My interest for this week was actually about Gojira, or Godzilla as we know him in America. Gojira actually had a purpose in postwar Japan other than just being entertainment. Since America was still sensitive about World War II and created an agreement for Japan to be against emperor-power (in a way), Gojira was a…
Monthly Archives: April 2015
A Pokemon is You!
by Patrick Anderson •
Allison’s book provided a lot of nice detail, theory, and research regarding a topic I’ve been both actively and passively exposed to over the years. Naturally, being a Japan studies guy, I have a lot of experience with many of the ideas of Japan’s post-war economic and cultural transformation(s). On top of that I have…
Little Shop of Horrors
by Skye •
How much would you pay for an item that you always wanted? Hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars, more? Would you compete and fight for it with someone who you have never met before? Well, this is what thousands of people do every day on EBay and other auctions sites. Baseball cars, furniture, music, whatever…
Reading Response, Anne Allison
by Keenan T •
Millennial Monsters by Anne Allison was far more enlightening about Japanese culture than I thought it was. From the title, a little bit of talking to Patrick, I assumed that it would be discussing Pokémon and similar games but it really delved into imported culture from Japan as a whole, as opposed to just mentioning…
Millennial Monsters
by Griffin H. •
First in Your Pocket
by Oliver •
Millennial Monsters by Anne Allison examines the creation, rise and distribution of Japanese games, toys and culture starting just after WWII up through the present day. The text attempts to examine the causes for the rise in popularity of Japanese toys, media and culture by looking at the unique historical and cultural sources that gave…
Millennial Monsters
by cjakob •
First of all I just want to ask how many tin cans could the U.S. army consume? Caillois made the argument that games and play needed to be outside the realm of real life. He states, “In effect, play is essentially a seperate occupation, carefully isolated from the rest of life, and generally is engaged…
Response
by Skye •
I surprisingly enjoyed Millennial Monsters. My first thought of the book was I would not understand the appeal of toys and games like Pokémon and Digimon. As the author, in a chastising writing tone, writes how idiotic that someone cannot understand the joy that is Pokémon or Sailor Moon. Even though I was the right…