Nathan Spaugh

1
Japanese pop culture

• Nathan Spaugh
• and
• Amanda Collyer

2
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.

3
Music

• J-Pop Culture in

4
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 ???? 38
• Kimura Takuya ???? 37
• Kusanagi Tsuyoshi ??? 36
• Inagaki Goro ???? 36
• Katori Shingo ???? 33
• Former Members
• Mori Katsuyuki ???

5
arashi

• Arashi is a music group with most members in
  their mid to late-20s.
• Formed by Johnny Associates.
• ? translated literally means storm
• Members
• Masaki Aiba ???? 27
• Jun Matsumoto ??? 27
• Kazunari Ninomiya ???? 27
• Satoshi Ohno ??? 29
• Sho Sakurai ??? 28
• Most famous songs Love So Sweet,

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Greeeen

• This fascinating and popular hip-hop/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

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AKB48

• 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.

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AKB-48Bingo
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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 ????
• Kashino Yuka ????
• Nishiwaki Ayaka ????

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PERFUME THE VOICE
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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
• ?? ??, Yoshioka Kiyoe (26)
• ?? ??, Mizuno Yoshiki (27)
• ?? ??, Yamashita Hotaka (28)

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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 12th,
  2010

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Celebrities

• J-Pop Culture in

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Audrey

• Owarai Duo ?????
• Kasuga Toshiaki ?? ??
• Wakabayashi Masayasu ????
• 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.

15
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
• ????????
• Sonna no kankei nee
• "What does that matter?"
• Went to high school with one of my JTEs

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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

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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

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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!

19
TV

• J-Pop Culture in

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Q10

• Title pronounced ????
• Saturdays at 900
• Stars a singer from AKB48 (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 Q10 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 Q10.
• A kiss scene between the two is planned!

21
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 (AKB48).
• Visual show, great for any Japanese level and
  great for study.

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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

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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

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Reinoryokusha odagiri kyoko no uso

• ???? ???????
• Sunday nights at 1100
• 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)

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Kamen Rider and Super Sentai

• Both run 52 episode seasons movies
• Sunday mornings at 730 and 800
• 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 mystic belt

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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

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Film

• J-Pop Culture in

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Ponyo

• Actual title Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea or
  ?????????
• An anime film by the famed Miyazaki Hayao (???).
• Released in Japan in 2008 and 2009 in the US.
• To me, kind of a twist on the little mermaid
  story.

29
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.

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Manga / anime

• J-Pop Culture in

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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.

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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.

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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 80s/90s. Was recently
  animated again as the more streamlined DragonBall
  Kai.
• Rumor has it that Toriyama will be writing some
  new chapters for the series.

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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

35
Games

• J-Pop Culture in

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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

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Taiko no tatsujin

• Rhythm game that simulates playing a Taiko drum
  from Namco
• Game is available for the arcade, Wii, DS, PS2,
  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)

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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

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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

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Miscellaneous

• J-Pop Culture in

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Purikura

• Try finding one of your students who doesnt 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
  littlerandom..thingies.
• Take your own! You never know when it can start
  up a conversation!

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Keitai charms

• Thats right, those little dangly things on your
  cell phone.
• I dont 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.

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aka why to give a flying fluffy about it

• Uses for Pop culture

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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 AKB48 is cool!
• Easily adaptable for almost any topic.
• Great for listening practice!

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Whats 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
• Whats your name?
• Im Pikachu!

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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!

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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 wont 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!

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Fun Potential
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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!

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Eigo Noto

• Lesson 4 I like blue.
• Introduction of clothes
• You can introduce your clothes or the ones you
  draw on the board, but thats 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

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Junior High

• Textbook grammar point
• Carson is the scientist who wrote Silent Spring.
  
• My examples
• Daigo is the man who says Wish.
• AKB48 is the group who sings ??????.
• Mao Asada is the woman who won the silver medal.
• THEN open the textbook and understand the
  meaning.

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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
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