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Title Popular Culture Transcending National Borders and Genres in East Asia

Author(s) Matsuda, Masako; Higashi, Nozomi

Citation 長崎大学総合環境研究. 2006, 9(1), p. 15-22

Issue Date 2006-11-01

URL http://hdl.handle.net/10069/9760

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Journal ofEnvironmental Studies, Nagasaki University, Vo1.9, No.1, pp.lS-22 2006

Popular Culture Transcending National Borders and

Genres in East Asia

Masako MATSUDA and Nozomi HIGASHI

Abstract: Using highly advanced media technology, Asian cultural exchanges became veryactive since the latter half of the 1990s. Firstly, Japanese "trendy dramas" were favorablywelcomed in Asia because they could show young people's problems in an Asian contextagainst the background of a modernized city. These dramas have projected an image of Japanas an idealistically westernized country. Due to the popularity of Japanese culture such asmanga, TV dramas, and movies, there seems to have risen a fear that it might be too influentialin Asia. However, Japan is based on Western-style modernization, and originally Japanesemedia companies had the intention of exporting program-making formats to Asian countriesrather than the cultural products themselves. A Taiwanese TV drama, Meteor Garden, basedon a Japanese manga story was imported back to Japan and soon created a boom here. Also,Korean dramas have been received with enthusiasm in Japan as well as in other Asiancountries. Because of "familiarity with Confucianism and ethnicity" in this area, culturalproducts go beyond the borders of nations and genres, contributing toward Asians seeking foridentity in the "diasporic public sphere," which media has been creating worldwide.

1. Introduction

Since the latter half of the 1990s a great amount ofpopular cultural artifacts have been exchangedtranscending national borders and genres throughTaiwan, Korea, China and Japan, which mightcause several changes in each culture andpsychology of people. Japanese animation filmshad already advanced to Asian and world marketsas early as in the seventies. In the eighties a TVdrama "Oshin" was welcomed enthusiastically, andin the nineties, so-called trendy dramas of Japanbecame popular in East Asia. Moreover, in thereverse direction Korean dramas have aroused theenthusiasm of Japanese audiences since 2003. InTaiwan, Japanese comics for girls were dramatizedon TV and were brought back in that form to Japan.Again, due to their publicity, the story was alsomade into a series of TV drama in Japan. Thus,popular culture is crossing borders of nations andgenres in East Asia and as a result, they are oftenfused into new styles. The days are already overwhen only Western cultures represented by

Received 7 June 2006

Accepted 13 September 2006

Hollywood movies, Disneyland, and pop musicwere in the centre of the media industry.

Although these phenomena are being favorablyreceived, some questions arise:

(1) what kinds of influence do thesetranscending cultures have on Asians especiallyyoung people?(2) do they indicate a hope that a bond ofcommon backgrounds in culture is being set upgradually in spite of tragic relationship inhistory around the World War II?

By focusing on popular Asian TV dramas, wewould like to derive insights to these issues.

In this paper, the backgrounds of theprosperous Asian cultural exchanges will bediscussed, and what the spread of the transnationalculture in East Asia brings about will. be ponderedthrough studying mainly three TV dramas, TokyoLove Story (Japan, 1991), Meteor Garden (Taiwan,2001), and Winter Sonata (Korea, 2002). EastAsia, when mentioned in this essay, is limited tomainly Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.

However, before discussing Asian situation,cultural globalization which is still in progress inour daily life should be examined in the first place.Popular culture adorned with fun is a mirror that

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reflects mentality of contemporaries. Their narrativepower which appeals to our imagination isattracting attention of many researchers. The global,local, and individual functions and influences ofpopular culture need critical examination andanalysis to understand our present culturalenvironment, that is, cultural aspects ofglobalization.

2. Globalization, Identity, and StoryConsumption

During the 1990s, technology of mediacommunication took marvelous steps toward furtheradvancement, and consequently it became possiblethat images, text, and sound could be transmitted,passing over borders with unprecedented scale andspeed. Using DVDs, internet, videos, and CDs,multinational corporations spread mainly Westernpopular cultures throughout the world.

According as their development, advancedmedia have gradually changed our culturalenvironments and also mentality. As early as in1985 Meyrowitz analyzed newly created sentimentcaused by new media, and called it "no sense ofplace", and he argued that the importance ofphysical sides of human experiences had beengreatly decreased. Instead, the virtual world in aglobal scale has come into existence by media andAppadurai called it "diasporic public sphere."While having access to the sphere, or by receivinginformation automatically or unconsciously throughmedia, we are influenced by its fictitious power.

As globalization is in progress, culturesgrown up from certain places are floating awayfrom their original "habitats." Cultural productswhich lost their bond to the places would beunexpectedly born again at some other areas,repeating another cycle of development,naturalization, and fusions. Transcending popularcultures imply that cultural production, distribution,and consumption will not complete its cycle in asingle society. It would be a new direction inresearch to illuminate these complicated anddynamic processes called "glocalization," "culturalhybridism," and "diasporization," by doing somecase studies. (Tosa and Aoyagi 2005 :9)

Globalization was partly caused by a largescale of migration such as working, studying,

traveling abroad, and immigration. Because ofpeople's move away from home, the tie betweenculture and place is becoming loose. Therefore, itis assumed that each culture is floating in thediasporic sphere, escaping from the hand of nationand nationalism. In the meantime, for individualsthe lost sense of place may cause the question ofidentity, that is, where they should belong and whattheir role is as a member of a community.

Under these circumstances, cultural productsplay more important roles than ever for individualswho enjoy making an access to the "diasporicpublic sphere." In everyday life people are usuallyseeking for fun in movies, dramas, and TV gamesfor relaxation, and they offer various types ofentertainment with narratives. Otsuka pointed outthat one of the characteristics of modem society isconsuming stories (Otsuka 2001: 21) as amusement.Nowadays, stories used in game software, movies,and dramas have vastly increased in number.

Generally, the reason why people need storiesis that through its framework, their world can beunderstood as a meaningful, unified representationof reality with order. By way of stories, humanethics and behaviors in a particular culture can beshown to people in the community, and narrativeshelp them to set up their identities and strengthentheir awareness repeatedly. Nowadays, detachedfrom the sense of place and identity based on beinga community member, individuals are experiencinga kind of spiritual vacuum, which seems to be thesoil for narratives to infiltrate into.

As a result, the function of "imagination" in"imaginative sphere," which is mentioned inAnderson on nationalism and Appadurai culturalglobalization, is coming to the foreground. In the"diasporic public sphere" stories give influencesthrough the four processes of "sympathizing,empathizing, recalling and envisioning." (Hirano25) With these effects audiences could findidentifications somewhere in the characters ofstories instead of making up solid identity in thereal world where they actually live.

As Hall pointed out, identification is madepossible through three functions: imagination,projection, and idealization. Furthermore, theidentification process is considered to havemulti-layered phases mingled with both longing forits ideal and hostility toward it although it might be

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Popular Culture Transcending National Borders and Genres in East Asia

an illusory effort to connect with others. (Hall 2001:11) This hypothesis can explain exactly what ishappening in East Asia through popular culturetranscending national borders.

3. "Glocalization"

Concerning globalization, a new coinage,"glocalization" was made up from "global" and"localization." As Appadurai pointed, "[t]hecentral problem of today's global interactions is thetension between cultural homogenization andcultural heterogenization." (Appadurai 1996: 32)In our focal area of East Asia, this process ofassimilation and differentiation is in progress. Butoriginally it has been a tactics of Japaneseenterprises.

It is well known that as early as in 1950sSony corporation aimed their strategy at becominga global enterprise, differentiating themselves fromordinary Japanese companies which aimed only atthe domestic market. They proposed the idea of"global localization" in their world marketingplanning, that is, a global outlook adapted to localconditions.

Before long, "Western companies hadobserved the success of Japanese firms in making aglobal product fit the local market." As a result, anew business jargon, "glocalization" was formed inthe eighties by "telescoping global and local tomake a blend. The idea is modeled on Japanese'dochakuka' (naturalize, or living on one's ownland), but also adopted in Japanese business forglobal localization" (Tulloch 1991: 134).

In the field of TV production in Japan,programs are developed by imitating or rehashingAmerican movies or TV programs. Afterskillfully localized and naturalized for the Japanesemarket, Western programs became more favorablyaccepted in Japan. Thus, the Japanese TV industryhas learned how to make popular dramas, shows,and programs using Japanese context.

Experiencing this process of assimilation ofWestern culture, Japanese media companiesassumed that in the near future Asian countrieswould also localize American or Japanese popularculture even if Japan could export their culturalproducts to those countries at the moment. Theythought that popularity of Japanese programs

cannot last in the long run. Instead, they tried toexport program-making formats based on theconcept of familiarizing Japanese or Westerndramas by using local characters and scenery.They came confident about their experiences oflocalization and naturalization of American culture(Iwabuchi 2001: 147).

4. "Trendy Drama" of Japan: Tokyo Love Story

Active cultural exchanges through media inEast Asia are partly based on "cultural similarity" inthis area. Cultural familiarities of Confucianismand ethnic resemblances as Asians are contributingfactors of transcending cultures. As a pioneerJapanese culture could reorganize and modernize itto fit its Asian context, under the influence ofWestern culture. Especially, so-called Japanese"trendy dramas" which represent modem, stylish,urban life in its Asian background are well receivedby Asian young people.

One of the reasons for their popularity is thatyouths are facing a kind of identity crisis, that is,how to live in a modern, westernized societyalthough they were brought up in the Asiantradition. Because their reality is mainly in a"diasporic public sphere," their model or scenarioin life may be absorbed unconsciously throughrepresentations of popular culture while it isentertaining people. Traditional human relationships based on a place such as a community andfamily are becoming weak with the advancement oftechnology. Young people live in a societyabundant in products and therefore, in a quitedifferent environment from their parents' . Instead,cultural products may be fascinating and persuadingthem with new models of lifestyle and adulthoodincluding love, marriage, and work. It is up to theaudience to adopt the world view of TV dramas, sothey are not so cautious for brainwashing.However, in addition to four processes of a storyabove mentioned, if dramas are shown withpleasing images and music, they greatly appeal toviewers' emotion with their strong penetratingpower to the mind.

Tokyo Love Story, a series of TV drama basedon a "manga" scenario by Fumi Saimon, gives agood example for thinking about the transnationalcultural phenomenon. The drama series broadcast

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by Fuji Television for three months from January toMarch, 1991 described love, friendship, and workof young people against the setting of a modern city,Tokyo. It received a very good reaction mainlyfrom young women in Japan. When it wasexported to Taiwan, Korea, and China, it wonimmense popularity as a "Japanese Idol Drama."

Trendy dramas in the latter half of the 1980swere clear representations of the consumerismreflecting the bubble economy. Rather than theplot itself, trends in consumption, for example,elegant mansions with their interior design,fashionable dress, and posh restaurants werefocused in a very stylish way.

In addition to this tendency, Tokyo Love Storypicked up more serious and contemporary problems,that is, whether a working, independent youngwoman could be a desirable wife, or from thewomen's side a career woman could manage to playa role of a life-long partner while pursuing herprofessional job. In the past, love stories used tohave different kinds of conflicts betweenprotagonists and their families, or dilemmas overtradition or standards of society. Different fromthose conventional themes, the problem here iswomen's independent life style.

There are two contrasting women, Rika andSatomi, and the hero, Kanchi, wavers between them.Satomi is a conventional woman character, and alsoher job, a nursery school teacher, reflects woman'srole in the family. She was Kanchi's classmate inhigh school in Ehime. Kanchi and Satomi alwayslook back to their high school days, cherishing theirmemories of good old days, which means they are asymbol of a good old-fashioned couple.

Meanwhile, Rika, Kanchi's senior in hiscompany, is more active and decisive, for perhapsshe spent some years in the States. She is quiteAmericanized in her way of communicating and inher style· of life. After Rika is transferred to theLos Angeles branch, Kanchi and Satomi getmarried. They seem rather an idealized traditionalJapanese couple from the scene where Satomi takesthe trouble to tie Kanchi's shoe lace on the street.

After working in Los Angeles for half a year,Rika leaves the company and her former colleagueslose touch with her. Three years later, Kanchi andSatomi happen to meet Rika in town. Rika is inTokyo now, but she does not tell what she is doing

now. She is a quite mysterious character becauseher parents, hometown, and family are notmentioned at all, even when she was missing due toa broken love affair with Kanchi. Perhaps, thismeans that her progressive attitude and life style donot seem to be rooted in Japanese society yet, and itis pretty difficult to characterize such a person in areal situation. Compared with its original "manga"story, it seems that the heroine in drama needs moreconcrete characterization.

As a woman, it seems hard to give up her loveby pursuing her career since she wants both loveand work as men usually have. In spite of herloneliness, she tries to be cheerful as much aspossible, for she wants people around to rememberher smile after they part. Her efforts to keep alively attitude despite many difficulties, makes theaudience sympathetic toward her.

She is very serious and single-minded in herlove, and male characters mention that her love issometimes too heavy. In the drama, her family orfriends outside the company do not appear and herloneliness is emphasized; therefore, it cannot behelped that she has an inclination to set up strongemotional relationships with her boyfriends: firsther boss and now Kanchi.

From this drama, the viewers can feel thatalthough women's life style is changing rapidly,men seem quite at a loss to understand and followthe change. Kanchi impresses us with hisindecisive and perplexed expression all the time,and finally chooses a conservative, stereotypicalwoman. Rika is free and natural in her behavior,and attracts young female audience. Meanwhile,womanly Satomi looks timid and not relaxed in herstyle, but instead she can catch attention of youngmen as an ideal girl. Man's conservatism whichrequires self-restraint in woman's side is shown asgender differentiation in the beginning of thenineties. Contemporary working women's dilemmaunder the Confucian civilization comes to be a mainfocal point in this drama.

In addition to the theme, the drama's keywordis being "fashionable." Not only clothes, but newconsumer goods, interior design, or even jobs areshown or laid out in a sophisticated way. Also, theimage effects of stylish scenes in a modern city byadvanced camera techniques stand out and attractAsian young people who do not know the reality of

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Tokyo. It may seem to heal people's oppressedfeelings by illusionary, beautiful images togetherwith fanciful music and the story shows anexperimental model for young love and marriage.Thus, this drama could truly forge a new life stylefor women in modem days with a Japanesesituation, representing urban life and consumption.

5. Korean Drama Boom: Winter Sonata

In April, 2003, more than ten years afterTokyo Love Story, NHK BS channel televisedWinter Sonata, and since then Korean dramas havebeen received with enthusiasm in Japan as well asin other Asian countries. Winter Sonata wastelecast once again from the end of 2003 to 2004,and unexpectedly caught much attention of mainlymiddle-aged or rather elderly women.

The drama contributed much to the businessof NHK, and the income related to it occupies 3.5billion yen out of their total business income of105.4 billion yen. The sale of DVDs and videosreached to 330,000 sets, and 1,220,000 copies ofthe novelized version were sold by the end of June,2004. In addition to viewing the drama, theaudiences widened their interest by action, joiningKorean tours and studying the Korean language; asa result, they had great influence in terms of cultureand economy for both countries (Mouri 2004: 22).So-called Kanryu boom reveals the noteworthyeconomical power of cultural products nowadays.

One of the reasons why the Korean dramaboom happened might be that middle-aged womenwere discovered as a leading audience of TVprograms. They used to be marginalized asviewers of prime time at night. Although they arevery active in cultural activities such as theatergoing, Kabuki viewing, and tea ceremony, etc., theireconomic power in consuming culture cannot beneglected. For example, Fukuoka Hakata-za has30,000 regular members and about 70 per cent ofthem are middle-aged women, and NagasakiCitizens' Theatre is supported by about 4,200members, and ladies occupy around 80 per cent.In spite of their hidden influence, their image asconsumers of TV programs is rather traditional,reflecting a hierarchy of family where children ormen have priorities. The age group from 18 to 36is usually in the key position in audience ratings.

As modernization goes further, it is naturalthat nostalgic attitudes for the lost family andcommunity bonds are born among people. Aretrospective and slow pace of life and ratherold-fashioned family relations in Korean dramasmight have healing effects on the older generationin Japan. In addition, consumers' "desire for thenew that smacks of the old" (Appadurai 30) andlonging for nostalgia is pointed out. In the drama,characteristics peculiar to Korean culture wereavoided for neutralization to appeal to theinternational audience. As indicated in the title,winter scenery and pleasant music are highlightedas in Tokyo Love Story, where images and musicwere made fit for young tastes as importantelements.

The drama's old-time melodramaticelements such as secrets of birth, loss of memory,serious car accidents, and mortal diseases, perhapsgive the audiences opportunities to vent theiremotional energy. In Japan from 1974 to 1980 aTV drama series called the "Red Series" wasfamous for its popularity with similar story lines.It is said that the "Red Series" is the original ofWinter Sonata as the catchphrase of the DVDs ofthe series claims. Because Korean dramas becamevery popular, TBS remade the "Red Series" starringyoung Japanese actors and actresses, however,unfortunately the remake of the "Red Series" couldnot gain high audience ratings. It is difficult toimagine for the younger generation in Japan toovercome such severe difficulties to attain love,while for the older audience popular actors amongthe youth are not so agreeable. In order to appeal tothe Japanese viewers, a new style, exoticism in thiscase, was necessary to revive their nostalgia.

One more thing to point out is that thedramatic plots of Winter Sonata were often used inJapanese "manga" for girls from the sixties toeighties. (Yamano and 0 2006: 166) It is arguedthat this might a kind of plagiarism and anotherreason why Japanese middle-aged audience feelnostalgic about Winter Sonata. However, thedrama's melodramatic elements may be consideredto be universal specimens of difficult problems forthe hero and heroine to overcome in the course ofits story.

KBS articulates five characteristics ofWinter Sonata: First Love, Friendship, Family,

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Mystery, and Winter Scenery in their home page.With these catchy concepts, KBS could make asuccess in attracting Japanese viewers' nostalgicfeelings. The Japanese audiences could share a"common experience" watching the same dramawith other Asians, appreciating the Korean way oflife, and deepening their understanding of itsculture.

6. Japanese TV program in Taiwan: MeteorGarden

Finally, let us tum our attention to the situationin Taiwan. "Star Chinese Channel," one of themost popular channels in Hong Kong SatelliteBroadcasting, televised some Japanese "trendydramas" for the fIrst time in Asia, and they enjoyedgreat popularity. Especially, since the merger withand acquisition of that broadcasting company byRupert Murdock in 1993, many Japanese dramashave been telecast, thereby setting the stage forAsian audiences including Taiwanese to enjoyJapanese popular culture.

In Taiwan, cable TV was available to a wideviewership, and its coverage reached up to 79 percent of all the families in 1999. Since it had manychannels, cable TV relied on programs from abroadas well as domestic ones. Japanese TV programswere being watched most often among all foreignones because of common Asian ethnicity.

Since Tokyo Love Story was televised in 1991,similar kinds of Japanese TV dramas called "IdolDrama" became popular, gaining much influence onyouth culture in Taiwan. A "Harlie Set," orpatrons of things Japanese, became a phenomenon,and Japanese culture is playing a part as a leader ofthe new consumerism. "Idol Dramas" haveprojected an image of Japan as idealisticallymodernized and westernized among Asiancountries.

Along with a romantic title song and thevisual impact of glorified images of an urbanenvironment, the story impresses young womenespecially to empathize with the heroine's searchfor more independent lifestyle and her character.They feel identified with Rika, longing for her freeand active attitude. At the same time, images thatshow glamorous materialism in Tokyo hasinfluenced them, and driven them to desires to lead

the same kind of life.Meanwhile, the manga industry is very

prosperous in Japan and it is divided into manysub-genres, though, in Taiwan it is said that they donot have comics aimed at girls. When oneJapanese manga called "Hana yori dango" ("Toprefer boys to flowers," which implies that practicalconditions are more important in choosing one'shusband) was televised as a TV drama, MeteorGarden, it caught young women's attentionimmediately and became popular there. Importedback to Japan, a Taiwanese version of the samestory created a boom here soon. Watching thisdrama, originated in Japan and then dramatized inTaiwan, Japanese people pay more attentionparticularly to the Taiwanese culture and lifestyleincluding fashion, food, family relationships, andcustoms, since they already know the story quitewell. Their attitude is similar to the Asianaudiences' of Tokyo Love Story. In this case too,the viewers were attracted more to culturaldifferences. One Japanese student said that the TVdrama gave her a fresh impression of theuniqueness of Taiwanese culture even though thereare many similarities among other Asian cultures.Assimilation and differentiation is exquisitelybalanced.

At the same time, light-heartedness andflatness are pointed out as its characteristics. Thismight be due to the adaptation of a manga story intoa TV drama. The light mood and exaggeration ofmanga perhaps intruded into the realism of a drama.(Iwabuchi 2001: 219) It is said that narratives arechanging their main medium from written texts(literature) to TV, movies, and manga.- Its problemis that mass media are basically controlled bycommercialism. The popularity of a Cinderellastory of the Meteor Garden even in a democraticsociety may be one of the symptoms thatyoungsters are deeply affected by materialism.

In analyzing musicals, Dyer discusses thatentertainment should show something glamorouswhich we cannot enjoy in our everyday life. Withnon-verbal communication, entertainment shouldmake audiences feel how marvelous its utopianworld is. Dyer picks up the importance of usingmusic effectively, and simplifying humanrelationships and intensifying characters' emotionto enhance the utopian image. According to him,

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Winter SonataMeteor Garden

7. Discussion

dramas based on manga stories could certainly fitDyer's hypothesis. (Dyer 1992) However, ifaudiences would get used to manga stories aseveryday entertainment, it is likely to happen thatthey might lose track of their reality.

represented the contemporary problem which youngwomen should face in real life.

However, much younger generation whowere born in the days of plenty, tend to look foreasier ways in a Cinderella story. Good-lookingyoung men from wealthy families areunquestionably well qualified to be a good husband,even if they do not behave well using their power toother people abusively. The drama's popularitymight reveal the fact that the society has created thebig differences of property among its members, andit seems difficult to go over the difference except bya marriage like Cinderella. Or it means that theyounger generation came to give priority towealth under the influence of commercialism.These discussions should be proved by makingquestionnaires to each audience as the next step.

By viewing these dramas the audience couldenjoy cultural similarities and differences of eachcountry in the "diasporic public sphere."Nevertheless, as mentioned above, there is alwayssome kind of tension between culturalhomogenization and heterogenization.

According to Oh (2006), Chinese youngergeneration who were born after the eighties showquite ambivalent attitudes to politics, even thoughthey are used to popular culture and culturalproducts. He surveyed the opinions of 730Chinese graduates and undergraduates in Beij ing,Nanjing, and Choushun. Sixty-three per cent ofthem feel familiar to Japanese manga and animationand sixty-eight per cent want to go to Japan if theyhave a chance. However, fifty-three per cent thinkJapanese people are not reliable, and thirty-nine percent of them are not willing to go closer to them.

A part of the survey by Oh, March, 2006

(Out of730 Chinese graduates and undergraduates)

63% feel familiar to Japanese manga and animaion

68% want to go to Japan

53% think Japanese are unreliable

39% feel difficult to be friendly to Japanese

Thus, even though Chinese youngergeneration has been consuming the same kind ofpopular culture, it is difficult to assume that theymight sympathize with Japanese because of it.

After perusing the TV dramas, let us focuson their three aspects: transcending genres betweenmanga and drama, different generations whichconsist of Japanese audience, and interactionsamong each nation in the area. As stated above,manga plots were introduced into each drama,therefore, unrealistic and fantasy factors were addedto the stories. Their dramatic elements may givethe audience's emotion appropriate chances forcatharsis, which is observed especially in WinterSonata.

In manga characters sometimes adopt boldand fearless actions, and they seem innovative likeRika in Tokyo Love Story. She is Americanized inher character and behaviors, and very open-mindedin her attitude toward sex. This is anotherexample of giving catharsis to a morally oppressedaudience because women are usually forced to bepolite and modest in Japanese society.

Concerning the audience, the three dramasare considered to be targeted for:

Tokyo Love Story young adultsmainly women

middle-aged women- very young women

as teenagersThe atmosphere of the age when each generationwas brought up seems to be quite different.Middle-aged women have experienced "GreatDevelopment Period" making great efforts toovercome difficulties, therefore, in a sense they areused to tackle hardship. For them adversity seemschallenging, even though they sometimes lookfateful.

For young women in the nineties it is a matterof great importance to find a way to reachaccommodation between career and marriage.After the World War II equal rights andopportunities for both men and women have beenpromoted at least in school based on theConstitution. Therefore, Rika's hardship has

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Between cultures, it is said that there are ambivalentfeelings including enmity and longing. Oh saidthat anti-Japan history education has been leastpopular among students, therefore, the factorsoutside the classroom are more influential. Atleast we can say that enthusiastic movement ofnationalism does not have enough power to stopactive cultural interaction which is now in progressin East Asia.

8. Conclusion

Using highly advanced technology, Asiancultural interaction through media has become veryactive since the latter half of the 1990s. WhileJapanese popular culture attracts mainly youngpeople's attention, the Korean drama boom startedamong Japanese middle-aged women. People aremore and more interested in Asian culturesincluding their own.

As Japanese culture such as manga, TVdramas, and movies are getting more popular, a fearis looming up that it might become too influentialand finally control other countries' culture.However, to gain popularity and to have culturalhegemony in Asia seems quite different because theprocess of identification through viewing dramasinvolves two different elements; longing for itsideal and hostility toward it.

At least, it is certain that developing mediaenvironment changes users' behaviors andpsychology. In a "diasporic public sphere" youngpeople are looking for identification by consumingstories in popular culture. It would be a newdirection in research to illuminate the dynamicprocesses called "glocalization," "culturalhybridism," by doing further case studies. As theeducational function which literature used to have istransmitting from written texts to popular culture,its effects would be another important theme.

9. Bibliography

1) Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities:Reflections on the Origin and Spread ofNationalism (Vergo, 1983)

2) Appadurai, Arjun, Modernity at Large: CulturalDimensions of Globalization (University ofMinnesota Press, 1996)

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3) Dyer, Richard, Only Entertainment, (Routledge,1992)

4) Hall, Stuart, Questions of Cultural Identity:Who Needs 'Identity '? translated by AkiraUnami (Omura Shoten, 2001)

5) Hirano, Hideki, 'Monogatariryoku' de Hito woUgokase! (in Japanese) (Mikasa Shobo, 2006)

6) Iwabuchi Koichi, Transnational Japan:Popular Culture Connecting Asia (in Japanese)(Iwanamishoten, 2001)

7) Meyrowitz, Joshua, No Sense of Place: TheImpact ofElectronic Media on Social Behaviortranslated by Hajime Yasukawa et. al(Shinyosha, 2003)

8) Mouri Yoshitaka, Nisshiki Kanryu (in Japanese)(Serika-shobou, 2004)

9) Oh Chuchin, "Chinese Younger Generation HasHard Feelings toward Japan" (in Japanese)(Asahi Newspaper, August 3, 2006)

10) Otsuka Eiji, Standard Text on StoryConsumption (in Japanese) (Kadokawabunko,2001)

11) Tosa Masaki and Hiroshi Aoyagi, ed., Ekyosurupopyura-bunnka to <Sozo no Ajia> (inJapanese) (Mekon, 2005)

12) Tulloch, Sara, ed., The Oxford Dictionary ofNew Words (Oxford UP, 1991)

13) Yamano Sharin and 0 Sonfa, "Kanryu waNihonbunka no Toyo da," (in Japanese) VoiceMay Issue, 2006 (PHP)

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