#Japanese pop culture

[thelostjedii]

[emaadsidiki]

Harajuku 🍢🍭 Takeshita Street

[dropintomanga]

Thinking About the “Othering” of Japanese Media

For those who keep up with Japanese video games, you may have heard comments from a prominent Japanese video game producer about how a certain term labeling a video game genre felt discriminatory in his own eyes. A recent Polygon article about that term made me think about how the Western media has “othered” Japanese pop culture media for as long as I remembered.

The producer I’m talking about is Final Fantasy XIV and XVI producer, Naoki Yoshida (known as Yoshi-P to his fans). Back in February 2023 in an interview, Yoshi-P said that the term “JRPG” (short for “Japanese RPG”) was considered discriminatory to him and his peers in the Japanese video game industry. Polygon took a look at how Japanese RPGs and JRPGs became a thing in the late ‘90s (starting with Final Fantasy VII’s North American release in 1997) and how media outlets in the West never seemed to take them too seriously. Even worse, the outlets shoved Japanese developers into a sub-category they never asked to be a part of once Japanese RPG popularity started to wane in the mid-2000s’.

After reading the article, I actually thought about manga and its perception when I first started reading comics. When I first discovered what manga was back in 1995, I learned about Ghost in the Shell from an issue of Wizard Magazine (a North American-based magazine highly dedicated to Western comics). The first thing that came to mind when I read what Wizard wrote was that it had a cybersex scene and very adult in nature. My mind was somewhat blown since I was in 7th grade at the time. Now that I think about it, almost 30 years later, I wonder if Wizard was trying to say that Japanese creators were super-perverted compared to Western creators. I still remember a non-fan a friend of mine met at Otakon one year who asked “Isn’t anime sexual?” when inquiring bout anime.

With regards to manga, for most of its history in the overall comics world, it has been othered in the U.S. due to how successful it’s been in reaching out to “non-traditional” comics-reading audiences. Statements like “Oh, it’s just a fad!” and “Manga doesn’t have dedicated buyers (i.e. adults with disposable income) like Western comics does!” were thrown to discredit manga’s popularity. Christopher Butcher (of Mangasplaining/TCAF fame) talked about this in a 2015 article on his website, which still holds some truth today. Even though manga sales have peaked around the pre-vaccine COVID time period, they are steady today. New York Comic-Con in 2022 had a substantial anime/manga presence compared to years past. Anime and manga can’t be ignored any longer.

Yet I know that some things haven’t changed in industry recognition. I will use the Eisner Awards as an example. For those who don’t know, it’s a prestigious awards ceremony that happens around San Diego Comic-Con every year and honors the best in comics. However, their recognition of manga is spotty. There has been recent criticism towards the Eisner committee for recognizing only the “hot” manga creators (i.e. the ones with best-selling manga titles on book charts). The best example I can give is Junji Ito. A lot of his works are nominated despite there being better works worthy of recognition out there. There has been some criticism in the manga circle I’m in about how Eisner judges/representatives don’t seem to take the time to explore the greater breadth of what manga has to offer in its new golden age.

Of course, when awards ceremonies like the Academy Awards don’t really seem to care much about praising Japanese pop culture media, what hope is there, right?

Which brings me to a point that the Polygon article elaborates on the West’s insistence on particular views of Japan.

“It’s clear that the mainstream only courts a specific idea of Japan as being acceptable — often reinterpretations of feudal Japan, largely spanning from the 1500s to late 1800s, when the samurai were still part of Japanese society.“  

I do notice that Japan is supposed to be this “quirky” and “weird” place with wild imagination. If somehow a Japanese title has themes common in Western media/culture, but lacks the exotic style Westerners prefer, it’s sometimes heavily ignored in the mainstream eye. I don’t know. What do you guys think?

Polygon does mention that we’re living in some really good times with regards to Japanese video games being popular again. Many fans, including myself, know that too well. I enjoyed gaming again due to the variety of Japanese-developed titles that came out since 2016 (the start of the Japanese video game industry revival). I see parallels in manga and anime reception too. All of Japanese pop culture media is celebrated overseas. Fans that consume all things Japanese are living through amazing times.

That doesn’t mean that it’s going to last forever. I do know at some point, Western media will find new ways to scrutinize Japanese media and our time in the spotlight will fade again. Some degree of othering will always happen due to human nature and I know that we can use that term for positive purposes. Manga is about how “others” that are different from the norm can become celebrated by the world. Reading this post about manga reminds me that comics of any kind can cover any topic imaginable and definitely be made for “other” people to read. 

[bigassfuckingboulder]

Japan

[redsamuraiii]

JAPAN IN 100 WORDS

The Encyclopaedia of Japan, from Anime to Zen. Take a tour of Japanese Culture in 100 words, from art, cuisine, festival, philosophy to pop culture with this illustrated dictionary.The artistic illustrations by Ayano Otani on every page give you an idea the topics which makes it a pleasant journey in understanding everything you want to know about Japan.To me, it’s a good foundation that let you know about Japan as a whole, both good and bad, before you read other books that cover more in depth details of various topics.

[timebokanman]

In the Playstation RPG “Breath of Fire 3″, the characters encounter and can gain stats and skills from a character named D’lonzo.  Described in game as a female cat burglar, she teaches the character under tutelage abilites like how to hog all the experience points for themself, intimidate their opponents with a nasty glare, and of course how to Steal from enemies.  With all that, it’s not really a surprise the character’s Japanese name is actually Doronzo  (ドロンゾ)!  The game, especially in its original Japanese, is just full of thematic silly names and pop culture references.  In fact, a slightly name changed Doronjo is probably one of the more subtle ones...

For an example, Stallion is a boss the players fight and his color scheme and attack animations are blatantly a reference to tokusatsu icon Ultraman!  Even his strongest move (localized as “Utmost Attack” is named “Upecium“ ( ウペシウム) in the original Japanese version-- a winking reference to the hero’s powerful Specium Ray.  This sort of lampooning comes at a price though... when the game was ported to the PSP, all references to Ultraman were scrubbed away as both Stallion’s color scheme was heavily altered and the Upecium attack was renamed!

Another reference that got changed was because it just wouldn’t make sense to the audience at the time: the Artemis’ Cap is a piece of headwear that makes their attacks to hit more accurate.  While being named after the Greek goddess of the hunt is certainly fitting, the Japanese name is Jigen Hat ( ジゲンハット)-- named after the expert marksman from Lupin III.  It’s always interesting to see what things the production of something were into when they were working on their project!  

[redsnerdden]

Tsuburaya Productions Announce Ultraman Arc, To Debut On TV Tokyo On July 6

Tsuburaya Productions Announce Ultraman Arc, To Debut On TV Tokyo On July 6 #ウルトラシリーズ #ウルトラマンアーク #ULTRAMAN #tokusatsu

Tsuburaya Productions announced yesterday afternoon that there would be a new Ultra Hero getting their own series. Ultraman Arc will be making its debut on TV Tokyo Network at 9:00 JST on July 6, 2024. Not only will it be simultaneously broadcast and distributed in six countries and regions overseas, but it will also be available in 11 different languages. The press release also noted an…

[ferdifz]

I know of Akira Toriyama's work, but I don't know Akira Toriyama the person. I have no reason to otherwise believe though that Akira Toriyama was a great person.

Apologies for the off-tone post. But I've just been seeing so many, so many praises of Akira Toriyama on the Internet this past two days. I just need to screw my head back on straight again.

No disrespect to Akira Toriyama. And also no disrespect to all those heaping heaps and heaps of very deserving eulogic praise on Akira Toriyama.

Artwork by Akira Toriyama and ig:octi_lfc

The Ringer: Dragonball creater Akira Toriyama had an unrivaled impact on anime

---

the many faces of Akira Toriyama:

artwork-collage from some Japanese magazine in the '80s or something...

[shuubah]

Not all the videos on my YouTube channel and the other contents I upload online are readily available to everyone. I had to keep some of them out of public eye for obvious reasons. Most of these otome/joseimuke games that these contents are from are no longer officially available, so I'm trying to archive them (I'd also like to avoid directly addressing the titles here). There're also J-pop contents, mostly from the artists and groups of LDH JAPAN. Join my Discord server from the link below to get access to them.

[regentzephyr]

one of my favorite moments of Japan-Western pop cultural interaction (which is otherwise quite rare if one excludes video game stuff) is the fact that the theme song for the 2006 live-action Death Note movie was inexplicably fUCKING

DANI CALIFORNIA BY THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

[thatshad]

Hey you! You weeb! I am writing my thesis and would like to see some international anime, manga and japanese pop-culture fans participating in this neat little survey I did. https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/E3A949F0E438A9B1

I am a 3rd-year student in Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. I study Tourism and Event Management in the international TEMPO class.  The subject of my thesis is seichijunrei (聖地巡礼), also known as “anime pilgramige”. The aim of my thesis is to understand how anime and other Japanese fiction media entertainment effect a tourist in their decisions when choosing international destinations and visiting points of interest. I wish that anime and Japanese pop-culture fans, aswell as those who have participated in seichijunrei partake in this survey.    All answers are handled anonymously with trust and good scientific conduct. Participants cannot be identified from their answers. Answering this survey takes around 15 minutes, and the survey can be accessed untill 2nd of October 23:59 or untill ~50 answers have been recorded. Participation to this survey is voluntary, and the answers provided will only be used for this thesis.

[thelostjedii]

Kanye West and Alexis Phifer for Harper’s Bazaar (2007)

[emaadsidiki]

Takeshita Street 🎸🎧 Harajuku

[pebblegalaxy]

Hatsune Miku: Exploring the Global Impact of Japan’s Digital Idol Across Cultures #HatsuneMiku #DigitalArt

Hatsune Miku: A Global Phenomenon Across Cultures Introduction Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid software developed by Crypton Future Media, has become a global icon since her debut in 2007. Known for her distinctive blue hair, futuristic appearance, and her ability to “sing” in a multitude of styles, Miku has transcended the boundaries of her origin in Japan. Her influence stretches far beyond the…

[im-adrienne]

I went ahead and played a couple of demos

Here are my thoughts!

I Want to Believe - great music, terrible AI voice "acting". It's just google translate voices doing the characters.

Lost and Found Co. - incredibly short demo, tons of pop culture easter eggs, adorable af, tons of stuff to find, Blobfish Lifeguard is the star! I recommend this one for your Steam Wishlist.

[dynamoe]

GUYS!

This is just the tip of the iceberg in hot J-Pop looks from Chisato Moritaka /森高千里 in her decade-spanning career—

Do a keyword or image search for her name and plumb the depths of how many variations Japan's costume designers came up with for "big shoulders + puffy short skirt"

"waitress" outfit disappointingly un-shouldered and non-puff.

She's still performing now (in her 50s) but her costumes are understandably more understated. So, NOT INTERESTED. Not interested in the music at all, just here for the SPECTACLE.

She looks pretty good for being 100 years old, huh?

some of the stage looks of Chisato Moritaka, Jpop Idol