A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots: A Social History of Japanese Television, 1953 - 1973

by Jayson Makoto Chun

Overview

This book offers a history of Japanese television audiences and the popular media culture that television helped to spawn. In a comparatively short period, the television industry helped to reconstruct not only postwar Japanese popular culture, but also the Japanese social and political landscape. During the early years of television, Japanese of all backgrounds, from politicians to mothers, debated the effects on society. The public discourse surrounding the growth of television revealed its role in forming the identity of postwar Japan during the era of high-speed growth (1955-1973) that saw Japan transformed into an economic power and one of the world's top exporters of television programming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135869762
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/06/2006
Series:	East Asia: History, Politics, Sociology and Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jayson Makoto Chun, raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, is an assistant professor of history at the University of Hawai'i - West O'ahu.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Introduction to Japanese Television Culture Introduction Part 2: The History of Japanese Television Culture 1. Prewar Roots of Japanese Television Culture: Imperial Culture, Media Culture, and Radio 2. Postwar Media Culture and Japanese Encounters with TV 3. Pro Wrestling and Body Slams: Early TV as a Mass Event 4. Transforming the Nation: TV Takes Root in Japan (1957-1963) Part 3: Japanese Interactions with Television 5. Television Spreads to the Countryside 6. Intellectuals Debate TV: Oya's "Hundred Million Idiots" and Kato's "Television Culture" 7. Protecting the Children and Cleaning Up TV 8. Politics as Spectacle: Parades, Pageantry and Protests 9. Anpo Redux: University Riots and a Hostage Crisis 10. America in Japanese Television: Family Dramas and Cowboys 11. After the American Boom: Japanese TV Gains its Independence Part 4: The Meaning of the Japanese Television Nation Epilogue: Fractured Television Nation