Gross National Cool

The Taipei Times reports that the film production house of manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka (“Astro Boy”) is planning to make an anime-style film in China for the Chinese market, using local talent and a plot based on Chinese fairy tales. Relations between Japan and China have been rocky of late, and some folks are hoping that anime and manga can bridge the gap:

With Japan’s relations with its neighbors haunted by its militarist past, a panel of experts in December advised Koizumi to turn anime into foreign policy.

“These cultural assets are now considered a part of Japan’s strength, as is evident from the expression now being bandied about: `Japan’s Gross National Cool,”’ said the report by the Japan Forum on International Relations.