Japanese popular culture
[2][3][4][5][6][7] In as early as 1920, a discussion revolving around the use of culture and media communication was being used as a strategy to enhance the international understanding of Japan's perspective was set in place.
This show was a testimony to the capability media culture can have on enhancing the international understanding of negative historical memories of Japanese colonialism and the hostility regarding the country's economic exploitation of the region.
The movie industry produced inspirational patriotic tales that portrayed Japanese militia as victors, heroes, and people who sacrificed themselves for a greater cause.
[18] In 2008, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved away from just using traditional cultural aspects to promote their country and started using things like anime and Kawaii Ambassadors as well.
An example would be the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department mascot known as Pipo-kun, which is an orange-skinned, elfin creature with rabbit ears that are made to listen to the people and an antenna to stay in tune with what is happening.
[22] By the 1990s, self-photography developed into a major preoccupation among Japanese schoolgirls, who took photos with friends and exchanged copies that could be pasted into kawaii albums.
[24] Sega and Atlus introduced the Print Club (Purinto Kurabu), the first purikura,[24] in February 1995, initially at game arcades, before expanding to other popular culture locations such as fast food shops, train stations, karaoke establishments and bowling alleys.
These idols are mostly girls portrayed for their "cuteness" and "innocence"; they are mostly intended to be role models that everyone adores and to promote a desirable image of fantastical happiness.
Idols aim to play a wide range of roles as media personalities (tarento), e.g. pop or J-pop singers, panelists of variety programs, bit-part actors, models for magazines and advertisements.
[42] However, the cute kawaii culture is openly visible throughout Japanese society both visually in manga, fashion, and stuffed animals and internally in situations such as the relationship between idols and their fans.
Young adults can often be found wearing subculture attire in large urban fashion districts such as Harajuku, Ginza, Odaiba, Shinjuku and Shibuya.
These tarento celebrities are individuals whose influence stretches over different forms of entertainment such as contestants or hosts in game shows, commercials, or television dramas.
[46] Tokusatsu is credited to Eiji Tsuburaya,[47] who is regarded as one of the most influential special effects directors of all time, having co-created the Godzilla franchise as well as Ultraman.
Other noteworthy directors in this era of Japanese cinema include Yasujirō Ozu, Masaki Kobayashi, Kenji Mizoguchi, Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita and Ishirō Honda.
The success of the Pokémon franchise has been credited by people such as Nissim Otmazgin and sociologist Anne Alison as popularizing anime in the United States.
[55] Otmazgin argues that the rise of anime in the United States is a result of the sophisticated graphic quality, a wide thematic diversity, and an inclination to reject the Disney convention of a happy ending.
[55] He further states that anime was a tool in which Japan has gained popularity with its pop culture and gave Americans a taste of something unique and interesting in the media.
Since its inception anime has become an essential part of the Japanese entertainment industry, gaining global popularity with the rise of foreign dubbed, subtitled programming, distribution on movie theaters and streaming services, subsequently generating billions of dollars in revenue from international audiences each year.
The 'manga' style has an extensive history, beginning sometime in the 10th century; scrolls from that period depict animals as part of the 'upper class', behaving as a typical human would in similar situations.
Lists of the most popular and well known arcade games include, but are not limited to, Defender and Galaga, Pac-Man, Frogger, Q*bert, Street Fighter, Donkey Kong, Mario, and many others.
These also were exported to other countries such as the United States, becoming similar cultural focal points in those regions as well and inspiring the creation of new companies and developers who would be dedicated to making games to try and claim part of this new market.
Ayumi Hamasaki, a prominent figure in J-Pop known for her influence on Japanese music and fashion, is an example of an artist challenging traditional gender norms.
The increase in voice actors beginning in the mid-2000s led to growing market interest in the genre and eventually with the rise of music streaming services like Spotify to its global popularity.
Influenced by contemporary trends in western music, City Pop was a uniquely Japanese take on the adult-oriented genres of the 70s and 80s like funk, disco, AOR and soft rock.
Once it did kick off, mobile phones were preferred over PCs or laptop computers, which has shaped how Japan's internet culture is interfaced, having to adapt to smaller screens and having a more leisurely attitude towards it.
[86] Virtual YouTubers, colloquially known as VTubers, are streamers with origins in Japan who use motion capture face tracking technology with their avatar models to move and show change in emotions.
cell phone novel) was a phenomenon originally unique to Japan but spread quickly to other countries like China, India, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, South Africa, the US, and Brazil.
The works were put out in short installments due to the character limit capability of a cell phone which is ideal for commuters to read in between train stops.
It is a trend that older adults are finding hard to indulge in because of the seemingly violent themes, use of emojis to convey emotion and save space, along with the absence of diverse and lengthy vocabulary.
[22] To capitalize on the purikura phenomenon, Japanese mobile phones began including a front-facing camera, which facilitated the creation of selfies, during the late 1990s to early 2000s.
