Marketing Japanese Pop Culture

Offering a marketing-centred lens on manga, anime, games and character-driven content, this volume explores how Japanese pop culture has shaped global audiences and how it can serve as a strategic driver of local vibrancy and community identity.Drawing on key concepts such as megamarketing, participatory culture, content tourism and place branding, theory and practice is bridged to illuminate how pop culture operates both as a global industry and as a community-driven catalyst for social change. Featuring diverse case studies, the chapters offer a unique understanding of how Japanese pop culture functions within marketing ecosystems and creative economies. Where previous books focus on the state-led branding framework known as "Cool Japan", the contributors here pay attention to practices driven by regional actors, firms and fan communities. In doing so, they propose marketing strategies that operate across both international and domestic markets, including fan engagement, legitimacy-building and institutional positioning.This book will appeal to students and professors in Japanese studies, media and cultural studies, and global marketing, as well as policymakers and practitioners interested in creative industries, tourism and regional creativity.