Japanese Pop Culture. Part 2

Japanese Popular culture

Japan Pop Culture or Japanese Popular culture gathers a large combination of subjects that define modern Japan. Being among the five largest economies of the world, Japanese move an enormous market only based on their popular culture. Its trends have expanded through not only the Asia Map but also the whole world, its omnipresent products and creations have more that 126 million consumers.

It’s remarkable to think that a lot of Japan Pop Culture themes and styles originate in artistic and literary traditions dating back to the Heian Period in 794. Western influence, World War II and industrialization have shaped contemporary Japan. Its Pop culture is highly motivated by the pursuit of release from the stress of strict working hours, and the long time spent in transportation when reading Manga, using a mobile and watching portable movies is the rule.

Well-known Japanese expressions

Japanese pop culture is a combination of television, films, manga, and popular Japanese music. Its most well-known expressions are: Karaoke parlors; the largest comic industry in the world, manga; the horror, kaiju, manga and anime adaptations that populate the film industry; the effective game centers and arcades like Nintendo & Sony; and the music industry that revolves around Visual Kei, JPop artists, and other famous dancers, singers and models.

The elements of Japan with renown throughout the world

• Renowned elements around the world include:
• Anime
• Cosplay (costume play).
• Karaoke – This widely spread ritual has been prostituted to the point one forgets it was indeed originated in Japan.
• Pokemon
• Manga (drawn cartoons that go from comic strips to magazines)
• The Tokyo neighborhoods “Harajuku” and “Shibuya”, the center of Fashion and Culture of Japanese youth
• Japanese Contemporary Art (formed mostly by post-war artists)
• Japanese fashion
• Japanese Movies
• Japanese Television
• JPop (Japanese music influenced by western culture since the 1950s)
• JRock (derived from Jpop)
• Visual Kei (music trend known for its colorful artists)
• Otaku Pop Culture (outside Japan is the compulsive interest for Japanese pop culture; inside Japan Otaku tags people dedicated to single hobbies that exceed the social norm)

The less known themes of Japan pop culture

The less known themes of Japan pop culture but otherwise highly spread around the country, are:

• Comedy: a unique culture of stand-up comedy that goes from “rakugo” (public lone storytellers performing seated and interpreting at least two characters at a time), to the yet more popular manzai, a show of two men: tsukkomi (a serious man) and boke (the funny counterpart) that exchange fast jokes revolving around mutual misinterpretations, double-talk, and other puns.
• Doraemon is a manga series that became an anime and then an Asian franchise. It’s about a robotic cat that travels back in time to aid a schoolboy. The episodes involve lessons of values, environmental issues and educational topics such as dinosaurs, wormhole traveling, Japan history etc. It’s become a Japanese cultural icon and the nation’s “First anime ambassador.”
• Enjo Kosai, which means, “Subsidized dating” or “compensated dating,” is a practice where usually older men pay or reward women for their company. The female range from school-girls to housewives and the practice has gained popularity in all East Asia since the 90s. The opposite is known as gyaku-enjo-kosai or “reversed subsidized dating”.
• Focus, Friday Flash – Japan’s adaptation of the paparazzi culture originated on the death of Princess Diana. It features a flamboyant, invasive behavior of people and gruesome accidents.
• Hello Kitty – Japanese incurable fascination for cuteness has created this worldwide known kitten that’s invaded the market of everything from cuddly toys to credit cards.
• Hanako, the Young women magazine that sets the rules of style in Japan. Its readers are known as Hanako-zoku (Hanako tribe), and their apparent recklessness, defined as the Hanako syndrome.
• Idols in Japan are referred to as “aidoru,” very different from TV personalities (“tarento”), they are very polymorphous; despite their usually short stay under the limelight they shift from singing, to modeling or acting regardless of their start career. Idols tend to be chosen for their looks, even though some of them are very talented.
• iMode – This sophisticated service is a WAP Internet connection that puts you online as soon as your mobile is on. There are over 4000 iMode services that include email, games, shopping, restaurants, cinemas and much more.
• Juku – The Japanese version of cram schools offering lessons after regular school hours and weekends to improve students’ performance; it can start with children as young as five years old, and has been highly criticized due to the increasing bullying (ijime) that’s created. The popular knowledge of the stress-induced suicide cases has created the belief that degree study becomes a three-year holiday after enduring a Juko education.
• The Bubble Economy – is a period of Japan’s economy that merged easy credit with unrestrained speculation.
• Love hotels – Over 35,000 love hotels pollute Japan, they rent rooms by the hour to often-married couples that want to indulge in rotating beds, mirror-lined rooms, video cameras (whose content can later be taken as souvenir), and many other fantasy conceptions. Some rooms even come equipped with video cameras so you can take home a souvenir of your stay.
• Nihonjinron – the bizarre art of studying the uniqueness of Japan.
• Pachinko – a game that’s become Japan’s top pastime.
• Purikura – short for “Purinto Kurabu” which means “Print Club” are arcade machines that take your picture and fuse it into a graphic frame that is printed in a set of stickers.
• Ruzu sokkusu – the infamous baggy white leg warmer socks are on the wane now, but still around.
• Robo-pets – a mixture of artificial intelligence software with a cute robot animal that interacts emotionally with its owner
• Soaplands – Japanese corporate workers that once only worried about Karoshi (death from overwork) and now live in fear of a “Restructuration” (a company name for dismissals), they use a sort of Turkish bath known as “soaplands” for relief and relaxation where women offer massages and other kinds services.
• Taiga – epic historical sagas that have become almost a national institution; they’re usually about great warrior’s stories of Japan’s history.
• Uyoku – the unavoidable trucks with loud speakers broadcasting harsh right-wing messages; they are usually an embarrassment best kept ignored for Japanese people
• Virtual pets and pop stars.
• Zoku (tribe), the word originally tagged vandalism in the 70s now refers to rebel teenagers.
• Doubutsu Uranai (zoological fortune telling) is the result of merging horoscopes and zodiac fascination with symbols of twelve cute animal designs.