[aa-jv]

Its only necessary to point out that the British are the worlds' masters at cultural appropriation and, as well, cultural degradation ... Curry, Reggae, Tea ... Near endless supply of degraded colonies, reaped economies, ruined cultures deemed inferior by the British ruling class .. and this "its not cool, its just Japanese" refrain sure does align with that imperialist view ...

[billyoyo]

I'm not sure any of those things (curry, reggae, tea) are examples by themselves of cultural appropriation. The first two are artefacts of groups who came to Britain and became part of it - British Indians and British Caribbeans are celebrated as part of Britain today.

As for the British imperialism - I completely agree that the British empire was a disgusting imperialist and racist project that destroyed economies and cultures.

Not to 'whatabout' but it's worth pointing out in the context of this discussion, that the Japanese Empire was at one point a disgusting imperialist and racist project as well, that similarly destroyed economies and cultures.

I think the Japenese designs are interesting, I am not the original thread commenter. I do however agree that there is a lot of 'Orientalism' that still goes on in the modern day, which is itself a form of xenophobia (it is highlighting Japanese culture as something exotic, and others Japanese people, who are just people same as me and you).

I'm not sure why a discussion of Japanese design required you to attack modern British design practices, and conflating criticisms of Orientalism with being imperialist seems a stretch.