Fanning the flames : fans and consumer culture in contemporary Japan / edited by William W. Kelly.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kelly, William W. (William Wright), 1946-

Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

Series:

SUNY series in Japan in transition

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Popular culture--Japan--History--20th century.

Popular culture.

History.

Japan.

Physical Description:

ix, 202 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2004]

Summary:

"Fanning the Flames examines the worlds of fans in the exuberant and commercialized popular culture of contemporary Japan.The works collected here profile denizens of all-night rap clubs; surno stable patrons; passionate fan clubs of a professional baseball team; enthusiasts of traditional "rakugo storytelling; a club of middle-aged female fans of a popular music star; youthful followers of Japan's longest-running rock band; vinyl record collectors; and a thriving community of girls and women who produce and devour amateur comics. Grounded in close, often extended fieldwork with the fans themselves, each case study is an effort to understand both the personal pleasures and political economies of fandoms. The contributors explore the many ways that fans in and of Japanese mass culture actively search for intimacy and identity amid the powerful corporate structures that produce the leisure and entertainment of today's Japan.

Contents:

Introduction: Locating the Fans / William W. Kelly 1

1 B-Boys and B-Girls: Rap Fandom and Consumer Culture in Japan / Ian Condry 17

2 Letters from the Heart: Negotiating Fan-Star Relationships in Japanese Popular Music / Christine R. Yano 41

3 Buying Intimacy: Proximity and Exchange at a Japanese Rock Concert / Carolyn S. Stevens 59

4 Sense and Sensibility at the Ballpark: What Fans Make of Professional Baseball in Modern Japan / William W. Kelly 79

5 It's a "Gottsan" World: The Role of the Patron in Sumo / R. Kenji Tierney 107

6 Rakugo Fans at Play: Promoting the Art, Creating Community, Inventing Selves / Lorie Brau 127

7 Vinyl Record Collecting as Material Practice: The Japanese Case / Shuhei Hosokawa, Hideaki Matsuoka 151

8 Girls and Women Getting Out of Hand: The Pleasure and Politics of Japan's Amateur Comics Community / Matthew Thorn 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Ellis D. Williams, College 1865, Endowment Fund.

ISBN:

0791460312

0791460320

OCLC:

54111414