The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture

In the West, Japanese culture comes in the form of Power Rangers, Godzilla movies, and Sanrio products, but of course the indigenous pop culture is much richer. Rather than focus on what the rest of the world has already encountered, Mark Schilling provides an encyclopedic compendium of books, movies, music, comedians, and cultural scandals that have had the greatest impactinJapan. Thus, for the outsider,The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Cultureis an insider's guide to post-war Japan. Not content to simply catalog his entries, Schilling provides real depth and analysis in his articles, opening up Japan's rich pop heritage to the world at large.

Mark Schilling set off for Japan in 1975 to immerse himself in the culture, learn the language, and haunt the theaters. He has been there ever since. In 1989 he became a regular film reviewer for the Japan Times , and has written on Japanese film for a variety of other publications, including Screen International , the Japan edition of Premier, the Asian edition of Newsweek, Asian Wall Street Journal , Japan Quarterly , Winds, Cinemaya, and Kinema Jumpo .