Japanese Pop (J-POP)

To define Japanese pop culture, we must start with what culture is. It is the ideas, customs and social behavior of a particular people or society according to the Oxford Dictionary.  When we add the word popular to this since popular is a very subjective word, almost anything can be considered as pop culture. However adding Japanese to pop culture does add some limitations to this infinite possibility. Japanese pop culture can be vaguely defined as things people perceive within the realm of Japanese. For example, mythical creatures called yokai, films like Godzilla, J-Pop, anime, manga, and fashion such as Harajuku and lolita. 

These are just a small scope of examples that play a key role to Japan’s cultural identity and attract global interest.  It is what people commonly take as their definition of Japan. Having a pop culture is a representation of what something is. As times change so does pop culture, factors such as technological, social and economic play a key role in influencing what Japanese pop culture is. When defining pop culture it is also important to recognize different elements that converge together to create a piece of pop culture, for example, the film “Godzilla” is a film that was created based on tragic historical events that happened to the Japanese in order to create awareness of the dangers of nuclear weapons but has since then evolved into something that is globally recognized being enjoyable for all different ages. Within Japanese culture, subcultures also are an important make-up such as otaku culture or fashion trends such as gyaru, lolita, Harajuku and visual kei. Otaku culture shares having passionate fans who are “obsessed” with certain idols, anime or video games. It has become an important image that partially shapes the view of consumer culture within Japan.  Same goes with the different fashion styles that represent different ways for self-expression such as going against the normal fashion to stand out to represent their creativity and freedom in the way they dress. Anime and manga are probably one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about Japanese culture. One of the important roles that it serves for popular culture is that it serves as a bridge for introducing Japanese culture globally. With many different cultural, historical and societal aspects being reflected through the story of anime and manga, it serves as a way for anyone reading them to be easily understood using the visuals that create character through its unique art style often through their distinct eyes. Anime and manga go even deeper through the many subgenres such as apocalypse, mecha, magical girls and many more, all of which created by Japanese people reflect their culture. Kawaii is also another term that is often recognized globally that refers to cute things that are normally small, round, and many other characteristics. Leading to the creation of things like yuru-kyaras that also reflect Japanese culture through societal aspects of the consumer-market relationship. We also have traditional historical aspects reflected through things such as yokai who even evolve into video game characters. 

Finally, we have what we are going to talk about. Japanese Pop music, also known as J-pop. As music is also known as the language of the universe, we will discuss “How has J-pop evolved and adapted over time reflecting Japanese cultural, technological and social dynamics while keeping its cultural identity and global appeal?.”