The Influence of Japanese Popular Culture

Did you know that most of the cartoon shows that are on television come from Japan? Japanese popular culture has made a huge hit all over the world. There are many forms of popular art in Japan. Some know forms are anime, music, and manga. These are the most notable ones and are also what makes up most of their fan base for pop culture. Some other forms include cosplaying, contemporary art, and fashion. Cosplaying is short for “costume play” and it means to dress up as a character from sources like anime, manga, film, and games. There are a few places in Japan where people usually cosplay, including Akihabara, Harajuku and Shibuya. In present day, it is almost impossible to not see some form of Japanese pop culture in our country. There are even festivals and conventions held just for it which happens in many places over the world every year. Most people who attend these events will often cosplay as a character from something most people would know. Japanese pop culture is also one of the biggest exports of Japan. Japanese popular culture is the most attractive part of Japan, which has created a big impact around the world.

Anime plays a big role in Japanese pop culture and has also influenced others. An anime, short for animation, often consists of a series of episodes that portrays some kind of story. Anime is the general term that is used for referring to all animation series in general from Japan. It has become widespread, accounting for at least sixty percent of the world’s cartoons. Some highly known ones include: Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dragon Ball Z, Power Rangers, Astro Boy, and Spirited Away. In every anime, there is always a theme that goes along with it that relates to Japanese culture or society in some way. A popular theme that occurs in some anime is Shinto. It is the oldest religion and also the most major part of Japanese culture. Shinto is the belief of Kami or gods. It is literally translated to “the way of the gods”. You can often tell the difference between cartoons and anime by looking at two things: the animations or art and the theme or story. In Anime, the animations will always look similar to reality and there will also be a story of some sort relating to life. On the other hand, cartoons often have character animations that are often “flat” and do not give a realistic look to it and are often made just for comedy.