New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. xi, 242 pp. (B&W photos, illus.) US$16.95, paper. ISBN 978-1-403-98476-0.
With the rising demand of anime-related products on a global scale, including academic books on the topic, there has been an increase of indiscriminate publication under the guise of being “academic.” Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US, by Roland Kelts is one of these. This book tries to show how Japanese anime has become deeply entrenched in US culture without really talking much about US consumption. Most of the chapters rely on journalistic interviews with Japanese industry personnel. The explanation of how anime “invaded” the US is reserved for the final chapter with a few episodic anecdotes on anime fans.
First, Kelts attempts to establish a socio-historical connection between the consumption of anime in both Japan and the US through the rhetoric of war; he tries to understand why something as unique as Japanese anime is popular by borrowing artist Murakami Takashi’s view that manga and anime emerged from the “underground expressions of [postwar] trauma in Japan” (37). Kelts associates Japan’s past to the “now” of US culture, that anime has been consumed as a symptom of post-9/11 trauma, and extrapolates that the US audiences’ interest in Japanese anime is because “Japan’s popular culture is speaking to us in a visual and psychological language that we may find fresh and entertaining—but it may also be telling us something we need to hear” (37).
This premise, however, seems problematic as it does not adequately explain the massive popularity of anime that occurred a few years before 9/11. Also, Kelts falls short of being critical of Murakami’s self-proclaimed importance of utilizing anime-like imagery. Leading scholars in Japan, such as Asada Akira, have argued that Murakami exploited “postmodern Orientalist” tactics to appeal to the Western-biased consumption of “Japan” (“Modern Art that is so Childish,” Voice, October 2001) and Ueno Toshiya noted that rather than being uniquely Japanese, “Japananimation” is popular in the West precisely because it was developed in relation to the Western gaze (”Japanimation and Techno Orientalism: Japan as the Sub-Empire of Signs,” Documentary Box, 9 (1996) 1). Such critical analysis is missing in this book.
In the ensuing chapters, Kelts introduces the big names in the Japanese anime and toy industries, providing an outline for those who want to learn more about who’s who in the field. However, most interviews sound like trite self-promotion tactics, and Kelts, unfortunately, appears to simply record the information given to him. He also misses a decade of the Japanese government’s policy, saying that “the pop culture campaign will start in 2007 and will be promoted directly through Japan’s global embassies” (113). In fact, the promotion policy began at the turn of the millennium.
In short, this book promotes existing Western stereotypical portrayals of Japan through sweeping statements, providing examples from Lost in Translation (2003) and quoting already partial studies, forever situating Japan into a strange land of perverted pleasures and honne/ tatemae (182) without providing fresh insights. When discussing anime porn, called hentai and yaoi (boy’s love) and the cultures of devoted fans called otaku, Kelts states the following: “Japan is intensely serious about the pursuit of happiness, even without having it mentioned in a formal declaration of independence” (134). Such grave generalizations make one realize that even in the twenty first century, the distorted notion of “Japan” in the Western imagination is still strong.
In the field of anime studies, Western scholars have often appeared authoritative even when their ideas are simply an expression of their affinity for or dislike of anime. Nevertheless, readers can still learn much from the various interviews that Kelts conducted with the industry personnel. Although misleading in its title, this book offers valuable insights into the current anxieties and uncertainties of the Japanese anime industry. Therefore, even though Japanamerica may not be the most intellectually stimulating work on Japan or on anime, it is still valuable for those who are interested in pursuing a career in anime studies, both inside and outside of academia.
Kukhee Choo
Tulane University, Louisiana, USA
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