How Japanese "soft power" is influencing China's Gen Z consumers

How the "Goods谷子" economy of young consumers is revitalizing the dying old malls

Last week, I read an article from Bloomberg that Blackstone launched a $1.7 billion deal to buy the operator of Mecha Comics, a Japanese online platform for reading manga. Blackstone clearly sees the value of Japan's "soft power" and how deeply it is penetrating the world, especially through anime, video games, and manga.

The article reminded me of recen…