What makes something popular? The contributors to The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture wrestle with the question of the sources and meanings of popularity in contemporary Japan. The goal, as Dolores Martinez says in her introduction, is to provide a sense of what anthropology can say about popular culture and what popular culture tells anthropology about the links between consumerism and national culture.

The volume succeeds because it can be read along a number of different dimensions. Martinez divides the book into sections based on gender (“Male Domain,” “Female Domain,” and “Shifting Boundaries”), but one could also draw connections across the topics in terms of media types (television, film, comic books, and popular press), generational differences (from preschoolers to housewives and salarymen), or global cultures (international sports, television shows, and films).

The volume's range is impressive. The ten worlds explored are, in order of presentation, professional sumo wrestling, boys' television superheroes, the animated film Akira, karaoke singing, girls' comic-book heroines, women's magazines, television dramas, celebrity watching, horse racing, and professional soccer. The authors generally avoid jargon, and each case is enlivened by evocative depictions–the roar of soccer crowds, the nervousness of a karaoke singer, and the drama of horse racing when the underdog wins.

The authors take an anthropological approach, in that they unpack the symbolism of the different phenomena and relate these worlds of popular culture to changing social contexts. I often wanted to hear more from the consumers and more about the economic contexts of production, but the contributors effectively provide the outsider with a sense of how an insider is likely to interpret and enjoy each of these complex worlds.

In the introduction to part 1, Martinez describes some useful theoretical approaches for the anthropological analysis of popular culture, particularly in terms of gender and globalization. She argues that the anthropologist’s job is in part to explore the relationship between symbolic culture and material culture. She questions “most Westerners’” image of Japan as “a homogeneous society, where hierarchy and formality continue to be important” (p. 2). Yamaguchi Masao discusses the current popularity of sumo, showing connections with ancient East Asian cosmologies as well as the modern mass media of television and manga (comic books).

Part 2, “The Male Domain,” starts young. Tom Gill looks at programs for preschool boys (ages three to six) and examines how "old beliefs find expression in the superheroes and monsters of Japanese television" (p. 33). Superman may go it alone, but Ultraman is helped by family members. Gill examines in detail the symbolism of the color coding of the many Power Rangers, noting, for example, that when exported to the United States and Britain, the colors take on an ethnic significance (pp. 38-45). He also notes that when young viewers talk about the Power Rangers TV show among their peers, the main activity seems to be mastery of classificatory knowledge, an impulse, he suggests, that may be universal (p. 51). Isolde Standish provides a nuanced reading of the animated film Akira (1988), which is set in a postapocalyptic future. The movie follows a young biker thug who develops extraordinary telekinetic powers; Standish explores the movie’s historical references and its relationship to Japan's motorcycle gangs. Known as bôsôzoku (literally, violent speed tribe), these gangs embody resistance to mainstream culture; but, at the same time, they desire to be seen in the media. Bill H. Kelly debunks national character interpretations of karaoke (such as “the Japanese love singing”), showing instead a diversity of karaoke settings and meanings that range from salarymen's smoky bars to the karaoke boxes (rooms rented by the hour) of a younger generation.

Part 3, “The Female Domain,” opens with one of the book’s most provocative chapters. Susan Napier describes four faces of Japanese shôjo, young girls who emerged as leading symbols of Japan’s 1990s consumerism. These faces derive from anime (animated film) heroines who fly, suck blood, have psychic powers, and battle all manner of evil. They offer "intriguing alternatives to Western fantasy females, suggesting . . . that empowerment and femininity come in many forms" (p. 106). Keiko Tanaka analyzes the language used in six women's consumer magazines. In the endless rankings and "blunt and hectoring" (p. 117) tone of the feature articles–"You need two kinds of shoes" (p. 119)–she hears echoes of authoritarian school culture. Paul A. S. Harvey shows how public television's morning dramas, such as “Oshin and Nonchan no yume,” are "a revealing instance of the contradictory ideologies that go into making modern Japan" (p. 133). He argues, for example, that while the shows often portray conservative notions, such as the idea that the heroine is expected to marry and rear children, the effect is to legitimize other, more progressive, elements, such as a woman achieving her dream of becoming the editor-in-chief of a Tokyo magazine.

In part 4, “Shifting Boundaries,” authors show how the borders of popular culture constantly change. Haldár Stefánsson argues that women are increasingly viewed in the popular press as threatening outsiders. His case study is the sensational media coverage of actress-model Miyazawa Rie’s engagement to sumo powerhouse Takanohana and Owada Masako’s engagement to Naruhito, future emperor of Japan. Nagashima Nobuhiro discusses how female fans of a Japanese thoroughbred transformed the image of horse racing. A stallion named Oguricap became the darling of women of all ages--thanks to underdog victories and a handsome jockey. In a witty and perceptive piece, Jonathan Watts argues that Japan's professional soccer association–the J. League–is best understood in terms of a marketing strategy expressed through the slogan shinhatsubai ("New Improved, Now on Sale") (p. 183). Among the contributors, he takes the most sustained look at the production of popular culture.

Taken together, do the authors in this volume demonstrate the existence of consumer nationalism? There are moments when it seems that an ethnic and nationalist fervor is produced, particularly in relation to sumo, the future empress, and even the Japanese horse battling outsiders. But in most chapters, the authors depict worlds that seem separated and adrift among exclusive segments of the population. Readers end up with a picture of Japan that is fragmented but not lonely, where people suffer from anomie but are satisfied customers.

Contributors usefully emphasize the symbolic unpacking of popular culture, often supplementing their analyses with accounts of important historical contexts. Yet this also points to the need for more work. The distinctive power of anthropology arises in part from fieldwork in key social spaces where popular culture is produced and consumed. The authors here give a good sense of what makes these worlds popular. A more sustained examination of specific consumers and producers would provide readers a clearer sense of how and why popular culture plays such a significant role in society. The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture offers a captivating range of case studies and contributes significantly to a growing body of work in popular culture. It would be appropriate in undergraduate or graduate classes.