Introducing Japanese Popular Culture

Specifically designed for use in a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, while reaching specialists and general readers, this second edition of Introducing Japanese Popular Culture is a comprehensive textbook offering an up-to-date overview of a wide variety of media forms.

It uses particular case studies as a way into examining the broader themes in Japanese culture and provides a thorough analysis of the historical and contemporary trends that have shaped artistic production, as well as politics, society, and economics. As a result, more than being a time capsule of influential trends, this book teaches enduring lessons about how popular culture reflects the societies that produce and consume it. With contributions from an international team of scholars, representing a range of disciplines from history and anthropology to art history and media studies, this book's selections include:

• Characters
• Television
• Videogames
• Fan Media and Technology
• Music
• Popular Cinema
• Anime
• Manga
• Spectacles and Competitions
• Sites of Popular Culture
• Fashion
• Contemporary Art

Written in an accessible style, this textbook will be essential reading for students of Japanese culture and society, Asian media and popular culture, globalization, and Asian Studies in general.