Author of Japanamerica Discusses Anime and American Pop Culture
Friday, April 09 3:50 pm
On April 18, Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., will discuss the influence of anime on American pop culture at the Museum’s Global Weekends: Bollywood and Anime in America. Kelts recently offered a few thoughts on the subject.
In your book, you write that “Battle of the Planets” was many Americans’ “first taste of Japanese pop.” How did this American version of a Japanese series even come about?
I open Japanamerica with that story because it embodies so much of what my book is about—an unlikely convergence of cultures across thousands of miles and vast cultural differences. In 1977, NBC uber-producer Sandy Frank (“Name That Tune,” “Lassie”) brought an obscure Japanese animated series, originally called Gatchaman, to American TV because he loved it, and because the success of Star Wars suddenly made it acceptable. But none of his fellow NBC staffers spoke Japanese, and no one knew what to do to localize the maturity, sexuality, and violence of the original Japanese product.
What about Japanese pop culture attracts Americans?
James Joyce once wrote that art is “perfect imperfection,” or something like that. I think Americans, and other audiences, love the quirks and flaws in art when they feel it’s authentic—real expressions of human emotion. Japanese pop culture, however ‘cool’ it seems now, is defined by its sincerity, especially compared to the wisecracking sarcasm in most American pop products.
How has anime evolved throughout the years?
More recently, anime has developed a self-consciousness about its global appeal. At the same time, conditions in Japan—a shrinking youth demographic, increased downloads, and others—mean that the industry is producing higher-quality art at the same time as it is losing its profit margin. DVD and TV sales are tanking. And no one has learned how to monetize the Internet.
You have said that many cultural historians have called this the “third wave of Japanophilia—outsiders’ infatuation with Japan’s cultural character.” What is the focal point of this “wave,” and how does it differ from the first two?
The first two waves of Japanophilia were focused on Japan’s traditional arts—woodblock prints, Zen Buddhism. But now, Japan is perceived as a cutting-edge leader of postmodern aesthetics: a world of immediacy and interactivity that far supersedes our own.
You write that “Japanese over 40 still care deeply about what Americans think of them. But younger Japanese do not blink. They strut through their cities with a confidence that borders on punk.” Can you expand on that?
After 60 years of post-WWII influence, young Japanese are over all that. The American influx of blue jeans, jazz, hipsters and hip hop has been done in Japan, and done well. Most young Japanese don’t think about America when they buy a manga, sip a café latte in Starbucks, and crease their designer Italian jeans. But the same may be said of young Americans. Do we really care if Naruto or Pokemon are Japanese—or do we just appreciate that they’re good, better than what we make, and accessible?
