Introducing Japanese Popular Culture

by Alisa Freedman (Editor)

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, the book Written in an accessible style with ample description and analysis, this textbook is essential reading for students of Japanese culture and society, Asian media and popular culture, globalization, and Asian Studies in general. It is a go-to handbook for interested readers and a compendium for scholars.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction

566 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2023

Reviews

[Asas]

Una serie di saggi divisi per area tematica vagamente collegati tra loro. Gli autori sono tutti studiosi di grande spessore riconosciuti a livello internazionale. La raccolta dà in generale l’idea che il lettore abbia già una conoscenza più o meno approfondita dell’argomento, infatti gran parte dei saggi parlano brevemente della propria area di interesse come dando per scontato che il lettore abbia già letto gran parte delle pubblicazioni degli autori. Approcciandomi al libro conoscendo già una piccola parte degli autori non l’ho trovato straniante, ma in ogni caso ha aggiunto poco alla conoscenza che già avevo sugli argomenti trattati. Per chi si approccia per la prima volta agli argomenti può sembrare frammentato e confusionario. In generale posso considerarne utile una manciata di articoli.

[Sarah Laurence]

I appreciate the editorial approach of taking an example of Japanese pop culture & analyzing it for broader themes as opposed to finding data to support a theory. For an academic book, this approach makes it accessible and fun to read, which will appeal to young adults especially. The four part manga section, which I read as research for my YA novel set in Japan, was excellent. It was fascinating to see manga analyzed with the same rigor as classic literature and art history. I skipped around and read other chapters and found them interesting too. Expand my reading notes to read more.

[Clare B.]

I read most of this book for a class. It was extremely interesting and I loved most of the chapters I read and I enjoyed our class discussion. Some of the topics I wasn't interested in, but I think that was due to preference, not that the chapters were written poorly.