日本語 -> 中文

When did Mandarin replace Japanese as the language for signaling that a story takes place in the future? On signs, in public announcements, etc, mixed with English, usually implying a world government or some other kind of extensive mixing. However English is still the dominant language. Some stories specifically set in the US use Spanish for a similar effect, but I think those are better described as near-future collapse rather than sci-fi/cyberpunk, and in contrast to the use of Mandarin are never complimentary to the Spanish-speaking characters. Is there a specific term for this kind of hinting or is it just called "worldbuilding"? What are some works that do this very well? (I posted here because it's most noticeable in visual media but it happens in books too so feel free to discuss)

Shifted to Mandarin about the time it became clear that Japan wasn't going to be in great power competition with the US.

I'd rather be in the Japanese ghetto of a Sino-empire dystopia unable to speak mandarin than a successful fluent citizen.

There was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991. Around this time people thought Japan would be massively powerful and take over the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_asset_price_bubble

>>10477 >People More like insecure projection by Americans, even if Japan did out grow the US, it doesn't mean they would have gone down the same route as America and try to make the entire world Japanese.

>>10478 Ever heard of imperial Japan's "Asian monroe doctrine"

>>10480 >imperial Japan Did that exist in 1986?

>>10478 Are you the same person who tried to say there was a racist angle about this? You're a weirdo man

>>10483 >If the JAPS get richer than us, they're gonna TAKE OVER and Americans will be OPPRESSED with non-english text EVERYWHERE That's literally the gateway to racism, also incredibly ironic considering Japan and most of the world is plastered in English text and McDonalds, but this is never viewed as evidence of America literally taking over the world and oppressing the locals.

>>10484 > but this is never viewed as evidence of America literally taking over the world america and english culture have already taken over the world, buddy. everybody knows this. Japan is the 52nd state, just before Israel and Alaska. When some other national lang starts to dominate in america and elsewhere thats a sign of waning anglonorman dominance.

>>10484 You see the world in a seriously overly confrontational way.

>>10486 Just calling it for what it is.

>Japan/China taking over But even in Blade Runner all the main dialog is in English. Is this really how you would depict a takeover? Obviously the audience needs to understand what the actors are saying, but there are other ways to show dominance.

To be fair, there are more mandarin speakers. So it would make sense for a globalist dystopia to have multiple languages. The true terror will be when emojis replace languages in the Sci fi.

>>10624 That's what i'm thinking, too. I'm also thinking that It might very well be because of the time that the piece of media was created. >>10477 has a point. Now that we are more aware then ever about other countries political and economical climates, China is an appealing environment to setup a dystopian cyberpunk universe. >Is there a specific term for this kind of hinting or is it just called "worldbuilding"? I do wonder if there's a word for it, too. My vocabulary isn't deep enough to answer that myself.