I see that some of Japan’s manga publishers are finally taking action against websites that allow large-scale downloading of their copyrighted works. You could make arguments about the merits of scanlations, including reaching larger audiences, giving access to books that wouldn’t be profitable to print and providing competition for licensors, but the question of why haven’t Japanese companies done anything about these sites until now is an interesting one. While some might point to the slowness of Japanese companies in coming to grips with the many changes brought by the Internet, my own pet theory is that the individual executives working at these companies are personally terrified that if they took action against any group outside Japan they’d have to speak English at some point. Yes, there’s an odd complex among some Japanese (principally males) that if they deal with foreigners in any way, they’ll be called upon to speak English and will be embarrassed if they can’t. Maybe they could, um, hire someone who speaks English to handle that part?
Some Japanese (usually males) have a complex about English.
