Contemporary Japanese Media and Culture

Dear Colleagues,

It is almost a cliché to say that the link between the media and society is indisputable. Any producer is at the same time a consumer of media, and likewise, consumers themselves engage with different media. Discourses, trends and ideas (revolutionary or not) tend to be picked up across all media, turning them into mirrors, barometers and windows of the society in which they are produced.

In spite of an increasing number of streaming services pursuing the attention of audiences around the globe, the shows appearing on these platforms are still heavily localised. Although Hollywood seems dominant in our mediascape, progressively more non-American productions are viewed around the world, often gathering fan followings beyond their home countries who are often attracted to these productions precisely because they are not American. In this globalised yet very local experience, we often overlook that even Hollywood is deeply rooted in the American experience. Japanese productions, whether available to global audiences or in Japan only, are no different. Their locality and dissimilarity to the Hollywood experience have triggered an increasing interest in Japanese productions, making research into these productions more relevant than perhaps ever before.

Japan has a fully saturated mediascape, and the market is dominated by domestic productions, featuring issues Japanese audiences can easily relate to. Themes are often universal—such as love, crime, justice, revenge and romance; but the experience of those themes is steeped deeply in Japanese society. Nostalgia for a past in which life was easier often entails a criticism of societal changes. With its closeness to society, Japanese media therefore provides consumers from both within and outside of the country’s borders with a view of Japan as it sees itself.

The papers in this Special Issue aim to look at the representation of social phenomena within Japanese media, with an emphasis on gender and family. Ranging from cinema to manga, anime and television (drama), this issue will theorise about Japanese culture and its media representation, gathering papers from established as well as junior scholars to bring together the most recent research in the field.

Dr. Griseldis Kirsch
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Japanese media
• gender
• family
• manga, anime and television
• Japanese culture
• media and society