Is it all just a matter of perspective? For some reason, I find it funny that, to me, when the Japanese appropriate American culture, it’s clever and whimsical and post-modern and says a lot about the consumer culture we live in. (For example, witness the phenomenon of Engrish and all the websites on the net devoted to Engrish) But when Americans appropriate Japanese culture, it’s just stupid. (Witness the amalgamation of often nonsensical kanji and kana that people put on their products or even on their skin—link from littleyellowdifferent.) I suppose I’m just an Asian chauvanist. Although I think it has a lot to do with the fact that most Americans wouldn’t know the difference between different Asian cultures if their lives depended on it. (Which it might, come to think about it. I can tell you that it’s not a good thing that Kim Jong-Il has nuclear weapons. It makes me think of the game Civilization II and the threat: “our words are backed by nuclear weapons!”)