Think Globally, Change Locally

There is one Japanese word that I have heard more than any other Japanese word. Everything in the country seems to be able to be described as "kawaii" or cute. As various items and characters are brought to Japan from all over the world, it seems that there is a level of cute that must be met to enter the country. Disney characters are already love able, but it is only in Japan that I have seen them as cute as they can be, and also in forms that are not available anywhere else. The characters are made cuter and smaller and then either put into one of the capsule shopping malls or some bento item. (I realize this is a terrible over generalization, but that is life.)
Another strange import to Japan is Obama and his slogan "yes we can." "Yes we can" has been used in different way by different people here. One time a host was using this as a chant while out at an Izakaiya and another time the same words were being used by a shop to advertise their spring sale. Obama's face is appearing many places too, and can now be worn as a mask purchased from Loft or another store that sells costumes.
America was once called the melting pot, however now Japan seems to be even more of a melting pot. Absorbing different items and ideas from the whole world and making them uniquely Japanese.

Photographing Japan

Ihei Kimura was born around the turn of the nineteenth century in Tokyo Japan. When in the third grade he bought his first camera (Hammond 1) and from that point on was busy photographing the Showa era of Japan. He photographed the people of Japan and through them was able to capture Japanese culture on film. After studying photography in Taiwan he returned to Japan and established his own studio based out of Tokyo. In 1936 when Kimura visited the Akita region of Japan he photographed the people and claimed that the area was the “epitome of the reality” they lived in. He even photographed for Japan’s war propaganda during world war two. Kimura’s photography represents Japanese culture both showing the people and what is happening at the moment. The pictures that I was able to find left me wanting more, from them I feel that Japan at the time he was photographing Japan can very easily be found and through the pictures you can feel like what it was like.

http://photojpn.org/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=103

http://www.artnet.com/library/04/0466/T046614.asp

http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/555/art.asp

http://www.kahitsukan.or.jp/ihe_e.html

Popular Culture in Japan

When thinking about pop culture in Japan one name can cover a lot of ground. There are twelve performing groups with the Johnny's label and even more dance groups. Each performing group usually consists of six to twelve members, however two groups are only two people each. Each fan however tends to pick only one band and within the band one member to obsess over. Most people know about the groups appearances on the popular television dramas, their talk shows, advertisements, and music; which is what Johnny wants people to know about he would rather keep the rape allegations against him out of the news. Which has worked and even when they did make it into the news he won a lawsuit against the magazine for printing a story that could hurt his reputation, despite the fact that it was agreed that it was true. Regardless of this less than wholesome news women both young and old are still obsessed with them and guys still want to be them.

This can be seen in the types of advertisements that the Johnny's boys make. There are commercials of them shaving and selling what must be one great razor because I can't remember seeing a johnny with facial hair so it must work. Then there is the happy bath day ad campaign which features all the members of one of the more popular groups carrying a rose to wish women a happy bath day when they buy and use this particualr brand of soap. All of that leads the female fans in hoards to the Johnny's stores all over Japan. Not a single cd is available at the store, but rather pictures of the Johnny's boys (which is the reason I dared not take a photo inside the store I shudder to think what the high schoolers and house wives would have done if I took a picture, also the legal reasons).

On a weekend the stores are quite easy to find just look for the stream of girls walking out with the bright yellow bags. However why make the trip when one or more of Johnny's boys are constantly on television, on the pepsi vending machine around the corner, on the majority of magazines at 7-11, and pretty much anywhere else you can think to look.

http://www.j-storm.co.jp/index.html

http://www.johnnys-net.jp/j/index.html