Posted on 16 June 2008 by r
The New York Times recently had an article about the recent makeovers of some of your favorite (and least) favorite 80s icons, including Strawberry Shortcake. (International Herald Tribune version here). Another site had a hypothetical breakdown of what the costs of Ms. Shortcake’s makeover would be.
“We’re downplaying characters that were part of Strawberry’s world but [...]
Filed under: Cultural appropriation, Japan, Strawberry Shortcake, fandom, fangirl, intellectual property, restart | No Comments »
Posted on 19 May 2008 by r
Following the appointment of Doraemon as the Japanese official ambassador for anime, Hello Kitty has been appointed the Japanese official ambassador for tourism to China and Hong Kong by the Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Tetsuzo Fuyushiba. Her duties include blogging — but likely not policing counterfeit goods.
The idea of fictional characters [...]
Filed under: Japan, cats and dogs living together in harmony, cultural ownership, cute animals, international, marketing, news | No Comments »
Posted on 1 April 2008 by r
Doraemon, the time-traveling robotic cat friend to all has been named official Japanese anime ambassador. While this story has appeared in several “weird news” sections, the purpose behind this decision is economic, as part of the government’s “Cool Japan” campaign.
The Foreign Minister, Masahiko Komura, addressed Doraemon directly at his appointment ceremony:
Doraemon, I hope you will [...]
Filed under: Japan, anime, cats and dogs living together in harmony | 1 Comment »
Posted on 25 March 2008 by kdccdk
I quit watching Gundam 00, about a month ago. The storyline was moving at a snail’s pace, even for a mecha show (which is known its glacial plot development) and there were too many characters to keep track of. I come back to it this weekend and a good quarter of the secondary [...]
Filed under: Japan, anime, fan labor, fanworks, free culture | 1 Comment »
Posted on 8 March 2008 by kdccdk
So if there was was an example of the mainstreaming of not just Japanese manga but dojinshi (amateur manga) and participatory media in the United States it’s this:
Travel company Pop Japan Travel has scheduled a tour to Comitia, one of Japan’s many dojinshi conventions. Not only that, participatnts who agree can have their dojinshi translated [...]
Filed under: Japan, manga | No Comments »
