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The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture
The articles are 2.5 to 5 pages and entertaining to read, even if on something in which you're not initially interested. Schilling lives in Japan. An outside observer would miss many of the side comments and threads he brings together. Anime fans will delight to see artists like Miyazaki, Tezuka, and Otamo treated with the respect they deserve. In fact, on all topics he shows the warmth and delight of someone who enjoys pop culture and doesn't try to run it down, though he freely makes critical comments where warranted. Reading this work through will give you a decent sampling of, and feel for, the texture of pop culture in Japan. J-pop fans aren't left out, either. Articles cover the Juliana's Tokyo club scene, karaoke, the yearly Kohaku song competition, j-pop producer god Tetsuya Komuro, techno pop masters Yellow Magic Orchestra, Yumi Matsutoya, The Southern All-stars, and idols Seiko Matsuda, Pink Lady, and Smap. In fact, read in the following order, these pages give the first real history of j-pop from the 50s to the mid-90s available in English: 197-198, 199-204, 215-217, 205, 186-190, 309-314, 109-111, 166-168, 300-304, 230-232, 113-123, 232-237, 147-151, 76-78, 98-104. There's a detailed index for locating subjects hidden within larger articles and a topical index so you can track down everything on one subject. The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture, by Mark Schilling. Weatherhill, 1977. 344 pgs. ISBN 0834803801. Reviewed by James Standen Taylor |
This is a survey collection of essays rather than an encyclopedia, but its coverage is broad and a fair representation. It uses the common definition of pop culture to mostly restrict itself to what PA readers are interested in: mass media. A few points of interest are full articles on Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Katsuhiro Otomo, Ultraman, Rose of Versailles, and Godzilla. Each headline is an introduction to a satellite of related subjects in that class. Other categories covered include comedians, fads, games, technology, scandals, martial arts, and manga.
