History UsefulNotes / Japan

Under a new constitution, the Allies had planned to demilitarize Japan completely and prevent it from being able to wage war by stripping it of its industry. However, the UsefulNotes/ColdWar stymied that plan; after mainland China fell to the communists, Japan suddenly became an important bulwark in Asia against communism in China and the Soviet Union, both of which are only a short distance away. Although the constitution prohibited Japan from creating a standing army, it was allowed to [[LoopholeAbuse exploit a loophole]] by creating the so-called "[[UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce Japan Self-Defense Forces]]", originally a police force that later morphed into an army. It was from Japan that the US launched its Eighth Army in defense of UsefulNotes/SouthKorea during the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar. The country subsequently received generous funding from the US, in a similar way to Western Europe's Marshall Plan, enabling it to recover quickly from the war devastation and basically returning it to pre-war levels at the end of the 1950s. The Japanese postwar economic miracle reached its peak in the 1960s, when the country shockingly became the world's second biggest economy in a very short time. This continued in the next few decades, but began winding down come the 1990s, when an asset price bubble[[note]]A state when the stock market and real estate prices are grossly inflated in regards to intrinsic value.[[/note]] popped, causing an economic stagnation that lasted for an entire decade. Its influence is still felt in many places today.\\\

* ''Film/{{Wasabi}}'' sees a French CowboyCop (Creator/JeanReno) go to Japan and deal with what his OldFlame [[AsianBabymama left behind]] (a BrattyTeenageDaughter, among others). In doing so, he clashes with a {{Yakuza}} gang.

* ''Film/{{Wasabi}}'' sees a French CowboyCop (Creator/JeanReno) go to Japan and deal with what his OldFlame left behind (a BrattyTeenageDaughter, among others). In doing so, he clashes with a {{Yakuza}} gang.

* The 1980 miniseries adaptation of ''[[Literature/AsianSaga Shōgun]]'' starring Creator/RichardChamberlain and Creator/ToshiroMifune is set in Japan.
* Ditto the [[Series/Shogun2024 2024 version]] of ''Shōgun'' starring Creator/HiroyukiSanada and Music/CosmoJarvis.

!!Japan in popular culture

Most {{Manga}}, {{Anime}}, JapaneseLiterature, {{Samurai}} / JidaiGeki, {{Toku}} and {{Kaiju}} works are set in Japan, obviously enough. The below list mainly concerns non-Japanese media about Japan.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII American comics ridiculed the Japanese, of course, as the ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' cover in PropagandaMachine can attest. The [[AsianBuckTeeth racial stereotyping]] hasn't aged well, to say the least.

* ''Film/{{Lost in Translation|2003}}'' by Creator/SofiaCoppola takes place entirely in Tokyo, where an American movie star (Creator/BillMurray) does some Japandering (inspired by a stint of [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola Coppola's father]]) to make a living and meets and befriends a lone married American girl (Creator/ScarlettJohansson).