Japan Pop Culture

Discover the aesthetic traditions, political resilience, and modern economic might of this singular island nation. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Discover the aesthetic traditions, political resilience, and modern economic might of this singular island nation. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book provides an in-depth analysis of Takarazuka’s history, educational traditions and theatrical ethos viewed from the prism of Japan’s modernization and globalization in the twentieth century.

Every so often, a piece of music comes along that defines a moment in popular culture history: Johann Strauss' operetta Die Fledermaus did this in Vienna in the 1870s; Jerome Kern's Show Boat did it for Broadway musicals of the 1920s, and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album served this purpose for the era of psychedelic music in the 1960s. Saturday Night Fever, although hardly as prodigious an artistic achievement as those precursors, was precisely that kind of musical phenomenon for the second half of the '70s. Ironically, before its release, the disco boom had seemingly run its course, primarily in Europe, and was confined mostly to black culture and the gay underground in America. Saturday Night Fever, as a movie and an album, plus a brace of hit singles off of it, suddenly made disco explode into mainstream, working- and middle-class America with a new immediacy and urgency, increasing its audience ten-fold overnight.

One of Russia's most beloved pop stars, Alla Pugacheva was first heard at age 16 with her song "Robot," produced for a state radio program, and soon her clear mezzo-soprano was all over the country. In 1975 she won the Bulgarian Golden Orpheus Award, which brought her moderate success. Her victory at Poland's 1978 Sopot International Song Festival with the song "Kings Can Do Everything," however, was the turning point in her career, giving her worldwide fame and recognition. From then on, although for many she grew to represent the government-endorsed pop culture that was forced upon the people, her popularity skyrocketed, and Pugacheva released many albums throughout the years.

by Christopher Harding (Author)
"Lucid and lyrical…a vivid history of Japan's turbocharged (and painful) modernization." —The Daily Telegraph