HREM MM B ee Cesie aae Me Tate Dbadee eeem
N THE BATTLEFIELD OF “SUPERFLAT” SUBCULTURE AND ART IN POSTWAR JAPAN
Be\—Jo7ybelio eee Re AROUPAILFAy—c Sit
Noi Sawaragi BABK (Translated ky Linda Hoaglund)
Japanese Neo Pop is a distinctively Japanese form of ARORARY AIFPDILF ve —CS Figure 3.1 Godzilla . artistic expression dating from the 1990s, rooted in SER DKAROIERIBOKY TRE 493 Japanese subculture and perfectly exemplified by the HRACHO CORRENTE BRUAL 1954 Film poster work of Takashi Murakami. The term “subculture”! here FECTHS. CIO CUTAIFy—jEWS ER, Approx. 72 x 51cm refers © 1058 Toho Co,, Ltd. All Right to widespread elements of Japanese popular Ens VY AWPIX BPE WT, Used courtesy of Toho Co.,Ltd. _ culture including manga, anime, and tokusatsu (special BAOUTAILF vy -PROTLEBLT effects),? Upon hearing these terms, readers more or WEVLEUVNABS. RMP hAP EIB less familiar with Japanesepopular culture may think BrPIVI ZAIMS LN (fig. 3.1). of Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom), Hayao Miyazaki, and LOLBEAS. BRORAMY 7k Ble, z Godzilla (fig. 3.1). But Japanese Neo Pop is not a mere NSMRYTAILF y-—OLX-VYVREIP appropriation of the imagery of subculture—anime, TY-P—-hOPRICHEAAREEV ORR _ manga, and tokusatsu—into the realm of fine art. Such THEW COLIEMMAEBRI, ARO a simplistic interpretation unduly consigns this RAR Y TEBRYS WT EER Y 7-P—
| Japanese phenomenonto a subcategory of Pop Art as KOBBCEASLS BEY RMBbeth its East Asian variation. | hope my discussionherewill BSEW.Lichs THR TIS, BIRR help clarify the cultural and critical meaning of Japanese RRROR ADU > KEP N, HAHMae Neo Pop andplaceit properly within the historical and BESRCANEMS. ARORARYIO social contexts of postwar Japan.’ MCNHP NBRE BS OICTS Cee Let us begin by examining Japan’s situation in the ATEW> 1960s, when the subculture that Japanese Neo Pop EF ARORARY 7iCB
an influx of Ea) B
cies instituted by the American occupation forces in elckot. BSHROMBMEMARICK the late 1940s. Such policies included the disbandment HSNTW\eETES,-DIOBHESI.F of the zaibatsu (financial conglomerates), which were LTCRHIEM Ble" A2A-N-IIy hie the major culprits of war profiteering; farm land MidnSc cies baos\t -7—-bhat reform; and the introduction of the Labor Standards FHRILF v -—OMELFIL4—-74—IVE Act. This was the key historical condition that set the RABWS CLICKS, -DORLNRET stage for the uniquely Japanese aesthetic of Superflat, Bote.
ARBANOFHRKSEDDIT which has dismantled the hierarchy of high art and TOKSK, subculture and leveled the playing field for all kinds BRECHBBTX-—Vicko THON of expression. FSNERA, MER & OMTIS. WHOS While Japanese children bonded with each other on YrRL-Yar:¥vvyFENSFIER an unparalleled scale by means of the homogenizing BS KKBOHVE DERKRSM and homogenized media environment, the generation RL. 80FKRICR > TRAHANEAME gap between them and their parents proved to be far OSL MHRLCORRPE H. MERO more profound—and far less bridgeable—than that BUCH LC BRHRERRISVAXT experienced by any previous generation.In the 1980s, 4 Fld-FICHSORE MIT. ADAIRE as these children (thatis, the “subculture generation”) LUMOENERATSRM HES" reached adulthood and becameactive members of CHS.COBHB A, THSOUIAWFY society, mainstream Japanesesociety, through the THAD KBEBUVEHVUAS Ric. FOA curious eye of the mass media, began to scrutinize and DEMERS Sie
criticize their appearances, behaviors, and values, which BicCHRLTWS. LMULEAS, KBWO varied widely from the established norm. The word otaku® Tee Se< CORI Ok. BROS cameto epitomize this conflict. Otaku—literally, “your ICBWTCKD KS MUMBATED9 feo home”—is derived from a habit of the subculture crowd, TSte< ld, SLSLS RI (SS|NCBRIS,. hose members called each other by this generic SIECSNRIEWDITH. THis RAI O ‘pronoun insteadof using their individual names. “Home” KS SMRNIENO SHI HRNCES the literal sense of otaku implies neither family THHECLS. BEMELTO'RIED lineage nor blood ties, but more accurately points to SDETERCSALAMERKS5.% the physical structure or place of the “house.” The use nicl tik, RAOSFR IP YS Y—BR ofofaku, however, was not exclusive to the subculture RR)SREMRRRVGRETTS. eration, according to Mari Kotani, a critic of science- iction and fantasyliterature: ThHlddHeKLOKMBATI A, Fic 6 DM SBSESIEWSRWAELTWLH This is merely speculation, but | think that children Riclk "BB CWS BWARSGLO _ began to use the word otaku because it was HROAR ko CARHbNTWE _ already being used in their nuclear families, in EWSBEMBSOCMAAWCL ESD. vc by their mothers during the era of rapid lc. BERRMO BRR OBBICS le rowth.... If these children began using the word KD To(PR) BEC EWS TERE * the influence of their mothers, they also BOTEATCBITIE EDS. RICBLTR P assumed their mothers’ shadowyidentity as CA—kLCWKBROBMTHIRK _ possessions of the home, or even identical to it. UTWHEDClEBUDEEBDIEOTT®. i
In other words, the word otaku entered the vocabu- DEO YATAIF yp tHHRDRRSSleon, lary of the maturing subculture generation out of the SDAKBSESICBoKE'BECIEWS vocabulary of their mothers, fulltime homemakers BR. RS ORRMES TWEEX whoseexistence was defined solely by their roles as RHCH ORENK BCHOIBCHSLETE wives and mothers. Certainly, Kotani’s observation is DO'SREM DEBE CWsolt eo compelling, and | would like to expand further on her MSOC IS DICEDENSEORHS. idea. Beginning in the 1960s, the Japanese government CHEMSBOICMRULRTLTHEW. promoted rapid economic growth over the preserva- 19GOFHICMBE S. MIL PRMORRBED
tion of national culture and tradition. This policy b#FHCORERES BELEBRMR
promptedthe dissolution of community life, separat- (CKSRAROMEBICK DT. BRA ing individuals from their extended families, which Wee OBRPRABICEOE < EAOR consisted of many relatives and were rooted in local BRATSDOTOKRRAMD SPAS customs and traditions. Individuals moved to large NC MICBREROCRABITEO HEN, cities in search of jobs and rapidly formed nuclear EC CABIC BRRMCURRROBN families, whose smallest unit wasthe triangle of “Dad, BTIEUUCLY RIIDK IT PUIG Mom, and me.” Given the inhospitable urban environ- RS ld, HHlcSZL< MMAHOBVBADO KES ment of Japan, where land wasscarce and expensive, ESBTERREKC hd BHMbeADIT nuclear families had only two housing options: NSBEBCEBT CESDBSEWEEUT to purchase land in the suburbs where they could KES BWBWEMD< TU Y ERCP BI afford a small house,or to live in danchi, or “housing LicRAtts Mitts —bess CS MS complexes,” usually consisting of modest apartment Nhe-ICEG UDED9 fe. RAGAOR buildings in which dwellings are partitioned along a RORAWADIMMARKALMHOESE grid. Families that chose thefirst option caused the REOld, BiH CT ORMBME BAD5 HH explosive increase in the postwar population of Tokyo's BSStegl Ateicaet seesoO greater metropolitan area. In these households, —YOBRAICBONT. RARRECRET husbands rose early to commutegreat distances into BACBoORIkBEFHOMO RB the city center on packed commutertrains. Trapped SNKKOWBWRICBA Nie Bld, FH by high mortgage payments stretching decadesinto BARC HATHWKWAE-AlCRSE. LA the future, they stayed late to work overtime, leaving CESCRRICBONKMMOMAESH their wives and children alone at home. PHPOSHEMAL TT SMDAKRATS In the suburban housing tracts and danchi KDCES.EDCH BAMHONKE complexes, wives were abandoned to husbandless BlBte< 1 tHoheo households, where they were completely alone once MASS. LIELISMMOBMSE (cK their children started school; they then initiated Hotib. BES. COBWKAF—-FLE extensive relationships with other similarly situated Botkthss 2ilic< TSEARMA women. The word they popularized through their BIDDER TUCWS ASCH BOK. frequent interactions was otaku. Clustered in parks ZTOBS Bie< SHFOREH LG within danchi and other gathering places, they SBRDOREESRKCS ld, BRlcld Hs engaged in conversation. ORUREBWC ORASEo TIA US SBUBRERT TCR< BRRAL “Otaku recently bought a color TV, isn’t that so?” DBOBROBAWE. 207R< BIBLE “Taku is considering buying a refrigerator soon.” Deo CHEMALTFHRES ld, REAT REOKEDSa=7-YVaveMote Here otaku refers to another's household (with the o MCEBVRS OBBMNE 5 THoEESIA being an honorific prefix), and taku refers to one’s own. RSOBRETIS < . EOMMOARIES, By using this amorphous pronoun that referred to no AULKSBRRICHS. FLEEPHBE ko one in particular, women boasted obliquely to one CHESNKBREROSOMLETAS1 another of their nuclear families’ growing material HT-YAVTSHIKB VE. TIUTF
wealth, while preserving their fragile ties. Mirroring FAILF v HEROF RICE ONS CRB, the isolation of wives from absent husbands,children Ric OMENMIBICHBD< YU APPIA, interacted less with their mothers than with other tiplck > THOR is ironic that the mass media, which branded these RMSSDEECFHECEEENICBRT youth as otaku and reported negatively on them, mainly SHEKELS, RSMKARDM TWEE comprised the very men who spent most of their Dik. RS5DBTE0 FRED ED CHK waking hours at work and abandoned their wives at DED5S. home. If otaku represented a transference of the CCST 1995Flee 3 fePRY isolated communication among abandoned housewives VEEBROHBATKE gas attack on the Tokyo subway, in which a chemical RRWERe Hoe 1 rTAOY-RMTHE weapon wasreleased on trains crowded one morning BS. 19GOFREENOYTAILF v -t8 with rush-hour commuters.This extraordinary attempt K-LDbEOS< (ABRCORRFRA at indiscriminate mass murder terrified the public. eb CH 2K—eRCUTKEICHAA Terror turned to shock when the perpetrators turned ATW. AILABREZRSMARKO to be not a politically driven group but a new AACHrc-TCeEMODSL, HHORS lk religious cult called Aum Shinrikyo (Aum Supreme SSL.SOFRMR ic SH eB Truth), which attracted young men and womenofthe eC ORME BA, KAREML, Ele ‘subculture generation born in the 1960s, many of whom AHAORBICKRENSSAIIMICHOS were distinguished by elite academic credentials. Aum NS HRNRRCRA CH ot oLDLE ‘Shinriky6, founded in the early 1980s,initially had been BS BHORBE CSITKBORREBD arelatively moderate group that adhered to an early PRRCHETSkSICRSL BRICK form of Buddhism with emphasis on physical RAE L. OY Pelt UOLTSHROSM discipline (such as yoga practice). But when the Cold CRBEBA ARB SLFREORR ‘War ended and the military weaponry of the former VoaPWECEAFL, SEWMOB(cWMA Soviets entered international circulation, Aum soon SATBEOVY VLBBEICREL. transformed itself into an armed organization. Aum ELTEOTMOBMIC Id, MACHSH ened international branches in Russia and else- RES ICLSFEMG 9 leo tt RS 1999F where, acquiring everything from automatic rifles to KBCBUULVSFR Vile ko TARR production manuals for chemical weapons; in Japan DEBICMI SESS. ELTNLITR itestablished new headquartersat the baseof Mt. Fuji VERSEROBKOREF CBSO, and began construction of a secret Sarin factory. All ADLARBRICEDESBU.LALL EO of Aum’s activities were guided by founder Shék6 MRM CLUCOHRRRMS ISS Tlowh eK Asahara's prophesy that Armageddon would bring DTHOMTHSPXV ARRAYBA humanity to the brink of extinction in 1999. Asahara ELBICKSA DLBBAA\OWBIS, ZAIN further prophesied that his cult would survive the TRPBAA MRRROMACWS DES Armageddon to lead the world into a new era.In his CAR FBONTWNSBFS 7E ER doomsday scenario, the final global conflict, a prelude UT. HARONST RY ERASBIE to the Armageddon, had already begun, with American LTH. COMERKORREROMA intelligence agencies and heathens mounting daily THIF TUE SIEVE chemical and germ attacks against Aum; it was MPRTOY vl. TOLLS RP time for Aum followers to unite and fight as saviors EMRSSEOORER oil RC, RC, th lo overcome the greatest challenge humanity had DSOKBEBRETRECHLR ERI ever faced. Ries S-BOMRE LTH Shite In this context, Aum's Sarin attack was at once a SDTHSCAHDHNS. COBHUERBt ‘self-fulfilling prophecy and a punishment on the WOBICOS "HF 1+ 7 Ui cMisnsaH Japanese populace, which went peacefully about the OPABICBRic kSMRLAAMA SH, businessoflife, oblivious to these (imagined) foreign RAC RTLOS< SRBANC.ELT. infiltrations. After the Sarin attack, the police RASC SNWCC ORB. BK conducted an exhaustive search of Aum’s headquarters BUY OPRTIGNS ote CL ORBLI near Mt. Fuji, which comprised several buildings called AMAROMBAREELEDU YE, -satyam (derived from the Sanskrit satya, or “truth”), VE-KAYKA-WONY ATS —#E ‘and arrested many followers and suspected perpetra- TUBBLEDSMHL. BELIECHROK tors. The police uncovered a vast Sarin refinery located BRBeHHLTWETES, within the ostensible d6/6 (training site for spiritual CCOCERBLAUGHIEBSBUOK 75 and physical practices, such as meditation and yoga). LIRBEBOSEOICAILEBADE ‘In addition, they exposed a plot devised by the sect’s DMBPETA Icld. BHPPX XICHL ‘tadical wing to mass produce Sarin and sprayit from ATTAIF HR Eo TlEN aremote-controlled helicopter in order to massacre ABLAPTW' Bie < IMBRA BAKA marally corrupt Tokyo residents. (CHOWENTWKEWSTEMSSBR, Ys e. ABERANE Whatinterests us here is the fact that the maga- RENE UWI ER BREPASRNBRL ot zines and videos Aum followers produced to proselytize ME < EDIT S £5HBRMeals 60 their dogma wererife with otaku references, readily SCRE y-ORESME accessible to a subculture generation fond of manga ERMUBOUTAILF cc kotMyre and anime.In fact, their preposterous vision of using CoRFaHeSc NEO. ELTENE, their supposed supernatural capabilities—as well as AOICEBWE OE the power of science and technology—to guide ZDKSBMWBCRAULCRREH LS. HBA humanity toward salvation in the aftermath of Rice oTBACB RHC OWMELA Armageddon was cobbled together from various BRE TCH 2 fc. KS lt. LU TORMM conventions of post-1960s subculture. Such conven- SSIGEN, AAZDIZANCRLE RAE ITE tions were entirely familiar and appealing to a —Y—-R-D)ESASN, generation once preoccupied with similar narratives. Sante arAFa-hbeet.—Bcn 4. As individual converts rose through the ranks of Aum, 5O'RRBRIACRALTW TIC SRENS they were bestowed with “holy names” as Aum’s ZNICLTH COFRRE warriors and donned color-coded uniforms befitting CAMREBT ASVARENRENTH TORROBWETS © their roles, the better to immerse themselves in the tleORRHAL, EDK SBAKET coming Apocalypse. SMC.HRD, KY MBMRA Lie Inevitably we arrive at the question: exactly when TOKSBINILLT CHEREREEBTT and how did this Armageddonfantasy invade both EZSD. ENE 211i O ARO" Japanesesociety, buoyed by the miraculous economic KtcMkO AAMAS. fc HRS "EXPO7O growth of the late 1960s, and the generation poised to 2 & SAAD) & HB > OTOHEME, RIKER lead the country into the rosy future?In reality, in 1970, DEECHS. DS, =BR the year when Expo ‘70 (Asia's first World's Fair) was HOBICRTUEASHER HAOMERBAL held in Osaka under the banner, “Progress and CROWMMARHKEY. 7BEMBT O BREOSE Harmony for Mankind,” Japanese society stood ata ESISey IIB E V0 FORE crucial turning point. As Expo ‘70 was underway, a (ASCOBE VU AMMLKR radical New Left group hijacked a domestic aircraft, PMEMATIZ BU SEHEBHOR and the novelist Yukio Mishima staged his suicide by AH OPILC ABC C.ENKBVASE traditional disembowelment. In the next few years, a AICKSRIY AY RAS] > CAPRA series of terrorist bombings hit downtown Tokyo, DUSADSICMT President Nixon’s suspensionof the gold standard and BeEcRokr7tWyay7AcsoMhiee BSWARBEP STTBWUE BRic introduction of fluctuating currency exchange rates (d. MDCSERC BOK" provoked the “dollar shock,” and the international oil WS RBRER BRCPMENTLE dol the sea in the wake of mammoth earthquakes, and BORBWER ess Japanese people scatter to the four corners SDD_ST, TC OfFmald, MHFCAOABE world. The novel shocked the Japanese, long FS iRMNANKAKLS—LRO. BAH istomed to living in their comfortably insulated SORENGHRERATSOO BARE, ation, and presented an abrupt end with no EWSERSH-AMSAEOUE< Boke. uture in sight. Despite the pessimistic prospects SF Bi ic ld RAE TC EXPO'70 AEH IT sioned, the novel becamea record-breaking best- TERR OB CAME Le ESBABWHU ef, Selling more than four million copies and leaving FEO RLCH oI. nese unexposedto the phrase “Japan Sinks,” COMMABADRIOED (Cb BRE blem of Japanese society's fundamentalcol- WCRENG7T-LORA Leb. Thesecollective disheartening events rendered 1974# let. AP-VEBEHISLS 0 70, the national project that once excitedall of Nic BRAS” -FSS-ORASSER with dreamsofthe future, a distant memory, SE PIDICMIN CBRAT—Le5 eT ing this time, a wave of fadstrafficking in the LicL. PAUAREM(LIVYAN)OLE al and the gloomy consumedthe country. In 1974, SE ODMMK CaS DEA EUOET ances by the visiting “supernaturalist” Uri SFPANSEDEMIRERSRL A who claimed to bend spoons with the force of DIK: FP-—hi és TWBEE DICK | alone, provoked an explosive boomin all things RRMCBG CHE. REKERR Figure 3.2 atural, especially among young people. The BACHEOM ABM1II73FCHKR Space Battleship Yamato FERYh ese release in the same year of the American ULRFSAZKGIYLAZOKFEICHS.IR 1977 n The Exorcist (1973) triggered an occult boom, KIVA&, 16H 7S VY AICREL Film poster 73 x 51.6 cm icularly among schoolchildren, whose enthusiasm fe HBMeA. HATS. THICSFL AF © 1097 Tohckushinsha Film Corporation he revival of various spiritualist practices long J—-NEMRAMNA SN. BSEICDEDRH led as unscientific, including a divination game Bee HICKNESEMENTABE Kokkuri-san(literally, “Mr. Nodding”). Most BACBotOPE' 19994070 Ale ential of all in this occult boom was Ben Gotd’s EO SBHOAEDHTS TAMIR , Prophecy of Nostradamus (Nosutoradamusu no FSi CORRKoc niddle-school children secretly began anticipating CEANGRIER SHICGSH TAIL jat the world would end during their lifetimes, and Fv—-O-KRAMRESTS.1974FicM ved in terror of this apparentfate. BRENKFLEPIX(FRBEY Vb) CHA (fig. 3.2, pl. 27) HADAARY TO ERICH s TH. TCOPIXERTUBUS Dik. BES CUBWESS.ELT COP ainst this historical and social backdrop, a sub- SAOCEDMALESODKBSIEL IT ure landmark emerged: Space Battleship Yamato, EDEOD SiS IAN F + -OEKSRN st broadcast in 1974 (and broadcastin the U.S. as DYE SNTW impossible to find anybody in Japan’s Neo Pop CHEMMSABlewth, ARECENS generation who has not seen Yamato, and those who BERR =KRBIC ko THREADRA most enthusiastically embraced it went on to form the BETHS 1, WRISTEOHACKTie defining currents of ofaku culture. ERB fcAldbT cBO BORON Briefly, the story of Space Battleship Yamato unfolds RESRDSRe TOMMCSAORBT in the future on planet Earth. Under violent alien BroTASS WMECT SH attack, earthlings find themselves at a profound DRBADSOX y V-VICBIE HG disadvantage because of inferior weaponry. A PBs, BORERAKRO & SSRICWAK, constant barrage of “planetary bombs” (nuclear ID BABRBOBAME VY hie reas weapons) has contaminated the entire surface of the (2 AGEL BTEE TIE ES He HERMEL planet with radiation; the earth has become a planet of MESLSKO, FHORATANI death. Humansurvivors flee underground, where they AOMICHS. find temporary protection from the encroaching FEBRBCWAIENE CEM hic bm radiation, but their extinction is inevitable. A timely TI CHASREBOEOD PYIS— message from friendly aliens inspires the Earth DRRENDERWOGTB. EKG Defense Forces to convert the mammothbattleship RIC, OREOSFHABE CS DMDS Yamato, the pride of Japan’s naval fleet before it sank SL EHKETHC. ASSO. MOTOR in World War II, into a spaceship and embark KRFORBEMURESTICAEMRU, on a journey to the distant planet Iscandar, where RRP VAYCHBANKAR AH Earth's survivors hope to plan for the purification and FREED DSSUTHEEBVUESE Figure 3.4 Urakami Cathedral, Nagasaki, destroyed by recovery of their radiation-polluted planet. SF Sthid, HEMICZEBOTLRMRDS the atomic bomb,late 1945 In all its absurdity, whatis significant about Yamato DEOT SHODD TORROREBD BURCRRA NICRIG- HLRES. 194558 73 x 56.1. cm is not so much the unreal fantasy it paints in typical tS. €ORELC-HOMGERC Ro teh Photo: H.d. Peterson; collection of Nagasasi Atomic Bomb Museum science-fiction fashion, but the setting inescapably RORF lk. 7X VAOWARBERB2IIcT Sk reminiscent of the Pacific War between Japan and 2 CMEICKESDNKEB=RROR the U.S. Beleaguered survivors eking out their (RENT SL (fig. 3.3) RAICHMFENS existence in an underground metropolis conjures up ARH O SREBB Ick > CREB E BH Tehb a picture of Japanese citizens crouched in bomb Pld (EDTSEBWUEDLY- FHSS BE, shelters, desperately waiting for air raids to end. #8824 tt ZS (fig. 3.4,pl. 6). Kt, WORT Aboveground, a civilization burned to ashes closely CHEEROR RICBWP She Ald, resembles the image of Tokyo after the massive LS ULISHRIC BRRRERTST S.tHF firebombing by American B-29s(fig. 3.3). An earth EMRAL SMEEETTRAV CKO transformed into uninhabitable ruins by nuclear HTFHREDSDOTARBRORKOR weapons dropped by analien race directly points to BcmitntMAM OWEICBI Figure 3.5 Tohl (Toru) Narita Keronia 7O=P 1966 Drawing for Ultramanseries; ink on paper 39.3 x 26.2 cm Collection of Aomori Prefecture Reproduced with permissionof all concerned parties irradiated off Bikini Atoll when the U.S. tested the FLERE IIL K5Q)(19664)(FILKG Bravo hydrogen bomb; immediately afterward, rain VY)(1966-67#) (VK SETY) riddled with “death ashes”fell across the country. In (1967-684;pl. 9) T. Bb GEROEBE fesponse, a massive antinuclear movement arose. 184 L ARI, RAS ld. REIL S)O Japanese Neo Pop artists also frequently reference SRSMIC SM LeERE ISO DS, OES the TV series Ultra Q (1966), U/traman (1966-67), and LIERROWBie lt. LILLIE, BREBD Ultraseven (1967-68; pl. 9), whose antagonist monsters BOITX-VETORAY, MAREK LOR were designed primarily by the sculptor Tohl (Téru) REREROUSEUMABS S (fig. 3.5). Narita, who had worked in the tokusatsu department Bele BBM CEM(19964) TMRLT on Godzilla. In his monster designs, Narita often appro- WEES. MAIS, AKRSICStSRR priated images of military weaponry or alluded OZRARECHO KBRAniRt to radiation-induced mutations (fig. 3.5). As he later MGR hILIR—T 1 OKER ORM XK T tecalled in his 1996 book, Special Effects and Monsters CetEORRCTSRMRCbG IK. (Tokusatsu to kaijii), Narita himself wasa victim of the DITORSABEES lek 3T. MRR American air raids; as an artist, he made it his life- DFRAITATAILF vy -lCAOSHNE ST long mission to paint the momentthat the atomic bomb NSAKRS—BREROMMISTOR, “Little Boy" exploded over Hiroshima at the end of the BOER5 F — XC BAT LRA Figure 3.6 Akira Japan-U.S. war. TBOERMRE LTH. RRE LTRS iff PEF After Japan’s defeat, the survivors of the war HENMISMCAS, 19BBHICPI XK 1988 Film poster imbued a subculture aimed at children with a latent BEE NKKRREO(P ¥ 3D) TE. RRO Approx. 72 x 51 cm Bas antagonism towardthe U.S., an antagonism that formed BRADBIKE SUITULB£3 the legacy of the Pacific War. This persisted as a TC. BBSKSCKARERFENEDOE potent subtext when a new generation of creators SICMIRENR< ENA4(fig. 3.6, pl. 18). entered the field, and anime replaced the monster- Ke MEPRRUVAT 3 fe 1995S, driven tokusatsu. For example, Katsuhiro Otomo’s PIARCEMOEY heesaiticL animated film Akira (1988) depicts a future war of FPYFUAYPc ka THSMMENSNE survival, fought by teenagers with supernatural £12 d\(fig. 3.7, pl. 33). COFLEPIXOD powers in a Tokyo apparently ravaged by nuclear EABEARAO SE ORBICHAT weapons (fig. 3.6, pl. 18). Another memorable Sol, "FPEHRECKTR ERA example is the TV anime series Neon Genesis SND RED £35 2 fe L4MODEDRI Evangelion, introduced in 1995, the year of Aum’s Sarin BK sto COKDRMIS, MALES attack, which went on to become a record-breaking hit DMBWUOEM COCEBINEBOIE, in the anime world (fig. 3.7, pl. 33). In Evangelion, the ZTILTMITO'AKBS BRAS fourteen-year-old protagonists, endowed with unique MRORed RRRSAROVIAILF > EVANGELION powers, are called into duty—muchlike schoolchildren —OBRBCH OO GIFEOIML. ZS LE mobilized to labor at factories during World War Il—and DHILF ve —M—FAle FM fe 1OBOFRL a ~~ forced into nearly suicidal attacks against the uniden- HORAORRRMA AROEBEELCA rt 5 - tified invading enemies called Shito (or “Apostles”) EMD TKEDDEEWSTERSSOEW . _ in Japanese (and Angels in English). The list of exam- 5D, AORIBA IC SOMBER Ke - > ples goes on and on, but the important point is that TEMBRCHSH TSS.ENETSA _ while the postwar subculture that proliferated from PUPAEERPMARORMARICEWT - a the 1960s onward drewits narrative inspiration from BKBS SERB CeneRMeeEL Figure 3.7 the Pacific War, Japanese art from the same period TWSDSTHS MAH. ARORROE Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth MRLIP YSU A VRBY hE tarely addressed this topic. Not that Japaneseart never Bic KITA DAMCHDNhe Raco 1997 tackled the subject of war. Quite the contrary: during MeENCHIEAS (fig. 3.8). Film poster 72.5 x 51.5 cm ©1997 GAINAXIProject Eva, M the Pacific War, the ongoing conflict was made an RPSiCRHls BO RHAAMP, MBO explicit theme of painting. This epoch-making genre ARMRZSMEL NcBRAKES, Figure 3.8 Kei Saté Deadly Batile in New Guinea =a-F#I PF RR-BROKA 1943 Oil on canvas, framed 182 x 259.5 cm The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Indefinite Loan) © mayumi Kish HH] was called “war record painting” (senso kiroku-ga), ORF @ HVACRRL ARICATT produced primarily for the military by commission ANAYVITSODNCLEO HHH) (fig. 3.8). BOIEM, ARDENHORAMO— lk, BA These oil paintings—a subcategory in the larger DAV IVIMVWeDII CHEWEWSTE genre of “war painting”—depict scenes of Imperial ESB ScoENET SD, YRBEML T We Japan's “Holy War”(or “Greater East Asian War,” as BRS clés CS CAMBSN, BSS it was called by the Japanese government), and DidiENT. BSCODIEHAB<. CHE functioned as propaganda directed at Japanese Whe Bit S6OSBRL FELTING civilians. What made these war record paintings unique DD eo EDMRAMNTIS, IYZOBRIC/MNY TH is that the Japanese military had no staff artists who RIDINoRRIAP. 30FRICARTY specialized in the genre. Instead, the military recruited AWLP VU ALORRETE STWR practically every famous artist of the time to serve the BREW xc BABHRESENK.END nation with his paintbrush: some willingly painted (FRREB IS, DBT ISRREATV eld combat scenes while others did so reluctantly, but BABWERNDORRECHES TC SHTt virtually no painter resisted. These painters included OBABOEPMeHE. RSSOeRRE such luminaries as Tsuguji Fujita, who had won a te. "RHICRB (SMH 1O7TOFICP XY glowing reputation in Paris in the 1920s, and Ichiro ADSORMRAS CUS AwWEDIS Fukuzawa, who had pioneered Japanese Surrealism CHACHA Nic. bh. COKE. DIT in the 1930s. Especially important is Fujita, who shocked NSSMVKARCKS PTOBRMER his audiences with his portrayal of Japanese soldiers CHETER.PYPRBHLOARLOBR sacrificing themselves in battles, rendering his ZERLTAD. KOO TARMSENSKRSME subjects with a merciless verisimilitude unimaginable WNEEKSHC Bo TS. FORM, "WHIRL, from his previous paintings of cats and nudes. These HAST SARC LTRHICRSC Els war record paintings were confiscated by the American AIRE TC. BORERARM lc BITS AAO occupation forces and eventually returned to Japan MICSSELMA. BLK BNTLE in 1970, under the bizarre terms of “indefinite loan.” To slo EOD, AROUREMLST Nic this day, the paintings have never been collectively BATS SRAM(CAE BAIIAWREOD exhibited in Japan, possibly out of consideration for EE BENTWS. the painters still alive (and the heirs of the deceased), EC SER YF FAILF v-—OURTCSB or due to the delicate diplomatic relationship Japan BBC Wie MR SIEFIVOBRCE maintains with other Asian nations. Not even scholars -RERAROBAPREP Bike it have been given much access to the paintings, and an UOETSRREBWTARER. FREES important chapter of Japanese modernart history thus CRBICNTS1TX-Le eRe trey femains unwritten. WESTER A, BGEEEAeRR 9 1 TRIE a In the world of subculture, however, things were £BG lc RS SRANICHU Ee. 4RED entirely different. Most notably, the illustrator Shigeru TORN > FIER, S-RERARH Komatsuzaki was renownedin postwar years for KSVORC KSBPMOMMEe (Fe his drawings | related to World War II, which —B)19425ORE RHRlc HALT. embellished the boxes of model kits. His depictions RBM ACHRSNKC CELE BOL of battle scenes as well as weaponry, battleships, Tie (Fig. 3.9, pl. 26). KE. Fle NEV and tanks established a visual vocabulary of war VIOCH SMABAS MUG ZO among children (fig. 3.9, pl. 26). Prior to the defeat, AMES WS HE Ge le BRIT KS HE BIT T Komatsuzaki was the best-selling illustrator of his URSBBNOBF e ARLTWIS. time, contributing his powerful war images to such SRWYh ei < RIC ABO magazines as Shonen kurabu (Boys club) and Kikaika BERS NET CAAAICMRTE SEE, (Mechanization). Throughout his life, he proudly HHT LERRRECDILKS- YU ‘remembered the praise heaped uponhis painting, This ZA)CHRLORMESE14 LERAS One Blow, by none other than Fujita, the foremost (CK SEREBPRETTY ECRBY master of the genre. This painting, which depicted YORRRM Ic id. VACRB RRE Zeros in an air battle, was included in an Army’s Art NS BSCRBCRG LcRAOrEM Exhibition in 1942. Leiji (Reiji) Matsumoto, the creator HECRRA NT WS (fig. 3.10). of Yamato, was greatly influenced by Komatsuzaki’s COOKS. RRARORKRMCBWT drawings as a child, and considers himself a DITORBE WSEAS LARABFR Komatsuzaki disciple. It is easy to imagine that RHORDLVCRC CSc. RHOEED Matsumoto may well have created scenes for Yamato SRBLUTS -ACTDO CHARRA in reference to his predecessor's work. Tohl Narita, REZI Te RMREKSEORA BEEMO who served as a de facto art director of the famed PICS S SIREC. AKRSCSSRB tokusatsu series Ultra, was deeply influenced by pow- BUTT P—-hOMMDSUIANF erful childhood memories of the war record paintings Vv —OPMICB LEZ SIT9 feo DEY, by Fujita and others, as clearly demonstrated by his AROARAMR y TOWRA 1 SOORIC monster models, weaponry designs, and art direction BL fel MFTSK KY T—-HRENT of combatscenes(fig. 3.10). Wi RSOPSEATRO EIBES While postwar Japaneseart exorcised the raw RATE Old. KS OBHEDN—-AMF experience of the past war and the repugnant ClHIEME NT P-KEWS LOBE memories of war record painting, some artists once SLEFFAWF v Kea nTWEDS inspired by this genre reinvented themselves as ITED SB.SWRANS, BHP j commercial artists. Accordingly, the theme of the CWOEMAT* P—-hOBRME. VY APP i | Japan-U.S. war was uprooted from high art and =ARRICKRENSYAIAIF y—tO | transplanted into subculture. In the early 1990s, when RRERMLTA-N-7Iy hicks | the artists of Japanese Neo Pop emerged, they NicRBOcRPCRAE DY SS1A- | willingly—and quite openly, for { that matter—addressed YORECEMFOB HLBPVINTY { the issue of war, long considered tabooin the art world, DYBAR MERPRNYRY TSE BH | precisely because they had beensensitizedtoit in the Lk. SADBRORARY TOBHAGRR / Figure 3.11 context of subculture. In other words, today's Japanese D—VBOE(figs. 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 7.20 | Kenji Yanobe Neo Pop—exemplified by the work of Takashi Murakami, Atom Suit Project: Tank, Chernobyl LBB MSCHUTWAT 1997 Kenji Yanobe, Makoto Aida, Yukinori Yanagi, and WAEWDNSDS LNBW. LAL, RO Light box 120 x 120 x 21cm Katsushige Nakahashi—is profoundly informed by this TLEOLRTH S(S.M.Pko*)(1998- Courtesy Yamamoto Gendal, Tokyo/rantgenwerke, Tokyo lineage of imagery that surrounds the memoryof the 99%) DERE ld, MHCARL ICRDRY war and of war record painting, and that underwent ATK-TFTC AS BSCKE HOMME what may be called a Superflat crossover from the KO'ML AMR OVEMBENTUS realm of high art, consisting of painting and sculpture, (fig. 3.14). F7REMKEDEF/ ARO to subculture, consisting of manga, anime, and ten Y 4 AxiA Y)(2001 #) is -BBEN tokusatsu(figs. 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 7.2). fe (fig. 3.15) oT Hid, 1975S83 lcm Some may argue that Murakami has made no FTRRENKAADEEP = XORDT direct reference to war. His well-known sculpture BHORD OICEABKSEMEOERET Second Mission Project ko? (S.M.Pko?, 1998-99), SEFC CHIREt RDS ISM however, represents a female cyborg whose body BUS EWS, ME—O RMB a FRE incorporates a fighter jet (fig. 3.14). Careful scrutiny WC lBABVBSERICBOT CHD reveals the term “Air Self Defense Forces” (K6ka DPSTYROFHES dE, TNERS Jieitai) imprinted on the thigh of this b/shdjo (beautiful DEXLHCUTW (pl. 3). AEORA, young girl). Even more direct is Time Bokan (2001), ZNSE KDCS BERRROTM which depicts a skull-shaped mushroom cloud (fig. KESPALF e-—EMBHICHAAU, 3.15). The work borrowsits title and iconography from MAOBRS ENTSKEL ’ a ns " y n 4 a 7 ta icked in an image almost inconceivable for NTWSECERDD 9 TK S ARlce, TH shildren’s programming in the only country that had 5 € Stic eS L THE SNSBARORAAR ever suffered atomic bombing, Japanese children YAICKSEA-N—DIY hBEHRAOH eagerly awaited its weekly installments—and its mush- Riclk,TPLY:P-hKOARICHSVT 00m cloud. In a sense, it may be argued that Murakami AILF v-—EWS ERE TRANKE.D has attempted to create “defeat record painting” DPTOAKOKRAPRMOBBE WS MAD haisen kiroku-ga), ironically commenting on a post- FETS. var Japan that is oblivious to its wartime history and CC CHKASNEBOlS,TBE EOE las become Superflat, so to speak, with no clear DISRAO scled, RR BPNGwe boundary between high art and subculture—which are, K2T K0k< BRERA, Z-MN-TF in fact, intricately entwined. FDIYKCYIDYILDOVYA=PIXAWZMIC _ It then follows that, as absurd and preposterous as FALIADSNTLKEDED EWS CESS, hey may seem, the narratives favored by otaku are Child, HBICISSAST EDBEL LU RBIED, strewn with fragmentsof the distorted history of Japan. cote EOCESBASLTROTzZe Sir ilarly, the Superflat expressions of Japanese Neo DCE RRMETBISTHES. Pop, which varyingly adapt these otaku narratives, 1947 ici AnkK AAR.ZO 201 extend (though in transmuted forms) the legacy of “war BARICHWC RACKSRBREEA A art,” which has been preserved in the circuit of OTs, BRM Se RRISERCUTI subculture that exists outside the domain offine art. KATNEBRL. EOKH (clsBZ If this is the case, we must ask the question: DORA, THERBLAWI ER why and how did the memoryof war end up being HICHCWS (pl. 8). CEDDDSTRR confined to the utterly depthless, sleek, and Superflat OBABcls,. PYPRRORA SAB space of manga and anime, deprived of any historical BBIMFES S.COFAMBKERTH perspective? This is not an easy question to answer, but BWDE ORBANDSBSNSRIT | would like to make a few points fundamental to a BSo discussion of this issue. OTSTOBABWRIC?P ITE Article 9 of the postwar Japanese Constitution, which AORTAETE 2 KIABRBI cameinto effect in 1947, unequivocally declares that SRACMIECARL THEENTWSMe “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a SDDDST ARS, RRORKY BAAD sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of EDCHAOBBNEcMALENSE, force as means ofsettling international disputes”; it BRICKSSREESOPRIEC LOR further states, “In order to accomplish [this] aim... MESASNMEICMBNERATSTE land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, DEBS Nie. LAL, SHISRRRRER will never be maintained”(pl. 8). Nevertheless, Japan BRCH 2 TABS BWO CHS. Lica in reality maintains the Self-Defense Forces (dieitai), TRRiclé, AKRERMBAWICBIEA whose powerful armaments rank amongthe bestheld ADSM—EOSERBKDSOMMBE— by Asian nations. Their contradictory existence— TIEKREMARSN BRUKICSWT Figure 3.14 indeed their very constitutionality—is a matter of Takashi Murakami BABeSEUDA TORRENS 2c Second Mission Project ko? (Human Type) ongoing debate. cl4 BPHCMT SAMME CHICA 1999 Oil paint, acrylic, synthetic resins, Rooted in bitter reflection on Japan’s wartime ABM SNBWKEM, BADCES fiberglass, iron 275 x 252 x 140 cm militarist invasion of Asian nations, Article 9 was Wiha Sc cAMReE NK. intended to prevent similar events. But once the coun- TS LCMRMKCHISSRORAG Original plan: Takashi Murakami Produced by Takashi Murakami and Blum & Poe try was incorporated into the Western bloc during the BRAROBUAMHIC SHERBANEE 1/1 Master model: Fuyuki Shinada (Vi-Shop) 1/3.5 Master model: Masahiko Asano Cold War, it was assigned the role of bulwark against DDS 1OSSHACMS RISE (Studio Cubics) + MA Modeling Laboratory Communism in the Far East, which necessitated it =BARERMIM I SSRHeH=nSEC 1/3.5 Scale model: Bome (Kaiy6d6) S.M.Pko? supporter: Miyawaki Shiichi (Kaiydd6) to rearm. Yet under the constitution, Japan could WSN CHS.CHN.—-BLTAAE Mechanical design supporter: have any military forces of its own. This legal Item Entertainment not SN CH 2M, RRB eld, KBWOH Finishing of work: Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. Courtesy Bum & Poe, Los Angeles conundrum was resolved by allowing the U.S. to WHEENDYAEMO . MARASAIS (© 1098 Takashi Murakami/Ksikai Kiki Co,, Ltd, All Rights Reserved. military bases throughout the nation (CEBELDD. EMWOAMBEFOMKEET establish (the largest being those in Okinawa) under the BARHSEREESLSFOR CVD U.S.-Japan Security Treaty of 1951. The treaty in REXANIALEBUTW effect made the Japanese forces—by definition RRBARO FAP BERR cok limited to self defense—auxiliary to the American PBMBTX-—Vid, Lieto Tt RRICK forces, which, unconstrained by the Japaneseconsti- ARRSPNbTLRSEWoeMaRG tution, would defend the archipelago in the event of SURBRSEKEAMRICSSAR international conflicts in East Asia that involved Japan. ail Fic ST, BRORETHSPAUD The Cold War arrangementthus put in place in East (ERS RET SMOKE CHSNK, ALHE Asia had a direct bearing on the political order of post- RERICIED 7S SBD9 fe. 7T3 Lie FA war Japan, as exemplified by the so-called 1955 regime ZOMIOERCISDNSRHERRS maintained by the conservative Liberal Democratic KCKOTPSNCRBOFRICTERWE Party, which in practical terms has stayed in power ever CeRALEFEPHREERDET SAE since, keeping the liberal opposition, represented by RBA. COMBICANEHTSN<, the Socialist Party, on the defensive. At first glance, 196OFHEL CT. BREA COMRER 1955 tegime appears to rest on the oppositional DiRT. LDL. EA1Y70FORRHEO i ship between the conservatives and the liberals. HACEICRENEBbABR < ENSE, ict, the two sides have maintained an equilibrium, CORBICZU SHTHUKRDTDOBERS ingly avoiding lethal confrontations and carefully BOSH AR ISERECWSARERBALT eserving their respective power bases. As result, ATF LILWSIBLNLA\LCARLTU regime has had a stabilizing effect on Japanese TERS. 19B0FICRAITB 9 fe oo ety as a kind of mini-Cold War deadlock in which LMAOREN CHAR IC LONTIE ch party looks out for its own interests. Fld, TOFMENSMDTTEB ial constructs, preserved under the guardian- RlcRMe UCHRLIC CELTS. ORR of the U.S. as head of the Westernbloc, with a BSB, nd eye turned to the bloody proxy wars being waged Figure 3.15 BAD'S< PRMICEUGSRARY Takashi Murakami ea and Vietnam. Throughoutthe 1960s, the New JFOHRMRE LIEDTS LT Haw Time Bokan - Blue FALKAY - Blue tepeatedly challenged the power ofthe state, ReSUSAFOKEN BAN SRNR 2001 izing young people and students who understood AM. FEREHORROD CERIOS Acrylic on canvas, mounted on wood 180 x 180 cm hat such “peace” wasa fabrication preserved through Courtesy Marianne Boeshy Gallery, New York ORC TMAT< BIC Ble > Teo (© 2001 Tekashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved he conflicts of the Cold War. But their decisive ETT. DDTOMSH. BREOPVP afeat in the struggle against the renewal of the MBBEICSUSRBRSSBHOSew Japan Security Treaty in 1970 forced the New Left CWS SOBRE. —-BO719YAVEL into irrelevance. With all resistance towardthefiction THEL.VYH=PIXWICMRBILSSi of peace nowsilenced, the Japanese people rapidly ROZMEOMLE SAICZSET.A - withdrew themselves into an ahistorical capsule, AOVIDIVF ¥v-OS SM, BHRBICH g sight of their own history and thus the senseof LCRENGEPERLEMS ZnO the wider world in which their past had unfolded. This ORRPEBEMUO< CEE < .MRLs thistorica! “self-withdrawal” (jihei) eventually led to ENTWSOlS. ZOHESS.LEHIT hat may be called an “imaginary reality”: the “bubble WMCZ7 CHENG AHERN, BS economy” caused by the speculative frenzy of land BRNGEVaU MBSNeWEELTHAY buying in the 1980s. It is no surprise, then, that the PENTONISH SE. TNISEORLD ubble suddenly burst in the early 1990s, as the Cold SUOMENTLHROCHS (AROLA far orderitself collapsed. AL—-YaveRwEs ls, BROUTAILF The generation of otaku and Japanese Neo Pop V¥-DBOES—-VOKEBHACH SUEDE came of age in the aftermath of the demise of the BiCtbBrzSctceSss5). New Left, when Japan’s “self-withdrawal” wasrein- GHES. TS LERBREM VOITY ed politically, economically, and militarily. To this WIWCA-K—-D FY bGRIBEBUTI jeneration, everything about war—the war Japan had KELTS. ARICENA4X LEFT waged, the proxy wars fought in neighboring Asian ictPRR BRS SOSCHUL hations, and even Japan’s own military (the so-called HOCHSE EMME MUG.BR, TD lf-Defense Forces) —wasfiction; as such, it was A-K-TDIYKBVVHA SPI X WBE, er for their pastime fantasies of manga and anime. 197OF ALE DO HaHUMEO ATED This may explain why Japanese subculture has often RSlcSWCHSRSONKIIORA— eled in an obsessive fondnessfor military weaponry, BABI SSPRERUOETSPIYPH engaging contently with this subject as fantasy while BAOBBNRBL. PXUADS AES king no connection to its importancein the real- WRARRGRRCIRicbkSERRowe life issues of history and politics. Granted, the views MeBEAT ST el koTHAH presented in subculture may appear extremely right- ENKSOKKKKKRICHDTH. HRM wing, nationalistic, or militaristic. But the more Koo wURRELCOFEREMELEMEa fanatical they sound, the more vacant andfurther cut SPDDHST, AHORA HHORSER off from reality they actually are. (A similar process DBONKKORKMIS ARC UTOPL of escalation and resulting emptiness holds true for FYF4F4—-K. DICKRE RIES FE the other definitive arena of Japanese subculture, the SES UKE SIC BWMICM+Hote highly graphic depiction of sex.) DTHVIECKLOYRU FP PRERCHAD Even if this imaginary reality manifests itself in a REERORRRO BRIS. AX OBERR highly sleek and Superflat manner, its emergence is no KCPHEMSICKEAMMCORHEAD doubt informed by the suppression of both the TFSlC+tHCH E.EM, BBR SER reality and memory of history. In fact, the Superflat CMHENEWVRRAREWSRBRROR world of manga and anime was created amidst post- Chk, BEPRAICHRTSTNSOREP 1970 political oppression, which encouraged a double ti ld TERS BURNMR lc AB ENSTE amnesia concerning the two kinds of violence experi- BS. ZORRBYYH=P—ANBERO enced by Japanin the war: the nation’s own aggression DC BEGAIAZAKOPHSPNLITE in Asia, and the violenceinflicted upon Japan by the VORA CREBAKUNE SABC S U.S. in the form of myriad firebombs and two atomic NKEDSTBVONMEICBI ies of violence and averting its eyes from MALECHSC EICMBWDRWD 5S feo Granted, Japan's subculture generation is COLRWYYA PLAX BREWoY ly suspended in a historical amnesia, having PAWF + -ODVy VIDE TBS HE, of the past and withdrawing from reality. Yet BAGROMA. BA, BURRR, RERIc BS ing the imagination of subculture, which it PSERREMOTHBLER RMEARICS in childhood, this generation continues to WEA-K-DSy hOB Clk ORR the ancient narrative strata of the Pacific War PES SMECRElCbDkS'_BORH, ist the reality of the Cold War into another P.BROBMHEMET STE ko TER low many times have they burned Tokyo to HS tie, RAISEPORIGOTLE tirelessly fended off invaders, and persevered DEBATS So ARORARY FORK, radioactive contamination in order to chip BICAROUVTAIF vy —= RRL mR ay at the imaginary reality that forced them into ORYP—K EW teBRE BIBA Te, drawal? Even though all of this takes place BEUPILEMBELTWSELES. EH he closed spacethatis the otaku’s “private room,” EEL reflection engendered by the suppression of ABOAEBESUOLTSRBRORA ies of the twofold violence Japan experienced My TABS PRICBAKS CE LTWS OI, victimizer and victimized, as well as its fear CORPNEADPRILEDCHS. Cold War. If we find anything authentic in rk of Japanese Neo Pop that goes beyond the plistic label of Far Eastern Pop Art, it lies in the ’ sober acknowledgement of Japan's paradoxi- history. The true achievement of Japanese Neo then, is that it gives form to the distortion of that haunts Japan—by reassembling fragments istory accumulated in otaku's private rooms liberating them from their confinement in an ary reality through a critical reconstitution of lture. In doing so, these artists have refused to > the delusional path of resorting to warfarelike m; instead, they have found a way out through the al means ofart, transferring their findings to battlefield that is art history. In essence, Japanese leo Pop, as exemplified by the work of Takashi urakami among others, visualizes the historical rtion of Japan for the eyes of the whole world. Notes pa 1. There is no general consensusonthedefinition of “subculture” (I BAKSDSYPTAILF +cOWTO-Rie in Japan. Although in the West subculture is often understood as BIWEEBW. CWS OS, BICRAKHIA counterculture or secondary culture vis-a-vis “high culture,” in Fr—EWS MMBCS—RIE, HA Japan, wherehigh culture is less pervasive and less authoritative, {EE WSABABA, BATAAT LbBMS subculture is less oppositional or secondary in nature. Indeed, PBICRBLTTW SHTHAWED. FIAWFH there is nothing “sub” about its cultural presence: such ORIRNAP YA PHAMILHEAMEY subculture genres as manga, anime, and games enjoy a more YIAWF vy —CWS BRORROBAMASW broadly based popularity in society than that enjoyed by the DSTHS.UULZ. ARCHIE FAILF v—E staples of high culture, such as fine art and literature. Accordingly, Wo TELRABWNTOVUAP?P HX, F-LBe, successful creators of manga, anime, and games are national BRICRWTCSRAPRS C9 ERMBALE celebrities, and command respectin every stratum of society. For RS HACBELMLEVY APIX 7—be this reason,the creators of otaku culture (which includes manga, EDD VI—-FY—-KHADSED 5 OBRKERUE anime, and games) dislike the label of “subculture,” which RMARERBTWS.05 Lic BEDIED, YH) connotes secondary status. To them, sabukaru (a Japanese EX FLEW o KB K HIVE7 —OPRKS lh sobriquet for subculture) is a pejorative term denoting those BACEOPO HLMRNG aP YAS followers of rock music and fashion imported from the West in the HOVTAIF y-1EWSAMCMENS TLE generationprior to the emergence of ofaku culture. In fact, when HEBVRSICCDTOYTAIClb. BEC seen from the empire of ofaku culture, “pure art”—typically ANFv—PEBTSUMO.777 y Yar represented by fine art—is minor art, and thus may well be called EWVDERKEROY DT AILF vy —EBALTAL “subculture.” In this sense, it is inaccurate to apply the rubric of AMINSBME LUTRONSTEMNGS.EH “subculture” to manga, anime, and games. For the sake of ETSZS LCMADSA BREMICRBAL simplicity, however, | use “subculture” in this text as a synonym SMBBMOES 1. FOBAICSUSV14—BF for otaku culture, outside the Western dichotomy of high vs. BDS. RICO PTAILF v—EMIENSURT SY lowculture. FSLUTETSBAW. EOBMRT IS, ARTY HPPIAT-LESBMNIC IT TAF ys et 2. Tokusatsu (special effects) refers to a set of techniques used SRMCHSC CBDCBD HS LNBDG in Japanese films and television series to create realistic DOBALCRHIC ESOC CE CAROY TAM depictions of fantasy scenes involving monsters and mass Fr-EWSE SICA KKOKENCHSTHO destruction,typically comprising such low-budget methods as HI LSNKDS SMUTAEE n Chinese characters that was used by the cultured men of the REUOKONO ELT, "BOVBSAHE NS OO, lite,The exclusivity of the women’s hand is evidenced by the Josa E'KELTHOIMEBEMST EhTBH iary (Tosa nikki, 985), a masterpiece of classical Japaneselitera- TWS.DED ARTIREIEDEDUN—-BOY written in hiragana by the male poet Ki no Tsurayuki, who LYI— KSvORRLORRLTWNS. SLES ed a woman's voice and expressly stated, “I want to trya eS IORRD NBORBS SCE EROBRH hand at this ‘diary’ that men keep.” In other words, Japanese BFORMCBLEASNERMICBSDOKE LIES, ular literature had a highly gendered beginning; it indeed CORECBOBEBld, RARFORRICHSO jinated in a “genderpanic” on the part of men. If Mari Kotani’s CAROYIYIY—-NIyYIRBoHTEIRS. vation is correct, this gender panic was repeated when PED. CORT HICK IOKEKAARIC EUSCH, the vernacular usage of otaku wasfirst adopted by housewives and OREZRALTWSSSICBONS. transferred to their sons.In this sense, the genesis of the term CHUM LNA Fld, A PROCYORK ku appears to have mimicked that of Japanese literatureitself. CHSBOMONT CMBERL RE By contrast, katakana originated in the guiding marks added to Cle BARBIE 8 tS EICRBMD 5S OARB(E UT. ender written Chinese—thatis, a foreign language—into Japanese. ENISMERAG< BABE DE AS TUSO katakana is generally used for writing foreign words CENTWS)ORCEDNTIS. DED AVA Particularly English words) in Japanese. (In this sense,it is FO'AYIjEWS REIS. SNMARBCHSTE lewhat akin to the use ofitalics in English text.) Almost EREITCK ATO EOBMBRE LTEE DT lout exception, words written in Aatakana are considered“cooler” WORRAMHE—ZZlcld. DOTEK IDLEO indigenous Japanese words. Otaku in katakanatherefore YLYI—-KNAYAOAIHEDAL IHD5-H es a fictitious foreign origin, while obliterating its native O'ERCH vie CLSRENKS—EWRLT {as a word connoting gender panic) and its history (as a LES NIAFREO'AY 71d. 25 LEMAR itory term once attachedto a certain group of people). In FER CSIC. ENEARONBALVdKATD r words, rendered in Aatakana, the word otakuis figuratively WI ISEDELTRHL, ZOMERECRED fed as something ‘“‘cool,” and the conceptis imported back as SDS TMWTHE, BARA CERUIC ulture of value” supposedly legitimized in the West—in a CUTHMATSZ EEALTC NSOTHS. s that may amount to a cultural laundering of terms. (OVWABEE te 9 4 Vid. BI 4 POBEBEI, iKotani, “Otakuin wa otakuia no yume o mitawa” [Otaqueen BUGIC(ia) "84 FR-MAKEYY-A99-+ led of otaqueer], in Amij6 genron F-kai: Posutomodan, otaku, DYaPUF4RR: PH, 2003: 119-20. ishuarit? [Netlike discourse F, revised: Postmodern, ofaku, sexuality], ed. Hiroki Azuma (Tokyo: Seidosha, 2003), 119-20. (BERS
Ke. 19734 10A, long kept the value of the yen low, thus benefiting Japan's IGUATARGMBC OPECKc k SEREES| & SIc, ts. The drastic increase in oil prices and restriction of BACsAML.BANK y DPB. ly by OPEC in October 1973 further acceleratedinflation in |, and caused economic panic.