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We all know the United States' cultural influence overseas is massive -- people around the world in major cities might know what American celebrities are up to, if they follow the gossip. Hollywood movies can inspire movie plot knock-offs in anywhere from Latin America to India. Other English-speaking nations follow linguistic trends set by Americans, such as Valley Girl talk and slang words like "dude", and people from Scotland to Australia lament the demise of local regionalisms in the younger generation.
But globalisation surely isn't all one-sided, it can be give and take and just as US culture has been exported as a new thing to other nations, it has received its own new things in return right?
What would you say are the strongest cultural influences on the other direction? For example, maybe the popularity of soccer as a sport? Food is obviously one. When it comes to overall cultural elements, Latin American influence through immigration is a major element. European elements (culture, sports, music, lifestyle etc.) might be known, but mainly in more "liberal", large cities. When it comes to language or talk, I find it more one-sided (I can't think of examples of slang that spreads in the other direction; for example I'd guess say Brits are picking up Americanisms more than Americans are picking up Britishisms, but that's just impression; I've even noticed that in Canada, Valley Girl talk has increased in the decade or two and certain slang I hear when I was younger that is shared with the UK, isn't around as much).
There's Japanese influence of American culture, with children loving Pokemon and other games like that. Also, manga style cartoons and anime have become increasingly popular over the past few decades. I'd say that the United States gets a great deal of its popular culture from Asia.
Yeah, I was thinking video games and animation have plenty of Asian influences. Kids in my generation at least knew a fair amount of Japanese folklore, even if they were unaware of it, because it was in video-games like Super Mario. British TV, film, and music also has had a fairly strong influence. From All in the Family to The Office and American Idol US TV has several times adapted British works. In fact I think that occurs more than British adapting our TV. British Sci-Fi/Fantasy films and "period pieces" are fairly popular at times. The whole Harry Potter phenomenon in book and film. Several of the top-selling musical groups in the US were British.
There's Japanese influence of American culture, with children loving Pokemon and other games like that. Also, manga style cartoons and anime have become increasingly popular over the past few decades. I'd say that the United States gets a great deal of its popular culture from Asia.
I'm a junky when it comes to certain manga/anime series( particulary Bleach, Death Note, Gantz, and Black Lagoon). I so agree with you that Japanese fiction has grown in popularity, not only with children, but with young adults too(many of whom are long-time fans like myself). There is this group of guys at my job who do nothing but have Yugi-oh card battles before and after work on a daily basis and there all in their 20s.
The affects of Anime and manga has also influence some American youth in the way they speak or type, or dress. It's common to see the word kawaii(Japanese for cute) and Japanese honorifics(-chan, -san, -sama, etc.,) thrown around on anime forums and on youtube comments. With China expecting to become a world power, Asia is a huge exporter in this world. I can imagine down the line, more Americans will be trying to learn Mandarin or something similar. We already see some Americans getting Kanji characters tattoed on their arms and chest.
Beside Asia, the biggest influence on America is Latin American culture, obviously. You can't go anywhere without seeing spanish printed alongside with English.
There's Japanese influence of American culture, with children loving Pokemon and other games like that. Also, manga style cartoons and anime have become increasingly popular over the past few decades. I'd say that the United States gets a great deal of its popular culture from Asia.
The English Language.
Even within that we blurr the lines words like radio, capishe (sp), boulevard, Frappe, Ect all come from other European Launguages.
Anime/manga was definitely the first thing that popped into my mind. I was born in '83, and a lot of the cartoons that I saw as a kid were either Japanese in origin and dubbed over in English, or, the animation was outsourced to Japan because at the time, it was less expensive (which is a pretty novel concept these days). Pokemon was the first big rehash of that, and now, even totally American-made cartoons cop an anime style, or use many of its stylistic cues in its production (think "Avatar"). I also had a lot of Japanese or Korean-descended friends growing up who funneled me comics that their grandparents sent them or that they'd get at local markets.
I actually do a lot of illustration, though not professionally, and went to art school briefly. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of my style is, indeed, influenced by the manga I read as a kid, though it's also distinctly "American." However, when I was in school, I'd say that all but myself and two other people more or less just drew manga. Chynna Clugston-Major and Aaron McGruber are examples of this.
Going a step further from this, the car tuning/hotrodding scene has been hugely influenced by Japanese imports for the last decade. Drifting has become a cultural institution in the US akin to drag racing. As a guy in his 50's from the midwest to define a "fast car," and he'll tell you something like a '67 Chevelle SS with a built 502. Ask any dude under 30, and there's a good chance he'll tell you something like an Integra DC2 with a turbocharged B18, or a Toyota Supra twin turbo. GM, Ford, and Mopar have gotten in on the game with cars like the Cobalt SS and the Neon SRT4.
One thing I would add though seems to be that when the US exports its pop culture (eg. Hollywood movies and pop music) it is exported to more demographics overseas, but when it imports pop culture, it is only certain demographics that pick it up, rather than the entire US. Taking Japanese cartoons as an example, it seems to have a target audience base of kids and also a particular group or fan base. It's not like the way Hollywood is more evenly spread to demographics overseas.
It seems foreign influences to the US (eg. soccer, European pop music, British comedies, Latin American soap operas, Japanese cartoons or Kung Fu flicks) tend to be taken up by specific groups or audiences that are a subset of the populace, rather than find their way down "to everyone", or taken up by the population as a whole, though I might be wrong (maybe they are more mainstream than I realize).
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