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Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.
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Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 791
EAN: 9781403984760
ISBN: 140398476X
Label: Palgrave Macmillan
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2007-11-13
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Release Date: 2007-11-13
Studio: Palgrave Macmillan
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Editorial Reviews:
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Japanamerica is the first book that directly addresses the American experience with the Japanese pop culture craze--including anime from Hayao Miyazaki's epics to the burgeoning world of hentai, or violent pornographic anime to Haruki Murakami's fiction. Including interviews with the inventor of Pac-man and executives from TokyoPop, GDH, and other major Japanese and American production companies, this book highlights the shared conflicts both countries face as anime and manga become a global form of entertainment and change both the United States and Japan in the process.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but has problems staying on target
Comment: The book is at its best when chronicling the history of the anime industry and the struggle of its major producers to develop a new, internationally-motivated business model without eroding their creative capital. It's worth reading for this reason alone.
It's at its worst when trying to explain the popularity of anime and the cultural confluences that have allowed it to rise into the American public eye, or the factors that might hamper it in the future. Here some of the connections the author attempts to draw fall flat. (Anime is more popular because of 9/11! Um, no.) Matters are not helped by the occasionally jarring non sequiturs he throws in. (For a book which looks down its nose at mindless cultural fetishism, 'Japanamerica' works hard to be one of the cool kids. What do Fox News and the burning of Dixie Chicks CDs have to do with the future of Japanese cultural exports? Realistically, nothing; they're mentioned only so that the author can demonstrate how cool he is by looking down his nose at them. One wonders what kind of America he grew up in such that those elements are representative.)
Overall, this is a worthy snapshot of the state of anime as a cultural phenomenon. I would give it four or even five stars if more of the book were given over to this. As it is, I'd say get the book but skip the preaching about how rape is no problem in Japan and Americans are either Japanophiles or record-burning, Puritan-descended rednecks. Also, take his praise for Bakshi's animated 'Lord of the Rings' with some salt.
Customer Rating:
Summary: superb discussion of Japan and the US, beyond anime and manga
Comment: As an American who is fascinated with Japan, but frustrated with books about the relationship between the two countries, I found Roland Kelts' "Japanamerica" to be a welcome breath of fresh air. Kelts focuses on the growing popularity of manga and anime among Americans, and the "mobius strip" of give and take between the two cultures, but his focus inevitably widens to address the broader mutual fascination between these two worlds. I love the fact that, as an American with a Japanese mother, Kelts avoids the two hazards of Japanophilia and Japanophobia. There is a refreshingly grounded and sensible middle ground in his analysis, a realism that seems to lighten things up and make it all more accessible and welcoming. Perhaps best of all - and this is a miracle in the world of cultural analysis - Kelts is delightfully unpretentious and his prose is as clear and comprehensible as it is filled with fascinating ideas and observations. Never for a moment do we doubt that Kelts knows what he's talking about it - and he brings it all across with infectious enthusiasm.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pretty good introduction to the cultural phenomenon of anime -- but not much else
Comment: I've been interested in popular Japanese culture for a long time, so I was pleased to see this new exploration of the interface between Japan and America, . . . though I was somewhat put off by the use of the pejorative word "invaded" in the title. That seems to have been a marketer's contribution, though, because the half-Japanese author, who has become something of a professional explainer of Japanese and Americans to each other, seems not to reach value judgments about the wide popularity of manga and anime in this country, nor about the much more longstanding popularity of everything American in Japan. It's largely a generational thing, though; most Americans over the age of thirty have no idea what Gundam is, nor what "otaku" and "cosplay" mean. And while anime has become increasingly popular in the U.S., it remains deeply Japanese. There's really no such thing as "American anime." Though he comes to no strikingly original conclusions, Kelts does a good job of explaining things to those who are new to the subject.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pop culture rocks
Comment: Mr. Kelts' book about the popularity of Japanese culture in America is first rate. He discusses more than just anime and manga and provides the reader with an easy to understand analysis of Japanese popular culture both in Japan and as it appears in the US. It should be in the collection of any Japanophile.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellently Written!
Comment: For those who have been to Japan or have an interest in anything Japan, I highly recommend this book. The author does a wonderful job explaining Japanese pop culture and how it relates to Japanese society and culture. IT was a very easy, entertaining, and insightful read.
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