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Books by Jason G. Karlin

AKB48, 2019

Since its formation as a girl group in 2005, AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institutio... more Since its formation as a girl group in 2005, AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institution in Japan. Having originally recruited fans with photocopied fliers and daily performances in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, AKB48 now saturates Japan. Its members--nearly 800 of them, including five sister groups and four so-called "rival groups" across Japan, as well as six sister groups in other Asian cities--appear in print, broadcast, online, and social media; in advertisements and on products; at home and on the train; on- and off-screen.

AKB48's multi-platform omnipresence is characteristic of "idols," whose intimate relationship to fans and appeals to them for support have made the group dominant on the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart in the 2010s; they hold several records, including most consecutive million-selling singles sold in Japan. A unique business model relentlessly monetizes fans' affections through meet-and-greet events and elections, which maximize CD sales, and their saturated presence in the media. At a time when affect is more important than ever in economic, political, and social theory, this book explores the intersection of idols and affect in contemporary Japan and beyond.

This book examines the intellectual, social, and cultural factors that contributed to the rapid s... more This book examines the intellectual, social, and cultural factors that contributed to the rapid spread of Western tastes and styles, along with the backlash against Westernization that was expressed as a longing for the past. By focusing on the expressions of these desires in popular culture and media texts, it reveals how the conflation of mother, countryside, everyday life, and history structured representations to naturalize ideologies of gender and nationalism.

Edited Books by Jason G. Karlin

Spend even a day in a major Japanese city like Tokyo or Osaka and you won't be able to ignore the... more Spend even a day in a major Japanese city like Tokyo or Osaka and you won't be able to ignore them: 'idols,' or heavily produced and promoted men and women who perform across media genres and platforms. They appear in magazines and advertisements, perform on TV and on stage, recorded and live. Though central to the workings and experience of media in Japan, idols have unfortunately had only a marginal place in the scholarship. This collection offers the most complete and compelling account of one of the most fascinating and least understood aspects of Japanese media culture today. It brings together a group of interdisciplinary scholars who engage the study of media, gender and celebrity. Sensitive to history and the contemporary scene, essays cover male and female idols, production and consumption, industrial structures and fan movements.

Book Chapters by Jason G. Karlin

Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture, Oct 2012

Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture, Oct 2012

Gender, Nation and State in Modern Japan, Jul 2014

This paper examines the tricentennial celebration of Tokyo held in 1889 to argue that commemorati... more This paper examines the tricentennial celebration of Tokyo held in 1889 to argue that commemorative activity in Meiji Japan was a contested process that resulted as much from the actions of critics and opponents of the new regime as it did from the "memory machine" of the Meiji state. Although recent scholarship on memory tends to link commemorative activity in Meiji Japan to the notion of a monolithic state ideology, the tricentennial celebration was planned and organized by a group of former bakufu retainers who hoped to preserve the social memory of the achievements of the Tokugawa era. In response to the process of renewal and rapid social change in the early years of the Meiji period, they invented the modern memory of Edo as a way of resisting the acceleration of history and the eradication of the legacy of the Tokugawa era. However, the tricentennial celebration was not merely an act of resistance to state power and official history, but was equally productive of its own national narrative centered on the culture, practices, and tastes of the Edo period. This paper seeks to move beyond a narrow emphasis on commemorations and celebrations as sites of the production of state ideology, and to begin to address the multiplicity of actors in the production of national identity.

Articles by Jason G. Karlin

Journal of Japanese Studies, Oct 1, 2002

This essay examines gender symbolism in competing representations of nationalism in Meiji Japan. ... more This essay examines gender symbolism in competing representations of nationalism in Meiji Japan. Through an analysis of contesting images of masculinity, it reveals how questions of national identity were articulated in the idiom of gender. In response to the perceived threat of the feminization of culture represented by the intensification of consumption, fashion, and artifice, a vigorous masculinity asserted itself that rejected Western materialism and instead extolled notions of primitivism, national spirit, and imperialism. These two opposing representations of masculinity, a “masculinized” and “feminized” masculinity, each constituted differing responses to the problem of modernity.

Digital Archive by Jason G. Karlin

An open-access digital initiative of the University of Tokyo, 2020

Thesis by Jason G. Karlin

AKB48, 2019

Since its formation as a girl group in 2005, AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institutio... more Since its formation as a girl group in 2005, AKB48 has become a phenomenal success and institution in Japan. Having originally recruited fans with photocopied fliers and daily performances in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, AKB48 now saturates Japan. Its members--nearly 800 of them, including five sister groups and four so-called "rival groups" across Japan, as well as six sister groups in other Asian cities--appear in print, broadcast, online, and social media; in advertisements and on products; at home and on the train; on- and off-screen.

AKB48's multi-platform omnipresence is characteristic of "idols," whose intimate relationship to fans and appeals to them for support have made the group dominant on the Oricon Yearly Singles Chart in the 2010s; they hold several records, including most consecutive million-selling singles sold in Japan. A unique business model relentlessly monetizes fans' affections through meet-and-greet events and elections, which maximize CD sales, and their saturated presence in the media. At a time when affect is more important than ever in economic, political, and social theory, this book explores the intersection of idols and affect in contemporary Japan and beyond.

This book examines the intellectual, social, and cultural factors that contributed to the rapid s... more This book examines the intellectual, social, and cultural factors that contributed to the rapid spread of Western tastes and styles, along with the backlash against Westernization that was expressed as a longing for the past. By focusing on the expressions of these desires in popular culture and media texts, it reveals how the conflation of mother, countryside, everyday life, and history structured representations to naturalize ideologies of gender and nationalism.

Spend even a day in a major Japanese city like Tokyo or Osaka and you won't be able to ignore the... more Spend even a day in a major Japanese city like Tokyo or Osaka and you won't be able to ignore them: 'idols,' or heavily produced and promoted men and women who perform across media genres and platforms. They appear in magazines and advertisements, perform on TV and on stage, recorded and live. Though central to the workings and experience of media in Japan, idols have unfortunately had only a marginal place in the scholarship. This collection offers the most complete and compelling account of one of the most fascinating and least understood aspects of Japanese media culture today. It brings together a group of interdisciplinary scholars who engage the study of media, gender and celebrity. Sensitive to history and the contemporary scene, essays cover male and female idols, production and consumption, industrial structures and fan movements.

Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture, Oct 2012

Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture, Oct 2012

Gender, Nation and State in Modern Japan, Jul 2014

This paper examines the tricentennial celebration of Tokyo held in 1889 to argue that commemorati... more This paper examines the tricentennial celebration of Tokyo held in 1889 to argue that commemorative activity in Meiji Japan was a contested process that resulted as much from the actions of critics and opponents of the new regime as it did from the "memory machine" of the Meiji state. Although recent scholarship on memory tends to link commemorative activity in Meiji Japan to the notion of a monolithic state ideology, the tricentennial celebration was planned and organized by a group of former bakufu retainers who hoped to preserve the social memory of the achievements of the Tokugawa era. In response to the process of renewal and rapid social change in the early years of the Meiji period, they invented the modern memory of Edo as a way of resisting the acceleration of history and the eradication of the legacy of the Tokugawa era. However, the tricentennial celebration was not merely an act of resistance to state power and official history, but was equally productive of its own national narrative centered on the culture, practices, and tastes of the Edo period. This paper seeks to move beyond a narrow emphasis on commemorations and celebrations as sites of the production of state ideology, and to begin to address the multiplicity of actors in the production of national identity.

Journal of Japanese Studies, Oct 1, 2002

This essay examines gender symbolism in competing representations of nationalism in Meiji Japan. ... more This essay examines gender symbolism in competing representations of nationalism in Meiji Japan. Through an analysis of contesting images of masculinity, it reveals how questions of national identity were articulated in the idiom of gender. In response to the perceived threat of the feminization of culture represented by the intensification of consumption, fashion, and artifice, a vigorous masculinity asserted itself that rejected Western materialism and instead extolled notions of primitivism, national spirit, and imperialism. These two opposing representations of masculinity, a “masculinized” and “feminized” masculinity, each constituted differing responses to the problem of modernity.

An open-access digital initiative of the University of Tokyo, 2020