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Popular Mass Entertainment in Japan: Manga, Pachinko, and Cosplay

  • Symposium: Signs, Symbols, and Semiotics
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Abstract

The Japanese, just like any other people of the world, love entertainment. In this article we discuss and analyze three kinds of popular, Japanese mass entertainment utilizing a semiotic approach. We are concerned with what and how manga (Japanese comics), pachinko (vertical Japanese pinball machines), and cosplay (costume play) represent and reflect Japanese-ness: its culture, tradition, history, and society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UALR, 2801 S. University, Little Rock, AR, 72204, USA

    Kinko Ito

  2. Department of English, UALR, 2801 S. University, Little Rock, AR, 72204, USA

    Paul A. Crutcher

Authors
  1. Kinko Ito
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  2. Paul A. Crutcher
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Correspondence to Kinko Ito.

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Ito, K., Crutcher, P.A. Popular Mass Entertainment in Japan: Manga, Pachinko, and Cosplay. Soc 51, 44–48 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-013-9737-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-013-9737-y

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