Hsin-Wei Hsu
[Please see the model essay, so that you can format this according to APA guidelines]
The Power of Kawaii [ Good title]
Introduction
Nowadays, Godzilla and Hello Kitty speak not only Japanese, but also English, Mandarin and Korean. Japanese subculture which includes comics, animation, movies, street fashion and toys are internationally known and have the cartoonish character. Besides, Japanese popular culture is becoming influential throughout the world. Many Japanese contemporary artists use their own subculture as the idea [inspiration?] in their artwork and have positive responds. The most famous Japanese contemporary artist, Takashi Murakami, successfully deals with this issue. [But it’s an influence, not an issue…?] He displays cartoon characters and vinyl figures in his exhibitions. His flat cartoonish style has had a great influence on the contemporary art, and has inspired many contemporary artists. As a Taiwanese, I feel a strong influence from Japanese subculture; this phenomenon is unavoidable, just like the culture invasion is unstoppable. However, I think it [what?] is good, because Taiwanese culture was formed by mixed culture and Taiwanese can accept different culture styles from other countries easily. It [what?] also affects my painting which contains some parts [ you need to say influences] of Japanese teen culture. For instance, I use the falt style which is a characteristic of Japanese sublture ???? and creat cartoon monsters in my painting. As a Taiwanese contemporary artist, I want to express the speciality of Taiwanese subculture. [You need to define and explain Falt]
Japanese pop culturl
The traditional images about Japan were the militarily nation in WWII and an industrial country after the war. However, the status of Japan has been changing. With the developing [develoment]] of a tremendous entertainment business, Japanese pop culture becoming [check grammatical form ] huge power and now drawing [here too] global interest. Pop culture such as manga(comics), animations and games now becoming [here too] the symbols of Japan. Nakamura(2004) who is an executive director of Stanford Japan Center-Research reported that "The characteristics of the Japanese pop market include the follewing points: children's purchasing power is strong; participation of adults in the market is large; "otaku", who are the obsessive "maniac" comic and animation fans, contributes significantly to market activities; and the fact that there is less regulation of sexual and violent expression in the media". [Remember the quote sandwich- you need to explain/ interpret this quote] Besides, Kelts(2006) reported that Japanese pop culture fulls??? with animation and cartoon icons. They appear everywhere in Japan such as the cellphone, ATM screen, billboards, train station and the airplane. [But your essay is about Taiwan….what’s the connection?]
Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami, who is the most famous Japanese contemporary fine artist, created cartoonish characters in his artwork. Murakami announced [is this the correct verb] "Superflact Manifesto" in his exhibitio in Tokyo in 2000. He asserted that Ukiyo-e (Japanese traditional painting—This is not accurate. Ukiyo-e is a kind of printing not painting) and Japanese contemporary comics have the same characteristics which were flat, delicated, detialed and implicated. [Be careful of sentence structure ]Also, as the idea of Pop Art movement, he wanted to make art become more popularized. [???] According to one study (Phoenix, 2006), Murakami inspired by popular Japanese culture, he said "Sometimes I feel like my work is an extension of popular culture. I think that as an artist, there is usually an element of examination. I enjoy connecting this fantasy cculture to more real discourses, such as history and art. This is also why I have tried to introduce Japanese pop culture to the world. Because it has many connections to concerns of undeniable relevancy." Murakami also wants to make art become popular, which as the same idea from as the Pop Art movement. He combines art and commercial and transfer [verb agreement!] his unique cartoons on many products like pins, dolls, cards and vinly toys. He uses this way to make people [can you think of a more precise, academic word] have more opportunity to buy artwork; [Should the next part be a new paragraph?] however, to join art and commercial together makes Murakami become a controversial artist. He asserted that use the art is commercial, and artists need money for making more artwork. Murakami has his own art making factory, called Kaikai Kiki. In the factory, he supports many young artists by providing cases and exhibitions which make them have more opportunities to become famous.
How Japanese subculture affects Taiwanese culture
The Japanese, who are good at promoting their productions, successfully sell their culture to other countries. They not only sell the authentic Japanese food, but also animation, comics and toys. Taiwan, which is located near Japan, cannot avoid the great culture trend from it. [From what?] The history of Taiwanese culture is very complicated, which related [incorrect tense] to Chinese traditional culture, native Taiwanese culture and parts of Japanese colony culture. It is true that the most specific feature of Taiwan's culture is that it is a multiculture. Recently, the economy of China, Korea and Japan has [subject/verb agreement!] been raising, which bring up the culture invation, Taiwan has suffered the cultures from them. [“Suffer” is not correct.] The most obviously facts happen in the young generation. [This doesn’t make sense]. For example, many youth [should this noun be plural or singular?] follow the Japanese fashion, which wear Japanese brand and mimic the Japanese style; most comics in Taiwan are come from Japan, and so do the video games; some Japanese magazines and books even release at the same day in Japan. [Please rethink this. ]Through importing tremendous amounts of Japanese products to Taiwan, the Japanese culture comes with them.
How Japanese subculture and Murakami affect my painting
Murakami shows people the Japanese subcultuer, I show people the the influence from Japanese subculture. I have been enjoyed [be careful of tense] the Japanese pop culture since I was a kid. I saw Japanese cartoons, read Japanese comics, played Japanese toys and video games. I enjoy those delicate, imaginative and entertaining products. which are made delicateliy and imaginative. When I make [ can you think of a more appropriate verb] my painting, these enjoyable experience [please be careful of agreement!] become my inspiration which give me the ideas about ??? the relationship between reality and illusion. People who live in the reality world???, usually get along with many unreal stuffs such as the virtual world made from computer, the 3D CG bikini girls in the video games or the giant horrible monsters in the animation. [I don’t understand this part] I think it is interesting to discuss [ is this what you really mean to say? ] this topic, also, it [what does?] relies on the the Japanese pop culture invasion, because most of the virtual cartoonish characters are from Japan. My painting style is flat, which like Murakami's superflat style, because of the great influence from comics and animation. Through Using flat cartoonish characters can show humorous and unformal ??? feeling, which can make audience feel fun and relax.[you need to rewrite this, AND also explain more . Why does this artistic technique influence the viewers in this way?] Besides, I totally agree with Murakami's ideas about art: art should be popular and art is commercial. I think popularity and commercial can help each other. If art is popular, which everybody knows and enjoys it, than people would have more of a chance to purchase artwork or art products. On the other hand, if artwork [add verb] like commercial products, which appear everywhere in our daily life, people would understand more about art. I am planing to make my artwork into commercial [needa noun here] and developing different products such as stickers, toys and t-shirts.
Conclusion
Japanese pop culture is a huge cultural entertainment industry in the world. Murakami wisely uses it and develops into art that provokes the attention of whole world. Culture invasion is unavoidable, espically the Japanese popular culture occupies Taiwan. As a victim of it, I do not feel upset; instead of it, I enjoy the multiculture. Multiculture has been becoming the characteristic of Taiwanese culture and providing me the resouces and inspirations for making artwork. Living in the global village, I am glad to take the advantage of experence different cultures and express my feeling by painting.
Reference List
Nakamura, I (2004). Introduction of Pop Culture Policy (Summary). Japanese Institute of Global Communications.http://www.glocom.org/debates/20040302_nakamura_pop/index.html
Kelts, R (2006). Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., 207
Phoenix, W. (2006). Character Merchandising and Mascots. Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys
Conquered the World,79-87
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