Nota introduttiva / Introductory note: LE INDUSTRIE CULTURALI E CREATIVE NEI PAESI DEL FAR EAST / THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE FAR-EASTERN COUNTRIES

The focus on cultural and creative industries is not new in Italy, nor a novel topic for our Journal, given the leading role and the growing prominence that these sectors assume in the most developed countries. A proliferation of studies, reports and discussions has taken shape at international level since more than two decades, systematically examining and evaluating the role and development of these sectors. Although the recognition of their taxonomy is still debated, and in a stage of continuous fermentation, one thing they have in common is their continuous development. An intriguing differentiating factor is apparent as well, however, when considering geography. In the West, there are numerous studies of these sectors, also at the level of macro-regions, such as Europe or North America. In the Far East, on the other hand, such studies are mainly limited to singular countries. For each of the countries reviewed here, we are used to recognising its particular path of economic, social, and cultural progress. However, we generally overlook considering them as a macro-region. China, Japan, and South Korea are countries whose history, for better or for worse, have been influenced by the rest of the world, influenced and communicated with each other, and which have worked hard to give their best when opening up to the World (Ferilli, 2016).