Fashion
Fashion is the biggest part of the Japanese pop culture. It's very important to the lifestyle they live by. In Japan it is important to look presentable and clean when going out. Not only that, but there are guidelines to their fashion. For men, properly fitted clothes are desirable. For women, you can show as much legs as you'd like but you should cover the chest area. To make the look complete women should wear heels. There are obvious circumstances that will allow these guidelines to bend such as weather and preferences. These are just the typically rule of thumb to Japanese fashion. One of the best stores to shop at is UNIQLO. This a well known store in Japan that has fashionable and cheap clothing.
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| College students. |
Music
Just as America has various genres of music, so does Japan. The most common and talked about genres are J-pop (Japanese pop music), J-rock (Japanese rock music), and Visual Kei (a music and fashion associated with rock style but adds an elaborate sound and look). Japanese music lyrics are very poetic. The lyrics usually talk about nature or emotions. For those of you who may not be familiar with Japanese music here are examples of bands and artists I recommend you to check out:
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu- a popular and well known pop singer famous for her song "PonPonPon."
*Babymetal- a 3 member girl rock band that combines cuteness and the sound of rock into their music.
Stereopony- a girl rock band that has had songs featured in anime.
Perfume- a pop/techno girl group who is recognized for their unique sound.
*AAA- a pop group of both genders who have been featured in anime and have came out with multiple cds over the years.
*Da-ice- a new boy pop group with great vocals and eye catching choreography.
*Abingdon Boys School- an alternative boys rock group who is recognized for their iconic songs that are featured in various anime.
*These are my favorites to listen to.
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| Babymetal (got from an article on Rocketnews24) |
Anime
Anime is Japanese animation. It is in fact for all ages, so make sure to check the show's maturity rating. Some of you may have seen anime before without even noticing such as Pokemon, Dragonball, Speed Racer, Astro Boy, Sailor Moon, and Cardcaptor Sakura. These examples are a part of many people's childhood. Anime has evolved since then and has become an art form, always trying to out do themselves. Anime comes in many genres. It is probably the most popular thing about Japanese pop culture. It has migrated to all parts of the world with voice acting in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Korean, Brazilian, and of course Japanese. Anime has a subculture called cosplay which will be for another post entirely. Here are examples of anime to watch:
Ages 4-12: Pokemon, Yokai Watch, Digimon, Kaleido Star, Tokyo Mew Mew, Glass Mask, Shugo Chara!
Ages 13-17: .hack//, Naruto, Fruits Basket, Full Moon, Inuyasha, D.Grayman, Ouran High School Host Club, Kimi Ni Todoke, Slayers, Trigun.
Ages 18 and older: Hellsing Ultimate, Ghost in the Shell, Elfen Lied, Death Note, Berserk, Ceres Celestial Legend, Attack on Titan, Paradise Kiss.
These anime are recommendations based off of age groups and do not reflect my taste of anime. I will be happy to post about my favorite anime at a later time.
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| Characters of the series .hack//Legend of the Twilight. |
I hope you enjoyed this quick overview of Japanese pop culture. All of these topics can be discussed in more detail which will reappear in later posts.
Sorry for not posting lately! I've been super busy with my cosplay since anime convention season is approaching for me. I will probably be doing a blog post on that relatively soon. I will continue to post as much as I can. Until next time!
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