Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. (Hardcover)

by Roland Kelts (Author)
Key Phrases: anime producers, anime industry, anime titles, United States, New York, Star Wars (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The influx of Japanese art and fashion into the American cultural mainstream gets an entertaining treatment from Kelts, an essayist and lecturer at the University of Tokyo, who interviewed many of Japan's leading culture gurus over the past three years. Kelts is clearly most interested in the world of anime and manga (from Pokémon to Princess Mononoke), as his readers will most likely be. A primary theme is that of the Japanese paradox: how has such a strictly defined and rigid society produced pop art that is, compared to its American counterparts at least, wildly imaginative and boundary bursting? Kelts's belief is that one directly created the other, that anime and manga's wild and kinetic structures, hyperaddictive apocalyptic story lines and surprisingly emotional content (not to mention sex and violence unheard of in American pop culture) could never flourish in an openly permissive and individualistic society that had not experienced nuclear devastation. Although the book grasps too eagerly at its subject's grander implications, it still effectively conveys the cross-Pacific cultural dissonance. Kelts has a sharp grasp of his subject and is on sure ground when discussing the history of the form, especially the impact of Disney on postwar Japanese animators or the reverential awe in which American animators hold such filmmakers as Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away). (Dec.)
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Review
"Japanamerica is the book I have been waiting for. It tells the incredible story of the way the colorful and eccentric world of Japanese entertainment and popular art has enriched our lives in the West. But it also deals with why it has a poetry that has taken Americans many years to understand and feel able to echo. Japan's holocaust was equally traumatic to the ones experienced by many Americans, and perhaps more sudden, more extreme and more focused. This story shows how today we all use movies, comics, music, art and advertising to face our past and its traumas, rather than to escape. The Japanese methods of facing the past are restrained and unusual, but ultimately glorious, and mean more to us in our post-9/11 era than ever they could before. Roland Kelts, part American, part Japanese, brings real insight to the way this union of hearts and souls through entertainment will continue to grow and draw two very different worlds together." -- --Pete Townshend, The Who

"As the step-mother of an anime-crazed teen, I read Japanamerica curious to understand the obsession. What I didn't expect was that Roland Kelts's intelligent and precise observations would shed so much light on my own cultural experience." -- --Adrienne Brodeur, author of Man Camp, Founding Editor of Zoetrope: All-Story

"Roland Kelts is a keen observer of both American and Japanese pop culture, placing him in a unique position to discuss the rise of anime in America and the West." -- --Martha McPhee, author of Bright Angel Time

"Roland Kelts sees deeply and writes elegantly; he gives us a unique and powerful vision of Japanese and Western culture." -- --Daniel Bergner, author of In the Land of Magic Soldiers and God of the Rodeo

"The brain of Roland Kelts is not only a brilliant interpreter of places where Japanese and American culture meet, it is also one such important place." -- --Matthew Sharpe, author of the NBC book club selection, The Sleeping Father, and Nothing is Terrible, Stories from the Tube, and the forthcoming Jamestown: A Novel

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (November 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403974756
• ISBN-13: 978-1403974754
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Anime, December 28, 2006

By	William Hagen (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Americans like to think that our culture sets the standard for the rest of the world; however, Kelts takes us beyond our narrow cultural lens to understand the pervasive influence of Japanese aesthetics on the US. Kelts has an engaging and provocative writing style that educates and entertains. This book will satisfy a wide group of readers, including students of popular culture, Japanophiles, and "otaku." As a member of the first group, I couldn't put it down.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 7, 2007

By	Alex Carson (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I read this book after a Village Voice critic called it "a Wired Magazine article on steroids," and Ain't It Cool News said that it was "an imperative resource." Then Bookforum called it "an amazing ride," and The Boston Globe raved.
Then: Even Pete Townshend of The Who endorsed it!
I am skeptical of books trying to capitalize on trends, and very skeptical of books on Japan. But the chorus of praise from so many different voices was enough for me.
This book is written in lucid, carefully crafted prose--telling you everything you need to know about transcultural entertainment and the psychological and spiritual traumas embedded in pop culture, and also precisely what makes Japan so sexy to Westerners in the 21st Century. It is also hip and smart, and very accessible. I only wished it were longer.
The author is no geek, but a writer of considerable talent and range. Get Japanamericaa now.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific!, December 26, 2006

By	Gopakumar Sethuraman (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These are heady days for anime and manga as they occupy the mainstream spotlight. Japanophilia is on the rise. But how could a very singular culture (anime and manga riding the cultural tsunami wave) explode into an American phenomenon? Even the Japanese seem to be dumb founded.

Roland Kelts topical book _Japanamerica_ provides that answer. Clocking in at 223 pages (HC) it's a cultural treatise on steroids. _Japanamerica_ provides an intimate insider's look and overturns some long held myths. Highly recommended for the otaku and non-otaku alike.

Being a huge fan of anime, manga and all things Japanese for a long time, I loved this book!
A bibliography for the curious would have been useful.

Here's hoping for a sequel on the "world-wide" effects of Japanese pop culture.