Japan shown signs of Disneyization in their societies as Japan is a heavily cultured country. Think not Disneyization as only a theme park, like Disneyland, Universal Studios or Studio Ghibli, but something broader. Take Japan as a whole and the term still fits in perfectly.

Personally, I feel that Disneyization just means that things are being more routine, that they follow a certain direction, and this direction cannot be changed easily for it is built into the culture deeply already. It is also a way to control and maintain order, similar to how religion is being practiced before and now.

If you step into a Japanese school area, you will notice that the students looked the same at first glance, girls in short shirts, dyed hair, inwards pointing feet, while boys with unkempt uniforms, loose sneakers and stylish hairstyles. When people follow a certain ‘trend’, is this not Disneyization?

A step further into this analysis. Adults. When an adult just got recruited into the company, first he needs to understand the culture of the company, how people behave there, their leniency and so on. This is just corporate culture for Japanese. But in the eyes of a foreigner, they not only have the understand the corporate culture, but also the manner and etiquette culture of Japanese, where they are following a unsaid system, like not talking on trains, also bowing and addressing your superiors very formally. Isn’t this Disneyization as well? When a culture is created to control and surveillance. If such culture didn’t exist, how would Japan be like, with it’s crowded population. Wouldn’t the subway be blasted with noise and the subordinates walking all over the superiors?

Theme-ing. Like clothes, designs and all. Its common in Japan. If you enter Aikihabara, you either see flocks of Otakus, or maid cafes. So the theme comes back in again. Is the theme actually on the environment, or is it on the people themselves? In Disney theme parks, are the people dressed up in themed attire because of the culture, or are they dressed up because of the aesthetics of the theme park?

Rhetorical questions will keep popping up because of the lack of true definition for the term Disneyization. But what I can be sure of, is that Disneyization is everywhere, it’s already etched deep into the culture, that you will not notice until you come across this term. It’s something worth pondering about. Disneyization, a just a protocol, or is it a way to conform?