The Emerging Media Exchange in the Cultural Regionalization of Asia

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the emerging media regionalization that takes place in Asia in 2000s. Japan and Hong Kong used to be the dominant cultural exporters commercializing their national media products to the nearby Asian markets. The recent market success of Korean wave and the gradual opening of Chinese market bring media regionalization to a different level. The chapter selects three cases to present the detailed image of cultural standardization in Asia’s media regionalization. The first centers on the circulation of media text in television drama, emphasizing on Korean wave and the particular TV series, Boys Over Flowers. The second case discusses Taiwanese popular music and its influence on Mandopop in the Chinese communities. The last case studies the regionalization of online game from China. This case examines the localization of Chinese online game, Westward Journey Online II. Chinese online games initially begin with the imitation of Korean game but later form their national branding based upon a mixture of global and local cultural elements that speak to the largest group of online game consumers in the pan-Asian market.