Eastern Standard Time

Before getting to what PA readers will find most interesting, it should be pointed out there is a mountain of interesting information in here on all aspects of East Asian influence on North America from many Asian countries beyond Japan and it's animation industry. In fact, the directories for understanding restaurant menus are worth the price of entry by themselves. You will also find detailed articles on the arts, design, literature, food, games, leisure activities, philosophy, religion, fashion, and trends.

The main chapter of interest for us is the one on film and television, fortunately the largest one. Four subjects are given decent coverage. First, for the monster fan hidden inside most of us there are articles on Godzilla, Ultraman, and even Gamera, though the Godzilla article repeats some typical gaffs, such as the mythical two endings to "Godzilla versus King Kong." Each article is primarily notable for its summation of the respective giant's career.

Second, there is good coverage of Hong Kong action cinema. It contains a brief history of the medium, along with side-bars on major producers [Tsui Hark, John Woo], a directory of all the major stars [Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Stephen Chow, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Khan, Tony Leung, Tony Leung, Jet Li, Brigitte Lin, and Anita Yuen], and guidance on where to find material in North America. Bruce Lee, of course, gets his own article, as does the ninja genre and a best of introductory list to martial arts movies.

Third, the part on anime follows a similar course with an industry overview and timeline. A number of good points are made about animation not being just entertainment for kids and about the high place anime holds in Japanese society. The majority of the section is an annotated content guide to the classics of the medium, with special page spotlights on popular titles like Dragon Ball, Robotech, Sailor Moon, Speed Race, Star Blazers, Astro Boy and the giant robot genre, all of which have had their run on Western television.

As introductory surveys, each of the three is satisfactory, but there are entire books available on all, and anyone who has been a fan for more than a year isn't going to learn much. You really need a wider interest in the impact of East Asian culture on the West to make purchasing this work justifiable. I would hope PA readers have minds open enough to that experience. It may not be essential reading for our specialty market, but as a sweeping tour through one of the most interesting and largest cultural exchanges going on today, it is very helpful and, at points, cynically amusing.

A second chapter of growing interest to PA readers is on music. Japanese club DJs [DJ Crush, DJ Honda, United Future Organization, and Towa Tei], girl bands [Pink Lady, Shonen Knife, Cibo Matto, and Buffalo Daughter], heavy metal [primarily Loudness with a bit on X-Japan], the idol singer phenomenon, jazz, noise [Boredoms], Kitaro, Pizzicato 5, and Ryuichi Sakamoto all get there moment of fame. It's rather skimpy, hit and miss coverage without an overview article to tie it all together. In fact, all the criticisms of the film and television section are repeatable here.

If all you want to read are the above two chapters, the best course of action is to borrow the book from a library, but if you have wider ranging interests in East Asian culture it is definitely a must have survey reference work for your own collection.

Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture From Astro Boy to Zen Buddhism, by Jeff Yang, Dina Gan, Terry Hong and the staff of A magazine. Mariner Books (Houghton Mifflin), 1997. 352 pgs. ISBN 039576341X.

Reviewed by James Standen Taylor