As this media mix has had several more decades to evolve in Japan than in the United States and Europe, the Japanese understanding of convergence culture is significantly more progressive concerning the user-generated portion of the mix (note 6). Specifically,
[QUOTE] From Galbraith and Karlin, Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture, p1
On 9 June 2011, news of nuclear contamination in earthquake-stricken Japan took a backseat to the AKB48 General Election in the mass media. The third election of its kind for the all-girl idol group formed in 2005, it was a
Seven new essays on transcultural fandom
Via @tea-and-liminality: “For anyone interested, there’s a new themed section on transcultural fandom up at the online journal Participations, with the following essays: Chin, Bertha & Lori Hitchcock Morimoto:‘Introduction’ Driessen, Simone:‘Larger than life: exploring the transcultural fan practices of the
NHK – The Secret World of Comiket (2015), made by Ken Burns. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
The censorship problems faced by anime and manga fans
For fans of manga, anime, and other Japanese media, pointing and laughing at inaccurate mass media portrayals of Japanese pop culture has been something of a sport for decades. A few weeks ago, however, things took a slightly more serious
Issue 14 of Transformative Works and Cultures is out!
Congratulations to the editors and writers! Links to all articles below. As usual, we’ll be posting some good quotes from these in the coming days, and you’re very welcome to submit your own. Editorial Spreadable fandom – TWC Editor Theory Metaphors
[QUOTE] From Alisa Freedman, Train Man and the Gender Politics of Japanese ‘Otaku’ Culture: The Rise of New Media, Nerd Heroes and Consumer Communities
Female otaku have received more media attention (N: in Japan) since around the time of the Train Man phenomenon, but, rather than being embroiled in discussions about the family, they have most often been showcased as a creative force ofconsumers
[QUOTE] From Mizuko Ito, Fandom Unbound, loc. 246-63
Even as otaku culture is recuperated by elites and the mainstream, and as the terms “anime” and “manga” have become part of a common international lexicon, otaku culture and practice have retained their subcultural credibility. In Japan, much of manga
[QUOTE] From Thomas Lamarre, Introduction to Mechademia 6: User Enhanced
in the wake of government policies in Japan promoting Akihabara as a tourist destination and championing otaku culture as a new national paradigm for economic prosperity, some otaku were quick to point out that the prosperity of otaku culture was
[QUOTE] From Patrick Galbraith and Thomas Lamarre, Otakuology: a Dialogue, p362
Scholars working on Japanese popular culture are only distinguished by the quantity of their publications and the novelty of their topics, which conditions a preference for niche subjects, which are analyzed by applying simplified superstructures. The result is a tendency