History Main / JapanTakesOverTheWorld

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': This plot is used in the episode "Chinpokemon" where the {{Anime}} show is just camouflage for Japan's real intention to take over the world by brainswashing all infants into becoming Nippophiles.[[note]]Lovers of Japanese culture.[[/note]]

* The VideoGames industry can be seen as a microcosm of this trope, as Japan pretty much dominated the worldwide video game industry throughout the 1980s to 1990s up until the early 2000s. Even today, many of the most prominent video game franchises (''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'') are Japanese, as are two of the three companies that still make video game consoles (Nintendo and Sony).

* ''Theatre/TheCompleteHistoryOfAmericaAbridged'' gives this a wink and a nod. A RadioDrama where AmericaWonWorldWarII is acted out, and at the end Rock Fury, Super GI says: "Well, thank goodness we won this war; otherwise, the German and Japanese economies would dominate the world." The performers then do a DoubleTake and check that their scripts are correct, and the one playing Rock then delivers this AsideComment: "Hmm... a terrifying thought."

* ''Theatre/TheCompleteHistoryOfAmericaAbridged'' gives this a wink and a nod. A RadioDrama where AmericanWonWorldWarII is acted out, and at the end Rock Fury, Super GI says: "Well, thank goodness we won this war; otherwise, the German and Japanese economies would dominate the world." The performers then do a DoubleTake and check that their scripts are correct, and the one playing Rock then delivers this AsideComment: "Hmm... a terrifying thought."

* ''Theatre/TheCompleteHistoryOfAmericaAbridged'' gives this a wink and a nod at the end of its UsefulNotes/WorldWarII sketch:
-->'''Rock''': "Well, thank goodness we won this war; otherwise, the German and Japanese economies would dominate the world."\\
''(The boys can't believe this is right. They all check to make sure that their scripts are correct.)''\\
'''Rock''': Hmm... a terrifying thought.

* In ''Japan Bashing'', a StrategyGame for the UsefulNotes/PC98, the player must prevent Japan from taking over the U.S. by deploying anti-Japanese propaganda. Since [[MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting it's a Japanese game made by Japanese people for Japanese people]], it's all PlayedForLaughs.

* ''The Secret of The Swordfish'' (the first book of the ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' series) has the Yellow Empire as antagonist. It is explicitly named to be Tibet, but is obviously an expy of Imperial Japan, with red sun banner, soldiers wearing Japanese-like uniforms, and using [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German weapons]]. They even manage to conquer most of the world in the beginning of the story. A later book in the series mentions they had a non aggression treaty with UsefulNotes/NaziGermany back in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* [[TheStarscream Zero]] from ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGobots'' was likely meant to be an anti-Japanese sentiment. Not only does he transform into a Japanese WWII plane but he also ends his first appearance with "[[TakingYouWithMe Operation Kamikazee]]". Although, oddly enough, ''Gobots'' was based on the Japanese ''Toys/MachineRobo'' franchise.

* Creator/KimNewman's ''Literature/DarkFuture'' for the Creator/GamesWorkshop [[TabletopGame/DarkFuture setting]] invoke this in the form of the [[MegaCorp GenTech]], a Japanese-Korean conglomerate headed by the mysterious Dr. Zarathustra and producing things for virtually every purpose from Paradise, its home appliances and decoration subsidiary through to [=BioDiv=], their genetics and cybernetics research department who can give you bigger breasts, better highs, up to five new dentitions pre-implanted or augment your body to let shrug off bullet wounds and tear open tanks.

In TheEighties and the [[TheNineties early '90s]], Americans pretty much expected that UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} would be their new overlords in a decade or two. While other nations were too busy worrying about the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and trying to dominate the world militarily, Japan was quietly taking over the business and finance sector with a never ending stream of technological advances and high-quality consumer goods, supported by a seemingly single-minded dedication to work, precision manufacturing, and management improvement. There was concern that no matter what other countries did, Japanese domination of the global economy was inevitable.

Since the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades Japanese economic crash]] starting in the early 1990s, however, the trope has become [[DiscreditedTrope discredited]], as the Japanese aura of invulnerability became permanently cracked (see [[Analysis/JapanTakesOverTheWorld Analysis]] for more details). Today, the trope has been replaced in the Western world with a preoccupation over [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld China taking over the world]], which hilariously has lead to some Western commentators arguing for a return of [[AesopAmnesia Japan as a strong regional power, including outright attempts at remilitarization.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} 2020'' subverts this. While Japan is easily one of the most powerful nation states in the near future, with Zaibatsu-like megacorporations having a hold in all markets and vast corporate armies protecting Japanese assets and Arasaka being one of the most powerful of the world -if not ''the'' most-, [[UnitedEurope European Economic Community]] is the dominant superpower both in terms of their economy and military. The [=EuroDollar=] has replaced US Dollar as de facto global currency and EEC also operates a giant [[MagneticWeapons rail gun]] on the moon, that is capable of annihilating any potential threat to them without the fear of MutuallyAssuredDestruction, guaranteeing military supremacy over other nations.

->''"Pearl Harbor didn't work out so good, so we got you with tape decks."''

Since the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decades Japanese economic crash]] starting in the early 1990s, however, the trope has become [[DiscreditedTrope discredited]], as the Japanese aura of invulnerability became permanently cracked (see [[Analysis/JapanTakesOverTheWorld Analysis]] for more details). Today, the trope has been replaced in the Western world with a preoccupation over [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld China taking over the world]].

* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': [[spoiler:As revealed by Amai Mask in Chapter 119 of the webcomic, originally, the world was made of many different nations, not unlike our own. The nations fought multiple world wars with each other over natural resources, and eventually, it got so bad and killed so many people that they all decided to make up and band together to preserve the future and prioritize the future generations by creating an OneWorldOrder; which said unified government, language, and culture suspiciously Japanese-related.]]

* In ''Film/{{Moon}}'', Japan does ''not'' take over the world. Korea does.