The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture

(Paperback)

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Description

Sony and Nissan have become household names, and Japanese animated cartoons have packs of British fans, but there are many other aspects to Japan's vigorous pop culture. In 70 informative entries, the author covers the years from 1945 to the present, pulling together film, cartoons, every genre of pop music, comedians, matinee idols, sumo wrestlers, gourmet fads, best sellers, baseball stars, quiz shows, discos, song contests and more. The interconnections between phenomena are traced - singers who become actresses who marry writers who become game-show hosts who become journalists covering politicians who were once stand-up comics - along with the complicated genealogies of pop-music dynasties. This illustrated text is an introduction to contemporary Japan which aims to show that it is something other than the land of Genji, cherry blossoms and samurai.

Reviews

"Japanese pop culture is the beta version of twenty-first century American pop culture. Mark Schilling's encyclopedia is an invaluable guide to a rich but labyrinthine subject. I use it not to look up what I don't know, but to find out what I should know."Roger Ebert, movie critic

"Over seventy entries cover Japanese popular culture from 1945 to the present, covering music, comedy, fads, popular media, and all aspects which have fueled Japanese popular concerns over the decades. This does more than create listings of movements: it provides the historical references and connections essential to understanding how these interests developed." Midwest Book Review

Author Bio

Mark Schilling set off for Japan in 1975 to immerse himself in the culture, learn the language, and haunt the theaters. He has been there ever since. In 1989 he became a regular film reviewer for the Japan Times, and has written on Japanese film for a variety of other publications, including Screen International, the Japan edition of Premier, the Asian edition of Newsweek, Asian Wall Street Journal, Japan Quarterly, Winds, Cinemaya, and Kinema Jumpo.