually refresh the structure. This is because a situation unprecedented in history is unfolding, where generations spanning thirty years, from their 50s to their 20s, have experienced common emotions in their childhood.
◼️ Structural Transformation
Where can we find a way to transform the structure of Japan itself? Ministry of Finance-style control, subordination to the US, and ideological hollowing cannot be moved by a single means. Multiple layers need to proceed in parallel, reinforcing each other. The most sustainable means is the work of connecting the sense of compassion and the concept of impermanence carried by anime, manga, and novels to a conscious ideological language. What the world has received as sensibility is written by individuals on Note or SNS as political and economic principles, translated by AI, and spread to the world. It is a healthy propagation for ideas to spread not by being preached, but by those who need them reaching out for them naturally. Ministry of Finance-style control, petrodollar dependence, and ideological hollowing do not reside in specific people or buildings; they are structures, inertia, and a collective unconscious. Since they are not targets that can be shot with a gun, no effect can be expected from a coup d'état. The February 26 Incident was proof of that. And above all, the moment a transformation driven by the sense of compassion and the concept of impermanence is started by violence, that ideology will contain a self-contradiction. If so, what is an effective measure? Transformation through existing political parties, bureaucratic organizations, and major media is also unlikely, and the Ministry of Finance-style structure is an impregnable fortress. The breakthrough lies in penetration from the local level, the cultivation of independent media, and the formation of intellectual networks outside the system. The rise of the Sanseito Party and the Japan Conservative Party is a sign of this. Regardless of success or failure, it is important that circuits are being created outside the existing structure. This is because transformation begins not from the center, but from the grassroots. The most time-consuming, yet deepest, transformation is direct investment in the generation. Many in their 20s and 30s have sensibility but no language. While experiencing the sense of compassion and the concept of impermanence carried by Japanese content, they may not be aware of it as an ideology. Handing over the language of thought to that generation through education, creation, and dialogue. Because the moment sensibility is verbalized, it becomes a principle of action. On an economic level, it is effective to distance oneself from the dual dependence on the yen and the dollar at the individual and regional level. Regional currencies, barter economies, and food self-sufficiency communities are not just survivalism, but disobedience to the petrodollar system. Translating the sense of compassion into economic principles is nothing less than an attempt to place concepts that cannot be quantified—namely, care, trust, and coexistence—at the core of the economy. Even if not large-scale, if it exceeds a critical point, it will shake the structure. One of the reasons why the Ministry of Finance-style structure is solid is that it has been able to maintain information asymmetry. AI-based information analysis, verbalization, translation, and diffusion have the power to partially dismantle that asymmetry. Now that individuals can have the same dissemination power as the major media of the past, the act of generating, translating, and circulating independent analysis with AI will inevitably have an impact on the world. The conditions are being met for the ripples of a single stone to reach the other side of the globe.
◼️ Ripples
When each reinforces the other and proceeds simultaneously, transformation will come. Culture carries thought, thought gains language, language moves generations, and generations change systems. For the first time in this era, there is a possibility that the speed of this will fit within the span of a human life. The work of each person is like the ripples created by a stone thrown into the ocean. However, the ripples interfere with each other, and when one wave overlaps with another's wave, the amplitude will surely become a great force.
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