Japanese pop culture

 Superflat world: who invented the visual language of Japanese pop culture

 The "Kid" bomb divided the history of Japan into before and after: this state could be the future of the world, but it became the country of the victorious kawai - a culture of those who do not want to grow up. As the founder of the Superflat art movement, artist Takashi Murakami brought the Japanese love of everything cute and touching to the point of absurdity, says historian Nancy Stalker in her book Japan. History and Culture: From Samurai to Manga ”, which was published by the publishing house“ Alpina Non-Fiction ”. The Knife publishes a snippet on why the members of the Super Plane, who were supposed to challenge the emptiness of the consumer society The Superflat art movement emerged in the late 1990s in response to a general obsession with consuming “cute”.

 Its founder Takashi Murakami (born 1962) formulated the aesthetics and theory of contemporary art, which he called "super flat", simultaneously appealing to the two-dimensional cartoon forms that dominated pop culture, to the flat composition of traditional Japanese painting, which lacks the illusion of depth and perspective , and to the two-dimensionality of modern Japanese life - the emptiness of the culture of the consumer society.

 Superflat is a challenge to Western visual art hegemony, embodying Japan-centered standards of art creation and perception and subverting the false hierarchies of "high" art and "low" mass media, art and commerce.

 Murakami originally studied traditional Japanese painting, completing his doctoral dissertation in 1993. On his trip to New York, he first saw Jeff Koons' pop erotic sculptures and met various art groups that create "fun" forms of artistic expression, so unlike those of the sedate Japanese art establishment.

 Subsequently, he developed a new style of perky, humorous, deliberately childish images using traditional techniques of painting and printed graphics. Murakami argues that this style of contemporary art is rooted not in Western pop culture, but in the stylized, flamboyant work of ukiyo-e artists from the Edo period and nihonga from the Meiji period.

 The subjects for such images are modern characters of the otaku culture, taken from anime, manga and collectible figures - often young girls, monsters and apocalyptic images.

 Murakami's views on US-Japan relations are similar to those of postwar avant-garde artists. He argues that the atomic bombings, humiliating defeat, and post-war dependence on the US Security Treaty have left Japan infantile, powerless, distorted and apolitical. Therefore, its hybrid postcolonial culture turned out to be depressingly superficial, childish and consuming.

 However, after the economic bubble burst, the artists of the Superflat movement, due to the instability and uncertainty of the country, took up social criticism, ridiculing the sexual fetishism and consumerism that dominate popular culture. In a long 2005 essay on the state of popular culture in Japan, Murakami writes: Japan could be the future of the whole world. But now Japan is super flat. From social customs to art and culture, absolutely everything has only two dimensions. Kawaii culture has come to life, permeating everywhere. Since the population is inattentive to the price that will have to be paid in order not to become adults, the country is in a painful dilemma ...

 This monotonous ruin of a nation-state, which has come on the heels of the American puppet government, is ideally embodied in the name of capitalism. Those who inhabit this empty furnace revolve in endless unintelligible circles ... We Japanese still embody "The Kid" - we are named, like the atomic bomb itself, after a disgusting childish prank.

 Some of Murakami's most recognizable characters are Mr. DOB, a round head with Mickey Mouse ears, huge eyes with eyelashes and a disturbing grimace; Mister Pointed (Tongari-kun), a round white creature with a rainbow horn; Miss Co2 (pronounced Coco), sensual long-legged waitress.

 These and other images appear on an industrial scale on watches, T-shirts, wallets and other items at Murakami's Kaikai Kiki factory. Like Andy Warhol's Factory, Kaikai Kiki invites teams of young artists to help Murakami bring his ideas to life.

 They make extensive use of computer technology, in particular clip art, for its repetitive motives - anthropomorphic flowers and mushrooms. Murakami does not separate art and commerce: for example, he worked with fashion houses Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, which sold his handbags from a limited collection for $ 5,000.

 Another internationally acclaimed Superflat artist is the painter and sculptor Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959), known for his works of children, many of whom have surprisingly threatening, angry, or violent expressions. Sometimes they carry weapons - knives or saws.

 The images look simple, but psychologically complex: they combine vulnerability, loneliness and aggression.

 Nara's work, like Yoshimoto's Bananas, attracted a mass of admirers among young women between the ages of 18 and 25 who otherwise might not have been interested in art or literature. Nara and Yoshimoto subsequently worked together on illustrated books.

 Another Superflat artist is Chiho Aoshima (born 1974), who uses computer generated images in large, fully digital murals in which fragile girls, who appear both innocent and sexually sophisticated at the same time, are placed in mysterious apocalyptic or sublime fantasy landscapes.

 The plastic figurines of Yuki Oshima (born 1974) similarly explore the tension between innocence and eroticism: they portray young teenage girls posing as cute and otaku customers as exciting.

 Throughout its long history, Japan has interacted with other countries that deeply influenced its society, culture and economy. In ancient and pre-industrial times, fundamental changes in religion, philosophy, and management theory came from Korea and China.

 Borrowed technologies from agriculture, crafts, medicine, as well as written and artistic expression have enriched the lives of both elites and ordinary people. These borrowings were inevitably influenced by local tastes and values, resulting in a rich mosaic of cultural forms and social practices that are no doubt Japanese. Since the 16th century, European countries have become a new source of information on the development of science, art and geopolitics.

 In the Meiji Restoration, Japan confidently turned to Western imperialist models to pave its way to modern wealth and power, but Western borrowing has evolved considerably to accommodate Japanese circumstances and preferences. Japanese identity remained mixed - its modernity was not just another example of a general "modernity" built according to Western norms.

 As Japan developed and gained confidence in the early twentieth century, many increasingly called for the abandonment of Western hegemony, leading the country into a devastating war, the legacy of which continues to be reflected in its relations with its East Asian neighbors Korea and China.

 The defeat and the American occupation meant that the main source of international influence in post-war society and culture would be the American lifestyle and democratic values ​​that came to the fore.

 Today, Japan still relies on its strong ties to the United States for regional defense and diplomatic assistance, but with the end of the Cold War, when the gathering forces of globalization changed economic and cultural ties between countries, America has lost some of its role model credibility.

 The Chinese economy at the beginning of the 21st century surpassed the Japanese, making China the leading economic and military power in Asia and Japan's largest trading partner. Nevertheless, new technologies such as the Internet and the development of global media have allowed Japan to become a cultural leader in East Asia that is admired and emulated around the world. Foreigners are crazy about both the new Japanese pop culture and the more traditional forms embodied in samurai, geisha and tea ceremony.

 Manga, films, visual arts and other contemporary cultural phenomena often cite or refer to these older traditions, preserving them in the imaginations of younger generations.