Timothy J. Craig - Japan pop!: inside the world of Japanese popular culture

Cover

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JAPAN POP!

Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture

Timothy J. Craig, Editor

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An East Gate Book

Copyright 2000 by M. E. Sharpe, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, New York 10504.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Japan pop! : inside the world of Japanese popular culture / edited by Timothy J. Craig
p. cm.
"An East gate book"
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7656-0560-0 (alk. paper)
1. popular cultureJapan. 2. JapanCivilization1945- I. Craig, Timothy J., 1947
DS822.5 .J386 2000
952.04dc21 00-021812

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48-1984.

BM (c) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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Like most books, this one benefited from the help and encouragement of a great number of people. I would first like to express my gratitude to the University of Victoria's Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI) and to its Director Bill Neilson for the support and resources that allowed me to take on this project. Along the way, much-appreciated assistance was provided by Stella Chan, Tomoko Izawa, Heather MacDonald, and Wendy Farwell.

For inspiration in a variety of forms, a tip of the hat to Fosco Maraini, Fred Schodt, Steve Mindel, John, Curtis, and magic Tango. A special word of appreciation goes to the many publishers and artists in Japan who generously provided permission for the use of photographs, illustrations, and song lyrics, and to Doug Merwin and M. E. Sharpe, for their enthusiasm for a book concept that other publishers tended to view as either too academic or not academic enough. And to my wonderful familyHiroko, Danny, and Emilythanks for putting up with the project and for helping me out so much with your ideas and knowledge of Japan popI've been lucky to have such a good resource sitting around the dinner table.

Finally, I want to thank all the authors and artists who have contributed their writings and other creations to this volume. Your enchanting and insightful work has provided the real motivation. From my first encounter with it, I knew that I had something special in my hands, and I have since been driven, over a sometimes bumpy road, by a desire to share it with a larger audience. I hope you are happy with the destination.

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In Japan, people's names are usually written with the family name first and the given name last. However, as this book is written not just for Japan specialists but for a more general audience as well, I have listed Japanese names in the usual English order: given name first and family name last.

Japanese words are generally italicized (e.g., yume, namida