SYLLABUS FOCUS:
1) The changing nature of the music, film and television industry in Australia during the post-war period, including the influence of overseas developments (such as Hollywood, Bollywood and the animation film industry in China and Japan)
Student Outcome:
discuss how overseas influences have affected ONE aspect of Australian popular culture
1) The changing nature of the music, film and television industry in Australia during the post-war period, including the influence of overseas developments (such as Hollywood, Bollywood and the animation film industry in China and Japan)
Student Outcome:
discuss how overseas influences have affected ONE aspect of Australian popular culture
Japan's Influence on Australian Popular Culture
The 1960s and 1970s ushered in a wave of Japanese programs broadcasted on Australian television. Some of these programs included anime (the Japanese word for ‘animation’) such as Kimba the White Lion, Speed Racer, and the very iconic and numerously readapted Astroboy. These anime were the first of its kind to be broadcasted to an Australian audience and were popular with school children at the time. However, the first Japanese television show broadcasted on Australian television in 1964 was not an anime, rather, it was a black and white historical Chambara-type (Japanese word referring to a ‘samurai cinema’ genre) drama titled The Samurai (Chapman, 2015).
The 1960s and 1970s ushered in a wave of Japanese programs broadcasted on Australian television. Some of these programs included anime (the Japanese word for ‘animation’) such as Kimba the White Lion, Speed Racer, and the very iconic and numerously readapted Astroboy. These anime were the first of its kind to be broadcasted to an Australian audience and were popular with school children at the time. However, the first Japanese television show broadcasted on Australian television in 1964 was not an anime, rather, it was a black and white historical Chambara-type (Japanese word referring to a ‘samurai cinema’ genre) drama titled The Samurai (Chapman, 2015).
The Samurai was screened by Channel Nine and like the aforementioned (previously mentioned) anime airing in Australia during the same time, it was immensely popular. However, in contrast to anime, The Samurai was controversial. Whilst anime was Japanese, it did not feel overtly Japanese to the average Australian viewer (Chapman, 2015). Kimba the White Lion, similar to Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King, was set in Africa followed the story of a young lion cub. Gigantor and Astroboy were both sci-fi (science fiction) and focused on Robots, therefore, its connection to japan was rather vague and ambiguous (not clear). Unlike anime, The Samurai’s connections to Japan were overt (clear and obvious). The Samurai was saturated with traditional Japanese cultural signs and symbols such as the katana (a traditional Japanese sword) and the daimyo (Japanese feudal lords). The show was set during the 18th century, the edo / tokugawa period (1603 – 1868), and followed the story of Akikusa Shintaro, a roving samurai / detective employed by the Tokugawa Shogunate to spy on disloyal feudal lords.
The Samurai originated in Japan and spread to various countries South East Asian countries such as the Philippines. Additionally, The Samurai also spread to Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. As an early form of transnational popular culture, The Samurai is significant in Australian history as its success on Australian television marked the beginning of a shift in the Australian public’s perception of Japan as a war time enemy to a source of a type of ‘oriental cool’ (Chapman, 2015). Traditional Japanese culture began to be admired In Australia as the concept of the ‘noble samurai’ spread across the nation. School kids who watched The Samurai often made Shuriken (Japanese word for throwing stars) out of cardboard and role-played as the characters from the show. Furthermore, The Samurai trading cards were sold with Scanlens bubblegum and became popular among young viewers in school playgrounds. Partly as a result of The Samurai’s popularity, in 1965 The Australian Women's Weekly claimed that Australian television was ‘getting better all the time’.
View This Article - http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/51776817
in 1965, Koichi Ose, the actor who played Shintaro, toured Australia. At the airports of Sydney and Melbourne, Koichi was mobbed by his young fans dressed in improvised kimonos (traditional Japanese robe), wielding home made ninja tools. The crowd that waited his arrival in Melbourne's Essendon airport were comparable in size to the crowd that greeted the beetles in 1964.
Photographs from Shintaro's visit to sydney in 1965
Watch this scene from The Samurai
TASK 1 – Drawing from the text, answer the following questions
1) Why didn’t the early forms of anime aired in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s feel distinctively Japanese to Australian Audiences?
2) What was quality The Samurai possessed which made it feel Distinctively Japanese to Australian Audiences?
TASK 2 -
The following link hosts selected comments from the Australian press regarding The Samurai.
http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/reguli/sampress.htm
1) Open the link above in your web browser, read four of the selected articles and outline some of the negative or positive attitudes held by Australians regarding The Samurai.
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Japan's Influence on Australian popular culture today
Currently, anime, manga, Japanese television series and films are more popular than ever before. Through the process of globalisation (the increasing inter-connectivity of the world), the advent (arrival) of the internet, advances in computer technology, and the popularity of websites such as Crunchyroll and Netflix in the 2000s, Japanese content (anime, manga, television shows etc.) can be legally streamed through the internet whenever people want and wherever they want. Furthermore, the nature of accessible Japanese media itself has become vastly diverse and capable of appealing to a wide global audience. In the 1960s, the only anime and television shows accessible to Australians were those suitable for television which were popular with children such as the previously mentioned Astroboy, Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion and The Samurai. However, currently, through the internet and retailers across Australia, Australians can purchase a wide variety of Japanese content aimed at various audiences of a variety of genders and ages.
Here are two examples - Vagabond, is a manga aimed at young adult men, whereas, NANA is both an anime and manga aimed at young adult women. Both of these products are available online and through retailers in Australia such as Kinokuniya.
Here are two examples - Vagabond, is a manga aimed at young adult men, whereas, NANA is both an anime and manga aimed at young adult women. Both of these products are available online and through retailers in Australia such as Kinokuniya.
Supanova Pop Culture Expo
In 2002 Sydney held its first Supanova popular culture expo/convention at the Sydney Showground. Supanova is an Australian made independent event held annually all across Australia where thousands of fans of film, television, comic books, anime and gaming gather to purchase and trade merchandise, share ideas, cosplay (dress up as characters) and meet special guests such as content creators and actors. Over the past twenty years, Popular culture conventions have become common in Australia. Japan still has a significant influence on Australian popular culture. This is evident in popular culture expos such as Supanova as Japanese content forms a large portion of the popular culture paraphernalia (merchandise) sold.
In 2002 Sydney held its first Supanova popular culture expo/convention at the Sydney Showground. Supanova is an Australian made independent event held annually all across Australia where thousands of fans of film, television, comic books, anime and gaming gather to purchase and trade merchandise, share ideas, cosplay (dress up as characters) and meet special guests such as content creators and actors. Over the past twenty years, Popular culture conventions have become common in Australia. Japan still has a significant influence on Australian popular culture. This is evident in popular culture expos such as Supanova as Japanese content forms a large portion of the popular culture paraphernalia (merchandise) sold.
Watch this video on Supanova
TASK 3
Drawing from this module and your previous knowledge of globalisation, answer the following question
How has globalization enabled the spread of Japan's cultural influence to Australian Popular culture?
Drawing from this module and your previous knowledge of globalisation, answer the following question
How has globalization enabled the spread of Japan's cultural influence to Australian Popular culture?
References
Chapman, D. (2015). Suburban Samurai and Neighbourhood Ninja: Shintarō and Postwar Australia. Japanese Studies, 35(3), 355-371. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2015.1118619