"An East Gate book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Can Japanese sing the blues? : "Japanese jazz" and the problem of authenticity / E. Taylor Atkins -- The marketing of tears : consuming emotions in Japanese popular song / Christine R. Yano -- Open your file, open your mind : women, English, and changing roles and voices in Japanese pop music / James Stanlaw -- A karaoke perspective on international relations / Hiro R. Shimatachi -- Japanese comic books and religion : Osamu Tezuka's story of the Buddha / Mark Wheeler MacWilliams -- The romantic, passionate Japanese in anime : a look at the hidden Japanese soul / Eri Izawa -- Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen) : volume 8, pages 17-31 / Keiji Nakazawa -- Gender roles and girls' comics in Japan : the girls and guys of Y�ukan Club / Maia Tsurumi -- From Sazae-san to Crayon Shin-chan : family anime, social change, and nostalgia in Japan / William Lee -- New role models for men and women? : gender in Japanese TV dramas / Hilaria M. G�ossmann -- A new kind of royalty : the Imperial family and the media in postwar Japan / Jayson Chun -- Into the heartland with Tora-san / Mark Schilling -- Sailor Moon : Japanese superheroes for global girls / Anne Allsion -- Beauty fighter "Sailor Chemist" / Yuka Kawada -- Doraemon goes abroad / Saya S. Shiraishi -- Pop idols and the Asian identity / Hiroshi Aoyagi. 520 P

Presents a look at various forms of Japanese popular culture: pop song, jazz, enka (a popular musical ballad genre), karaoke, comics, animated cartoons (anime), video games, television dramas, films, and "idols" (teenage singers and actors.) Also describes Japan social life and customs.