Japan's Pop Power

In the decades after World War II, Japan famously pulled off an economic miracle, turning itself into the world's second richest country by the 1980s.

The Japanese achieved that miracle by making quality products that you can hold in your hand or ride around in: electronics and cars.

Manufacturing is still big business in Japan, but it's not the future.

In the new century, Japan is betting that economic growth will come from another sector: What's been called Japan's Gross National Cool.

In the past decade, Japan's exports of games, toys, and pop culture have soared with no slowdown in sight.

For young people in the US and much of the world, Japan is a brand that stands not for the quality machines but for the best in entertainment and storytelling.

Increasingly the world economy is based less on selling physical objects and more on selling content: media images, games, and stories to while away our free time.

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