One among many orientalist[i] stereotypes of Asians is that they are masters of imitation (or adaptation) but lack original creativity (or invention); an assumption which looks ridiculous when one spends just a little time studying any given Asian culture, I would say. Rather, I spot the tendency to imitate (instead of inventing) in modern popular…
Category: Culture
Doing Justice to Transgender Characters on TV
It’s always a good sign when something ‘weird’ stops being funny, and is taken seriously. As it seems, that is happening – in some cases – with transgender characters in Japanese TV. A Queer Family in Last Friends First off, I have a correction to make. In my post on lesbians in Japan I was…
Gender Expectations of Edo Period Japan
The Edo period made Japan Japan. This long segment of peace shaped Japanese gender expectations and continues to influence them today. Japan was once a matriarchal society. The influx of Confucian ideas from China around the 15th century eroded the ability of women to hold power. Confucian ideas stressed hierarchy, male dominance, integrity, and righteousness….
The No Dating Clause in J-Pop Girl Bands
Take a moment to watch this video. Notice her shaved head? That is a traditional way to show remorse and a desire to repent in Japanese culture, a tradition quite rare for women to practice. So what was her sin? What terrible, despicable thing did she do that warranted a shaved head and this apology?…
Barriers to Anime Going Mainstream
Recently, I rewatched Moribito, and it struck me how rare such anime are for the US. You see, anime is a storytelling medium just like live-action movies. However, anime has a bad reputation for telling poor stories laced with underboob and panty shots. Why is that? After all, anime contains stories like Moribito. If you…
Musings IV: Japanese Idioms, and why it is a good idea to know some.
Perhaps you’ve been so lucky never to have prayed into a horse’s ear (uma no mimi ni nenbutsu), but I bet someone has once looked at you with white eyes (shiroi me de miru) until you felt like your stomach was boiling (hara ga nie-kurikaeru yō). Yes, those are Japanese Idioms. I’ve had a class…