Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Roger Ebert put it well: ``I suspect that the more you know about Japan and movies, the less you will enjoy ``Memoirs of a Geisha.''

So began the Chicago Sun Times critic's review of a film that's created more hard feelings than buzz in Asia. It's not the reception U.S. director Rob Marshall anticipated; he thought completing the first big-budget Hollywood production with an all- Asian cast would endear him to Asian audiences.

Yet Japanese have been put off by the casting of Chinese in main roles and made claims of cultural insensitivity. Chinese are outraged that actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li appear in a film that romanticizes Japan during World War II -- and that Zhang did a love scene with a Japanese man. Americans, meanwhile, seem indifferent, if tepid box-office receipts are any guide.

The dustup actually offers some insights for Asian governments trying to get along, corporate executives struggling to compete and investors grappling to make sense of it all.

The film at the center of this controversy isn't a very good one. A highly simplified adaptation of Arthur Golden's 1997 novel, it's the tale of a poor fisherman's daughter who is sold into quasi-slavery in Kyoto in 1929 and, against all odds, eventually becomes the city's reigning geisha.

`Desperate Housewives' in Kimonos

The subtleties of Golden's book, its almost Flaubertian attention to detail and historical context, are lost on the film. It's less about Japan or the stillness, grace and traditions of one of its most rarefied cultural icons than backstage bitchery.

Above all, it's a movie about beautiful, exotically dressed women hissing and backstabbing to become Kyoto's premier geisha and win the men they love. At first glance, it seems like a Jane Austen tale with some Charles Dickens tossed in. The end product plays more like ``Desperate Housewives'' in kimonos.

Even so, ``Memoirs of a Geisha'' has become an unlikely flashpoint in Japan-Chinese relations. Timely, too.

Asia's boom is fraught with risks including power struggles, high energy prices, terrorism, pollution and economic competition from the West. Sadly, the leaders of Japan and China can't even get in a room together and talk without trading recriminations over World War II. Just like director Marshall, the leaders of Japan and China are missing the real story and focusing on the theatrics surrounding it.

Misguided Criticism

Japan's qualms with ``Memoirs of a Geisha'' miss a bigger point relevant to Asia's largest economy. Yes, a film with so specific a setting should star Japanese. While many seethe that major roles went to Zhang, Gong and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, Marshall also has a point. His casting decisions reflect a dearth of internationally known Japanese actors who can speak English.

After all, Hollywood wouldn't have made the film if it wouldn't appeal to the lucrative, yet subtitle-adverse U.S. market. One reason there are few globally known Japanese actors: Japan's large domestic market creates few incentives for film studios and actors to search for audiences or projects abroad.

There's a lesson here for Japan Inc. Japanese are ravenous consumers and, until now, a 127 million-person market seemed big enough. As sales soared in the heady 1980s and stayed reasonably brisk during the recession-plagued 1990s, companies were slow to look abroad.

Gadget-Crazy

Take the mobile-telephone industry, an area in which gadget- crazy Japan is hard to beat. Yet you can't use the vast majority of the phones or their functionality overseas. That insular focus is a problem amid Japan's rapidly aging population and competition from countries such as South Korea. The real story behind the ``Memoirs of a Geisha'' ruckus is that corporate Japan needs to think more globally.

Japan's economy is recovering, as evidenced by last year's 40 percent rally in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. Yet Japan Inc.'s future prosperity depends on looking to new markets.

Chinese critics are missing the point, too. Seeing homegrown actresses eclipse Japan's should be reason to celebrate China's rising dominance not only in the area of economics, but culture. Instead, nationalist tendencies are spoiling this moment in the spotlight.

When it comes to Asia's past, there's plenty of blame to go around. Japan needs to go further to apologize for its atrocities and its prime minister should stop visiting a Tokyo shrine honoring some convicted war criminals among the war dead. China isn't blameless either as it foments a volatile strain of nationalism that increasingly unnerves its neighbors in Asia.

Finally, there's a lesson here for investors. While it may come as a surprise to folks in the West, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans don't tend to think they look alike. Hollywood's who'd- know-the-difference mindset in casting films is comparable to how some investors view Asia. Some see it as an undifferentiated collection of nations that are hard to get their arms around.

Hollywood Ending

Asia's economies are incredibly diverse. Those who think China's rise is a repeat of Japan's do so at their own peril. The same is true of India's development versus China's. If you think Europe is having a tough time getting the 12 euro zone economies on similar footing, just wait until Asia tries.

Foreign filmmakers can take artistic license with their casting decisions. They are free to make assumptions about Asians' appearances. Such oversimplification isn't an option for those looking to make money in the region. Respecting the vast differences that exist here may help investors find the Hollywood ending they seek.

To contact the writer of this column: William Pesek Jr. in Tokyo at wpesek@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 5, 2006 20:39 EST