User:DarianRes/sandbox

Visual Kei
Main article: Visual kei

Visual kei (Japanese: ヴィジュアル系), also known as "visual style", is a prominent wave in Japan's music world that encapsulates bands with androgynous appearances who play a variety of music styles ranging from heavy metal to electronic. Similar to cosplay, visual kei artists typically cross- dress and flaunt very embellished costumes, make-up, and hairstyles. Not many of the bands include female members, but a majority of their audiences are young females.

Starting in the 1980s and rising to popularity in the 1990s, the first generation of visual kei was heavily influenced by western rock and metal musicians such as Kiss. One of the pioneers is a band called X Japan who are still active. After celebrating their reunion, X Japan appeared at the 2018 Coachella Music Festival as part of the Saturday night line up. Although, the first generation of visual kei came to an end at the time of X Japan's lead guitarists death in 1999. A few years later, the second generation called neo- visual kei transpired and took the genre onto a slightly different path than before. (How does it differentiate from the first wave?)

Otaku
Main article: Otaku

Otaku (Japanese: おたく/オタク) is a Japanese term used to describe a person who has strong interests or an obsession with Japanese pop subculture products and aesthetics. The nuance of being labeled as an otaku has evolved from negative to positive.

Cool Japan
Original:

In 2002 Douglas McGray of Foreign Policy wrote an article entitled "Japan's Gross National Cool", where he commented upon Japan's soft power and the international expansion of its cultural influence. These cultural elements project a message that author Koichi Iwabuchi feels markets and packages Japan as a nation of commerce and “pop culture diplomacy" as opposed to a militarily focused and driven country/nation. In his article "Pop-culture diplomacy in Japan: soft power, nation branding and the question of ‘international cultural exchange’", Iwabuchi writes that Japan's actions during World War II made it necessary for the nation to rebuild their national image; moving away from a national image of military dominance and into an image of cultural diplomacy. Initiated by the Japanese government, the creation of the “soft power” image emerged, and Japan began to sell its pop culture as its new non-military image in order to promote its own culture and reestablish healthy and peaceful diplomacy with other nations.

My Edits:

Cool Japan (クールジャパン Kūru Japan) is an expression that's used to describe the rise of Japan's soft power and prevalence internationally as a cultural influence. These cultural elements project a message that markets and packages Japan as a nation of commerce and “pop culture diplomacy" as opposed to a militarily focused and driven country. Japan's actions during World War II made it necessary for the nation to rebuild their national image; moving away from a national image of military dominance and into an image of cultural diplomacy. Initiated by the Japanese government, the creation of the “soft power” image emerged, and Japan began to sell its pop culture as its new non-military image in order to promote its own culture and reestablish a healthy and peaceful diplomacy with other nations.

Anime
Original:

Anime is a movie or television episode of sorts which utilizes an animated cartoon art style iconic to Japan in order to convey a story. Unlike Western cartoons, anime frequently tends to have more detailed character design. This can be used to allow for a better connection between the viewer and the character. Anime is based most of the time on animated comics or manga, which is an ancient form of comic writing which dates all the way to the 12th century.

The world of animated films in Japanese popular culture has been a growing trend since the 1920s. Influenced by Walt Disney and his animated characters, Osamu Tezuka (1925–1989), also known as "manga no kamisama" (which means, "God of Comics") would begin his forty-year evolution of animation, or anime, that would change the content of Japanese comic books. With the creation of his first animated character Astro Boy that was unlike any other animated character; he found the hearts of the Japanese public with a robotic boy who has spiky hair, eyes as big as fists, with rockets on his feet.

As anime has grown, various genres, such as sci-fi, have become prevalent, and many either reflect or are inspired by Japanese lifestyle and culture. In Japanese society, anime has become so popular that their characters have frequently been made into byproducts such as toys and video games.

My Edits:

Anime (Japanese: アニメ) is a movie or television episode of sorts which utilizes an animated cartoon art style iconic to Japan in order to convey a story. Unlike western cartoons, anime can be distinguished by its detail in character design, large array of facial expressions, in-depth character development, wide target audience, and rare use of talking animals. These traits are used in order to better the connection between a viewer and the characters. Most of the time, anime is based on animated comics or manga, which is an ancient form of comic writing which dates back to the 12th century.

The world of animated films in Japanese popular culture has been a steady growing trend since the 1920s.

As anime has grown in its variety of viewers, genres, and themes, the industry has become more prevalent in society. Many producers will at some point create an anime that's inspired by Japanese lifestyle and reflect the culture. In modern Japan, anime has become so popular that memorable characters have frequently been made into byproducts such as figurines and video games.

** Other**

Geinōkai (Japanese:芸能界) means "entertainment world" or "the world of show business"

Contribution to 'Japanese popular culture' Talk page
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. '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

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

Chosen Topic and Sources
Japanese popular culture

Japanese Schoolgirl Influence:

https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=1657337#

Manga & Anime:

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=275518&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-10

To Be Continued...

Choosing Possible Topics
Studio Ponoc Eat Your Kimchi Ikimono-gakari
 * Someone in the talk left additional possible references that can be potentially used for further detail
 * The Japanese version may have information that the English version does not
 * This particle doesn't appear to have been edited or talked about in a couple of years
 * The creators have moved from South Korea to Japan which isn't written in the page
 * The creators' official Youtube name was changed from Eat Your Kimchi to Simon and Martina
 * The creators' content has changed themes in recent years
 * Please see notes below in the subject: "Article Evaluation"

"Article Evaluation"
Observations on Ikimono-gakari Article:
 * Lack of images
 * Neutral viewpoint
 * Fair amount of discussion on the talk page with some arguable points on sources, the meaning of ikimono gakari, and classification of their music
 * Incomplete Awards and nominations?
 * The first reference doesn't appear to be a be a credible source, but rather a suggested critique on the page
 * The fifth reference is a link to a member's tweet from Twitter- this is not a credible third party source
 * The thirteenth reference is a broken link


 * There are no English Wikipedia pages that give biographical information on the band members
 * Japanese page has far more detailed information on the subject
 * Lack of information on support members- When did they join? What songs did they accompany? Do these people matter or are they simply a few names out of a countless amount of people who have assisted the band during concert performances?