JAPANESE POP CULTURE Nathan Spaugh and Amanda Collyer

JAPANESE POP CULTURE Nathan Spaugh and Amanda Collyer

WHAT IS POP CULTURE? • Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture. Heavily influenced by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society. • Short version: Stuff people like.

J-Pop Culture in MUSIC

SMAP • An idol group formed by Johnny & Associates. • Originally founded in 1991 with six members. • Has released over 40 singles and 20 albums. • Current Members: • • Nakai Masahiro 中居正広　 38 • Kimura Takuya 木村拓哉 37 • Kusanagi Tsuyoshi 草彅剛 36 • Inagaki Goro 稲垣吾郎 36 • Katori Shingo 香取慎吾 33 Former Members • Mori Katsuyuki 且行森

ARASHI • Arashi is a music group with most members in their mid to late-20’s. • Formed by Johnny & Associates. • 嵐 translated literally means “storm” • Members: • Masaki Aiba　雅紀相葉 27 • Jun Matsumoto　潤松本 27 • Kazunari Ninomiya　和也二 宮 27 • Satoshi Ohno　智大野 29 • Sho Sakurai 翔櫻井 28 • Most famous songs: Love So Sweet,

GREEEEN • This fascinating and popular hiphop/alternative group has many record topping singles but interestingly enough has never done a concert. • The group consists of 4 members, all 4 of which desire to become dentists. They keep their identities secret to protect their professional practices. • In 2009 the final member of Greeeen finally passed the dentistry exam. • This explains their symbol, the band name Greeeen in a smiley face. (big ohhh moment for me) • Hits Include: Ai Uta (love song), kiseki (miracle), and Haruka • Members: Hide, Navi, 92, and Soh

AKB 48 • This group is unique even in Japan. • Consists of 3 teams (A, K, & B teams), each with 16 girls and a total of 48. • Is based out of a theatre in Akihabara, Tokyo where they do a live performance 1 -2 times per day. • The oldest current member is 24, the average member age is 18 with the youngest 3 members being only 15. • Members regularly “graduate” or leave the group and new members are added. • Every year fans vote their favorite in each group and more popular members are moved to the front of each performance, etc.

AKB-48 BINGO

PERFUME • A techno-pop artist originally from Hiroshima, Japan. • One of the new evolutions of the J-pop sound. A blend of techno and pop. • One of the few idol groups whose members knew each other before hand. • Members • Omoto Ayano 大本彩乃 • Kashino Yuka 樫野有香 • Nishiwaki Ayaka 西脇綾香

IKIMONO-GAKARI • Formed in 1999 • Name refers to a group of children who are responsible for looking after plants and animals in a Japanese elementary school • Many songs have been featured as themes for anime and drama series • Members • 吉岡 聖恵, Yoshioka Kiyoe (26) • 水野 良樹, Mizuno Yoshiki (27) • 山下 穂尊, Yamashita Hotaka (28)

MUSIC STATION • Long running music showcase program. Began in 1986. • Fridays at 8 pm • Often features artists from around the world (often during the Japan leg of their world tours). • Features a weekly singles ranking and a monthly album ranking • Celebrated their 1000 episode on February 12 th, 2010

J-Pop Culture in CELEBRITIES

AUDREY • Owarai Duo オードリー • Kasuga Toshiaki 春日 俊彰 • Wakabayashi Masayasu 若林 正恭 • Met in junior high • Formed under the name Nice Middle • Changed name to Audrey from Audrey Hepburn • Kasagu is known for his iconic pink vest and white pants. Also known for being a penny pincher.

KOJIMA YOSHIO • Comedian • Famous for appearing in nothing but a small bathing suit in performances as well as interviews • Known for his signature dance • Catchphrase: • そんなの関係ねぇ • Sonna no kankei nee • "What does that matter? " • Went to high school with one of my JTEs

MAO ASADA • Figure Skater • Silver medalist at the 2010 Winter Olympics • Originally studied ballet • Best known for her triple axel jumps • Holds the Guinness World Record for most triple axels performed in a competition (3) • Owns a miniature poodle named Aero • Her older sister Mai is also an ice skater

ICHIRO • Full name: Ichiro Suzuki • Baseball player • Right Fielder • Currently plays for the Seattle Mariners • Holds several batting records • Single season base hits (262) • Has 10 consecutive 200 hit seasons • Known for his pre-swing pose

DAIGO • Singer and song writer, but way more famous for being Daigo than for any of his music. • His grandfather was once Prime Minister of Japan • Did some solo work as Daigo Stardust until 2006 • Currently the main vocalist of the band Breakerz. • Often wears fingerless gloves • Catchphrase (with gesture): Wish!

J-Pop Culture in TV

Q 10 • Title pronounced キュート • Saturdays at 9: 00 • Stars a singer from AKB 48 (Maeda Atsuko) and a popular actor who once stared on Kamen Rider (Sato Takeru ) • Heita is an ordinary high school boy with a kind heart but no real interest in romance. His class is joined by a transfer student named Q 10 who looks like a girl but is actually a robot. Together, the two end up causing trouble at school, and Heita even begins falling for Q 10. • A kiss scene between the two is planned!

DASSHUTSU GAME DERO • Variety show where contestants have to escape from locked rooms by answering trivia questions and solving brain teasers. • Wednesdays at 7 pm • Contestants are celebrities like comedians and singers (AKB 48). • Visual show, great for any Japanese level and great for study.

PRESSURE STUDY Q-SAMA • Variety Quiz show • Monday 8 pm • Celebrity teams of 10 • Contestants wear school uniforms and answer questions in subjects like Japanese, English, Social Studies, and Arithmetic

TENSAI! SHIMURA DOUBUTSUEN • Educational animal variety show • Saturdays at 7 pm • Overload of cuteness • Features celebrities and baby animals from puppies to lion cubs • Currently has an ongoing segment of Daigo and a monkey named Sakura travelling across Japan

REINORYOKUSHA ODAGIRI KYOKO NO USO • 霊能力者　小田霧響子の嘘 • Sunday nights at 11: 00 • Odagiri Kyoko is a flashy clairvoyant TV personality who has celebrities and politicians as clients. Yet in reality she is just a regular girl with no special power. She conducts solid detective work to solve mysteries, then passes off the results as her psychic visions. • Kinda Hanna Montana meets Psych (but in a good way)

KAMEN RIDER AND SUPER SENTAI • Both run 52 episode seasons + movies • Sunday mornings at 7: 30 and 8: 00 • Tensou Sentai Goseiger • Nearing the end • Usually features a team of 5 young heroes who transform into Sentai Rangers and battle evil with giant robots • Kamen Rider OOO • Started recently • Features at least one masked hero who transforms with the use of a

POPULAR CHARACTERS • Doraemon • Blue, earless cat from the future • Helps his friend Nobita to learn valuable life lessons • Anpanman • Superhero for justice • His head is made of Anpan (bread) • Pikachu • An electric rat Pokémon • Is pretty much the main Pokémon mascot

J-Pop Culture in FILM

PONYO • Actual title “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” or 「崖の上のポニ ョ」 • An anime film by the famed Miyazaki Hayao (宮崎駿). • Released in Japan in 2008 and 2009 in the US. • To me, kind of a twist on the little mermaid story.

UMIZARU (SEA MONKEY) • A three part film and television project based upon a popular manga of the same name. • Story centers around a Japan Coast Guard rescue diver by the name of Senzaki Daisuke. • Umizaru 3 is currently under production and to be released soon.

J-Pop Culture in MANGA /

BLEACH • A manga by Kubo Noriaki. • Main character is Kurosaki Ichigo who through a twist of fate gains the powers of a shinigami (death god). • The story then follows him and his friends through their adventures in the worlds of the living and the dead. • A manga featured in the popular Shogun Jump manga magazine. • Is still in publication and also has a TV anime in production. • Is now published in English too.

ONE PIECE • A manga about a makeshift band of pirates, led by their 17 year old captain named Luffy. • The band of pirates, named the “Straw Hats, ” searches the world for the ultimate treasure called the “one piece. ” By finding this ultimate treasure, Luffy would become the next pirate king. • It is another series published by the popular Shonen JUMP Comic magazine. • Each character has their own unique ability or power. • Luffy apparently has Stretch Armstrong type of abilities. He gains these super elastic abilities after eating a mystical fruit.

DRAGON BALL • Long running manga by Akira Toriyama • Takes some inspiration from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West • Follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical objects known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. • Was animated in the 80 s/90 s. Was recently animated again as the more streamlined Dragon. Ball Kai. • Rumor has it that Toriyama will be writing some new chapters

MEITANTEI CONAN • Long running manga and animated series by Gosho Aoyama • Started in 1994, currently 69 volumes, almost 600 episodes • Currently airs Saturday at 6 pm • Shinichi Kubo was a talented teen detective until a mysterious crime syndicate tried to kill him. The drug they game him shrunk him down to the size of an elementary school student. • He takes the name Conan Edogawa and moves in with his childhood friend/love interest and her private detective father hoping to learn more about the group who tried to kill him and reverse the drugs effects. • Releases a movie every year during Golden Week

J-Pop Culture in GAMES

DRAGON QUEST • Series of role playing games from Square Enix • Has 9 games on various systems in the main series and various spin offs • Many games were released in America as Dragon Warrior • Incredibly popular! • The series is known for being one of the few long-running video game series to have a stable key development team. • Mascot: Slime

TAIKO NO TATSUJIN • Rhythm game that simulates playing a Taiko drum from Namco • Game is available for the arcade, Wii, DS, PS 2, PSP, and mobile phones • Song list includes themes from anime, current J-pop songs, video game themes, and classical music • Easy to play! • Mascot: Don and Katsu (named after the sound effects for hitting a taiko drum)

MONSTER HUNTER • A fantasy series by Capcom • Player takes the role of a hunter in a fantasy environment and completes quests by seeking out monsters to hunt or capture. • Available on many systems • Popular with junior high school students

INAZUMA ELEVEN • A soccer role playing game from Level 5 for the DS • Series is on its third game • Has been made into an animated series and has a movie coming out • Features an insane number of characters • Makes soccer really badass! • Very popular with elementary school boys

J-Pop Culture in MISCELLANEO

PURIKURA • Try finding one of your students who doesn’t have purikura. • This fad (while slightly weird to many from the states) is all the rage in Japan. • Basically you go into a photo booth, take pictures, then draw all over them and place cute little…random. . thingies. • Take your own! You never know when it can start up a conversation!

KEITAI CHARMS • That’s right, those little dangly things on your cell phone. • I don’t know about your country, but if a grown man had one of those on his cell in the US…. people may think he is pretty awkward. • In Japan this is perfectly normal. • Students noticing your keitei charm can start up a lot of conversations.

USES FOR POP CULTURE AKA: WHY TO GIVE A FLYING FLUFFY ABOUT IT

USES IN CLASS • Pop culture can help bridge the gap between students and English. • Helps to get and hold students' attention. Compare: • I think English is interesting. • I think AKB 48 is cool! • Easily adaptable for almost any topic. • Great for listening practice!

WHAT’S YOUR NAME? • Played with first and second graders in elementary school during a self introduction lesson. • Students drew a card and introduced themselves to each other as the character on the card. • Target Grammar: • What’s your name? • I’m Pikachu!

OUTSIDE OF CLASS • Pop Culture can help you build relationships. • Gives you a fun topic for conversation, and gives you somewhere to start • Makes you even more of a rock star than you already are • Caution: Once you let your kids know that you know and like even one of the same things they like you will likely be bombarded with questions about what other things you know and like!

SELF STUDY • Learning Japanese while doing something fun and cool is way better than just reading a textbook. • Learn Japanese the way many of your kids use it. • Learn Japanese the textbooks won’t teach you and when your kids use poor language, you will know! • It is worth it to see the look on their face when they say “you understood that!? ” • When you go to karaoke for nijikai, you might actually know the songs they are singing!

FUN POTENTIAL

HOW TO MAKE POP CULTURE WORK FOR YOU • Talk to your kids! • Turn on your TV. • There is something out there for everyone. • Sample lots of stuff to find things you like. • Then share with others!

EIGO NOTO • Lesson 4: “I like blue. ” • Introduction of clothes • You can introduce your clothes or the ones you draw on the board, but that’s still pretty boring. • Introduce a short guessing game: • I have a black cap, white shirt, white pants, black socks and black shoes. Who am I? • I have a yellow hat, a red shirt, blue shorts, no socks, and brown shoes. Who am I? • Use these examples for repetition practice

JUNIOR HIGH • Textbook grammar point • Carson is the scientist who wrote Silent Spring. • My examples: • Daigo is the man who says “Wish. ” • AKB 48 is the group who sings “あいたかった. ” • Mao Asada is the woman who won the silver medal. • THEN open the textbook and understand the meaning.

LINKS • www. tokyohive. com great culture blog • www. d-addicts. com includes a J drama wiki • www. jdorama. com another drama site • www. silentregrets. com another drama site • www. dramacrazy. net to watch dramas (with or without subs). • www. animecrazy. net to watch all your favorite anime (w/subs or without). • www. spectrumnexus. com to help with manga translations. Get it? LINKs