Conference in Chiba, About Japanese Pop Culture

1. IES Abroad Japan
Chiba
January 15th, 2015
Gil Vicente Lourencao
Tsukuba University / Federal University of Sao
Carlos
About Japanese Culture – Or how to
recognize the importance of Pop
Culture in Japan and beyond

2. Acknowledgements:
 Monbukagakusho
 FAPESP
 Professor Karl Friday
 IES Abroad Japan

3. What is Japanese Culture?

4. What we’ll talk about?
 Some definitions about Culture, Pop, Japanese Culture.
Examples taken inside of Japanese Culture and the
importance of pop culture to understand the main core of
Culture in Japan. Segmentary principle of organization -
age groups: young age, adult age and senior age.
Explanation about this system and the relation with the
Kouhai[beginners], Senpai[veterans], Sensei[professors]
system and the importance of that in terms of social
organization.
 Some examples and manifestations of Pop Culture:
descriptions of Manga, Anime, Music, Games, Card
Games. A fashion and Kawaii[cute] Japanese World.
Akihabara and Harajuku, the social environment as a
center of Kawaiiness [cuteness], Sexuality and Pop
Culture in Tokyo. Q/A and discussion.

5. Few words about myself -
presentation
 I have been living here since 2012, more accurate over two years in
Japan to make a research about the Ki, or vital energy inside of
Kendo and Iaido, i.e., Martial Arts or Martial ways.
 I’m a Student of Martial arts and Japanese old things and stuffs. The
main point for me is, inside of Japanese Culture, everything links
past and future in a continuum way. Let’s see this.

6. Culture, Pop, Japanese Culture. How
can we understand this?
 What we need to have Culture? Or to be? Or to
becoming?
 Culture and Culture
 Praxis and language
 Symbols
 Action
 Communication
 Popular [Pop] Vs. Cult

7. One definition
 Culture – system of symbols.
Communication, socialization and a way to
live, to be and becoming in society.
 In one anthropological point of view, Culture
can be understood as a language that put
together Symbols, praxis – or the ways
people think and do – and act. In this sense,
the communication is mainly important, to
allow people to think, make decisions and
act. [Marshall Sahlins, Islands of History].

8. Japanese Culture
 So, in this sense, Japanese Culture can be
understood as symbols, shared meanings,
persons living and sharing together these
meanings, objects, subjects; ways to live and
becoming. But, these shared meanings is
not fully able or opened for everybody.
Mainly for people of groups with close age.
Or, in sum, age groups.
 In Japan, we should note that the age group
system is strong. And in second, here have a
equivalent strong appreciation of young
Culture.

9. Few examples

10. Anthopologic point of view;
Inside of Japanese Culture.
From the point of view of a given anthropology, we
could recognize a definition of a person inside of
Japanese Culture by three points.
 First, an underlying hierarchical principle of
Japanese social organization; in this opportunity
we’ll talk about it.
 second, by the native word;
 third, and important, by kinship.
Obs.: We have all these processes together.

11. Hierarchy system
 Professors [Sensei] 「先生」, the senior students
[Senpai] 「先輩」, and beginner practitioners [Kouhai]
「後輩」of some activity. This primary hierarchical
system is the basis of any hierarchy in Japan, working
in any relation, inside of Companies, Schools,
Universities and of course in all Cultural Practices.
 This hierarchical system is vitally important to
understand the Japanese social structure. All other
systems used it in a similar logic and its operation
takes into account basically the temporality. Longer in
a given activity, more a person should to know. And
teach.

12. Japanese Popular Culture
For the other side, the JPC let open some ways for the emergence and
operation of a insipient individualism and group differentiation.

16. Japanese Pop Culture
JPC Categories
Some categories of JPC [and of course
other PC] including
Manga – 漫画 - Comics
Anime – アニメ - Animation
Music – 音楽
Games – ゲーム
Card Games – カードゲーム

17. Some useful words and Concepts
 Kawaii – 「可愛い」 – Cute, beautiful, beautifully; specially
used for beautiful women and children. Need to be avoided
when in men's case. Can be used with the Yurukiyara –
Prefecture’s mascots also. [Example of Funashi – Funabashi
Shi and Kumamon – Kumamoto Ken]
 Otaku – 「 オ タ ク 」 – Some kind of Nerd or Geek
Japanese like.
 Cosplay – Costume Player – 「コスプレー」
 Akihabara - 「秋葉原」 . Center or humanity microcosm for
Otakus and Cosplayers.
 Harajuku - 「原宿」 Capital of Kawaiiness [Japan Today]
 AKB48 – Akihabara 48. Group of Mythical idols Japanese
singers.
 Kun and Chan – くん、ちゃん。

18. Inside a Japanese bookshelf
First of all, in Japan they have specialized bookstores
for rent, buy or sell new or used books, disks, games,
game consoles, etc. Below, some pictures of those
places - bookstores:

19. Manga – 漫画 - Comics
 We should note that in Japan exist a wide variety of Manga available
in stores. If you want to know what kind is most famous or sold at
that time, the best advice is to visit a bookstore to see what people
are buying. This visit can be really nice, trust me.
 Naruto - Masashi Kishimoto
https://www.facebook.com/MasashiKishimoto811 (岸本 斉史, born November 8,
1974) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga
series Naruto which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014. As of
September 2014, the series had over 200 million copies in print
worldwide.

20. Manga – 漫画 - Comics
 Vagabond – Tatehiro Inoue
http://itplanning.co.jp/previous/whate
Takehiko Inoue (井上雄彦, born in 12
January 1967 in Okuchi, Kagoshima) is a
Japanese manga artist, best known for
the samurai manga Vagabond, which has
become a success both in Japan and
overseas.

21. Anime – アニメ - Animation
 Hayao Miyazaki http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki
 宮﨑 駿 Miyazaki Hayao, born in January 5, 1941, is a
Japanese film director, animator, manga artist, illustrator,
producer, and screenwriter. Through a career that has
spanned five decades, Miyazaki has attained
international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and as a
maker of anime feature films and, along with Isao
Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli, a film and animation
studio. He is considered one of the most popular and
influential animators in cinema, in Japan and overseas.
 My Neighbor Totoro ( Tonari no Totoro)-
1988https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXG4DcIAfBE
 Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)-2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByXuk9QqQkk

22. Anime – アニメ - Animation
 Masamune Shirō (士郎 正宗 Shirō Masamune) is a
manga artist. He was born on November 23, 1961.
Masamune Shiro is the pen name of Masanori Ota,
based on a famous swordsmith, Masamune. He is best
known for the manga Ghost in the Shell, which has
since been turned into two theatrical anime movies,
two anime TV series, an anime TV movie, and several
video games. This became the basic reference for the
movie Matrix.
 Ghost in the Shell (Kōkaku Kidōtai, "Mobile
Armored Riot Police”, from 1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uMNtOQOaLU

23. Music – 音楽
 Yoshida Brothers
(吉田兄弟 Yoshida Kyōdai) are Japanese musicians who
have released several albums on the Domo Records
label. The two brothers are performers of the traditional
Japanese music style of Tsugaru-jamisen which
originated in northern Japan. They debuted in 1999 in
Japan as a duo playing the shamisen. Their music has
been a fusion of the rapid and percussive Tsugaru-
jamisen style along with Western and other regional
musical influences. In addition to performing songs that
are only on the shamisen, they also use instruments
such as drums and synthesizers.
Yoshida Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_CzD0GBD-4#t=123

24. Music – 音楽
 Kyary Pamiu Pamiu – 「きゃりーぱみゅうぱみゅう」 "Harajuku Pop
Princess”.
Kiriko Takemura (竹村 桐子 Takemura Kiriko, born January 29, 1993), known by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
is a Japanese model and singer. Her public image is associated with Japan's kawaii culture centered in
the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. Kyary is well known for her iconic single, "PonPonPon" (2011),
which made Japan's top ten. The singles "Candy Candy" and "Fashion Monster" (2012) followed the
success. Though most of her success as a recording artist has been in Asia, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has
also gained popularity in western countries due in part to internet videos which have gone viral.
"Harajuku Pop Princess”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoK8DaJRDaM (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMdjJ3w9iM (2013)

25. Games – ゲーム
 Consoles
Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_video_game
_console
 Handheld Game Console
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_game_c
onsole

26. Card Games – カードゲーム
Specialized Stores in Akihabara; decks, RPGs

27. Harajuku and Akihabara
 Harajuku - 原 宿 Capital of Kawaiiness. In the
neighborhood we can easily find girls dresses such as these
examples:
 http://www.travelettes.net/a-guide-to-harajuku-fashion/

28. Harajuku and Akihabara
Akihabara - 秋葉原 . Center or humanity microcosm for
Otakus and Cosplayers

29. AKB48
 AKB48 is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara
(Akiba for short) area of Tokyo, where the group's theater is located,
and its original roster of 48 members. AKB48's producer, Yasushi
Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with its own theater and
performing daily so fans could always see them live. This "idols you
can meet" concept includes teams which can rotate performances
and perform simultaneously at several events.

30. A fashion and Kawaii[cute] Japanese
World.

31. Final Considerations
 Japanese are affectionate for the beauty and
balance of everything. They are so proud of
country and beauties that here are.
 For the other hand, those beauties occasionally
bring some kind or worship and idolatry. Like
some kind of divinity's worship. It is the case for
many young students girls and boys.
 The technologic life in japan can occasionally
bring loss of reality and a isolate life. Take care
please.
 Here you can find a myriad of different kinds of
hobbies and funny pleasures; in sum, the problem
is just the size of your pocket for some of them;
but, for many other pleasures, you can discover
you don't need money.
 Have fun!

32. Thank you very much for your attention
Gil Vicente Lourencao
gilvicenteworks@gmail.com
ufscar.academia.edu/GilVicenteLourencao
www.japonesidades.wordpress.com
Social Sciences - Federal University of Sao Carlos,
UFSCar, Brazil [2005]
Masters in Social Anthropology - Federal University
of Sao Carlos, UFSCar [2009]
Ph.D. Candidate in Social Anthropology, UFSCar
[March, 2015]
Post Doc Researcher Candidate in Tsukuba
University [August, 2015]
ABEJ - Brazilian Association of Japanese Studies -
Researcher
Japan Foundation Brazil - Japanese Studies -
Researcher
LEM - Laboratory of Immigration Studies - UFSCar -
Researcher
LJS - Laboratory of Japaneseness Studies – Tsukuba
University - Coordinator
ABA - Brazilian Association of Anthropology - Member
ABMON - Association of Students of
Monbukagakusho - Member
Japanese Academy of Budo [Martial Arts] 日本武道
学会 – Member and Researcher