The Electric Geisha: Exploring Japan's Popular Culture - Tapa dura

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In this stunning collection of essays the roots of Japanese mores and popular culture are explored with disarming candor and verve, covering everything from economics and politics to fashion, entertainment, and sex.
What we normally see of the attention-shy Japanese is simply nothing more than the superficial manifestation of something much deeper. In fact, centuries deeper. The authors take us behind closed doors and illuminate the layers of tradition behind many of today's inexplicable practices. The ubiquitous "package tour" that sees armies of Japanese pleasure-seekers flocking to the far corners of the globe in tight-knit groups has its roots in the temple pilgrimage of old - arranged under the watchful eye of the village associations. The almost fanatical grab for prime property in New York, London, Berlin, and other major cities around the world echoes a cycle of fortune-seeking that began in Japan centuries ago. And the "electric geisha" of the title is a metaphor for the karaoke sing-along machines that have replaced the old forms of entertainment, but serve much the same purpose.
With telling insight and frankness, Mr. Ueda and his colleagues unlock a little more of the Japanese mystery, tracing each thread from the time of shoguns and geisha to the close of the technology-dominated twentieth century. What emerges is a colorful tapestry of old Japan - with its samurai and nobles, palanquins and pleasure quarters - and a fascinating, tightly woven composite of modern Japan, its people, and the collective psyche.