Talk:Japanese popular culture

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 20 August 2019 and 15 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Elizabethhadams.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:18, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): DarianRes, Shoujess, Dianaleaney. Peer reviewers: Kappanjoe.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 01:07, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

2008 comments
This article really, really sucks. It seems primarily concerned with the concept of Japanese pop culture, rather than any particular examples of that culture. It wastes a lot of time talking about Japanese words. -69.47.186.226 00:50, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Yep, this article is pretty well downright junk. -Theanphibian (talk • contribs) 01:03, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, it definitely needs improvement, especially considering how Japanese popular culture more and more seems to become a part of global pop culture. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 22:09, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
 * This article needs to be more in-depth, and the badly-worded paragraph on Japanese leisure activities at the beginning needs to be fixed or tossed. This is a vital article on an important aspect of Japanese culture, so it should actually be a decent article.-Zyrath (talk) 03:52, 12 November 2010 (UTC)
 * This article isn't only junk, it's also hardly encyclopedic. There is a significant lack of an unbiased, objective tone in many of the sections. The Anime and Manga sections are cursory descriptions that sound as if they were written by Japanophile with 2 years of high school education, making a defense for the media. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.78.217.247 (talk) 23:24, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

No pictures?...
...seriously?? Wikipedia has really gone too far this time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.91.244.221 (talk) 01:09, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

Ideas for Changes
So it's been mentioned that this page could use some work. The tone isn't right and, for a pretty broad topic, chooses odd moments to get too specific. Some ideas I have are broadening the fashion section, even by mentioning certain fashion trends. Kogaru, lolita, and cosplay even would be some good trends that warrant even a sentence or two. The Cool Japan/soft power section could use more references cause this is a popular topic in academia; the products that Japan produces can be pretty odorless which is an interesting aspect of their goods and products.

Shōjo culture and image could go under Kawaii. The Kawaii section could use some cleaning up and maybe a brief explanation of kawaii ambassadors.

Music, television, and internet sections all need explanations. I was thinking of adding 'drama', 'karaoke', 'internet cafe', and 'keitai novels' as potential subsections.

Film directors could use some expansion but that's where it gets fuzzy for me. Where would producers like Miyazaki or Kon get mentions, film or anime?

I think some pictures would definitely spice the page up.

Also, here are some sources I'm trying to get through or get a hold of. Most seem pretty general with manga, anime, lolita, cosplay but some get specific like with keitai novels. I definitely have sources for the more specific things like odorless goods from Japan and shōjo, but I was going to see how people felt about including them as topics before I found the sources.

·Fluid Orality in the Discourse of Japanese Popular Culture by Maynard, Senko K.

·Japan pop! : inside the world of Japanese popular culture by Craig, Timothy J.,

·Introducing Japanese Popular Culture by Alisa Freedman and Toby Slade

·Visions of Precarity in Japanese Popular Culture and Literature by Kristina Iwata-Weickgenannt and Roman Rosenbaum

·The worlds of Japanese popular culture : gender, shifting boundaries and global cultures by Martinez, D. P.

·Fandom Unbound : Otaku Culture in a Connected World by Itō, Mizuko, Okabe, Daisuke and Tsuji, Izumi

·Kansai Cool : A Journey into the Cultural Heartland of Japan by Christal Whelan Shoujess (talk) 22:30, 23 February 2018 (UTC)

Adding to Cool Japan, Kawaii and Music
Not only is the whole Wikipedia page lacking in information in nearly every aspect, however, it's also quite unorganized. I plan on contributing various pieces of information to several of the topics and organizing the sections into a more coherent format.

I agree useful pictures that can give example to what's being said in the article are lacking.

A lot can be added about Japanese pop culture music, but I will focus on adding information regarding Kei-on. I will also erase most of what's said and contribute information about 'Cool Japan' considering there's no actual definition to what it is, why it's important, or when it started. That section is unnecessarily filled with quotes from various sources that aren't elaborated upon. 'Kawaii' doesn't have much information there, aside from providing a definition. Surprisingly enough, there's no information on 'Otaku' or the otaku culture. A new section will be added that briefly explains the meaning of otaku, its history, and how it has become a large factor of Japanese popular culture.

On the topic of organization, the readers will find it easier to go through topics if they correlate with one another and smoothly transition. For example, the 'Anime', 'Film' and 'Television' sections should be placed together instead of having rather irrelevant subjects such as 'Fashion' interrupting the sequence.

Here are the sources I will be pulling my information from:

-The Cool-Kawaii: Afro-Japanese Aesthetics and New World Modernity by Thornsten Botz-Bornstein

-Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan: Historical Perspectives and New Horizons by Patrick W. Galbraith, Thiam Huat Kam and Bjorn-Ole Kamm

-Pop Culture and the Everyday in Japan by Katsuya Minamida and Izumi Tsuji

-Visual Kei: Hybridity and Gender in Japanese Pop Culture by Ken McLeod

-Japanese society: Inside out and outside in by Yoshio Sugimoto

DarianRes (talk) 00:49, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: English Composition 2
— Assignment last updated by Applegirl1234 (talk) 12:59, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

Tone of the article
I just read the first section and it made it seem, to me at least, like Japan is a single being with a single mind and will. I don't expect that other countries are talked about this way when it comes to their culture. Eastbayguy (talk) 01:59, 19 October 2023 (UTC)


 * I was talking about the history section, not the introduction. Eastbayguy (talk) 02:03, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

Adding to Internet
I'm planning on adding a bit about virtual idols under the Internet section although it may fit better under Japanese Idols, I'm not sure yet. Mostly I will write a little bit on history of virtual idols, a mention of Hatsune Miku, but my focus will be on adding about VTubers. Also will be adding some citations to go with them. AKM0303 (talk) 01:42, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

Revising Video Games section
My current plans are to evaluate and restructure the Video Games section of this article by adding information derived from various sources on the history of video games and said industry in Japan, their impact generally inside and outside of Japan, and what their effect on Japanese culture as been especially. This is because the current state of the section consists of short lists of various Japanese companies and game franchises that are nebulously important to the discussion of Japanese popular culture, primarily due to a lack of sources and information explaining why their inclusion and history are important and a lack of detail on what their effects have had on wider perceptions and popular culture in Japan. I aim to rectify this by adding said information and restructuring the section overall to be more logical and spend the time it does talking about video game history and development to tie that into the overall discussion of Japanese popular culture and how it's been affected by video games.

Some of my potential sources:

Prisco, J. (2017, November 13). How Japan changed video games forever. Retrieved from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/12/asia/future-japan-videogame-landmarks/index.html

Santamaria, S. (2022, February 28). Video Games in Japan, an industry that dominates the world. Retrieved from Camara Colombo Japonesa: https://www.camaracolombojaponesa.org/post/video-games-in-japan-an-industry-that-dominates-the-world

Yamaguchi, S., Iyanaga, K., Sakaguchi, H., & Tanaka, T. (2017, December). The Substitution Effect of Mobile Games on Console Games: An Empirical Analysis of the Japanese Video Game Industry. The Review of Socionetwork Strategies, 11(2), 95-110. Retrieved from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/trosos/v11y2017i2d10.1007_s12626-017-0014-1.html PhoinixUU (talk) 01:12, 28 October 2023 (UTC)

More details on the J-POP section
My plan is to add some more details to the J-pop section. The current stuff is just a general summary without a lot of details. My idea was to add some effects, features and stuff like that. My current materials include: What can we expect from J-pop in 2022? /https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2022/01/14/music/j-pop-trends-2022/ J-Pop: Changing or Declining? J‐pop: from the ideology of creativity to DiY music culture Baskeria (talk) 03:32, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

Light Novels
Given how many light novels are being translated for the overseas market, the sucess of their adaptations to other media, and how much they sell (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_light_novels), shouldn't they also get a section? 2804:14C:D482:8288:B4EB:E674:173A:E620 (talk) 19:42, 21 February 2024 (UTC)