Popular culture

Lore & Background

The phrase popular culture was coined in the 19th century or earlier. Traditionally, it was associated with poor education and the lower classes, as opposed to the 'official culture' and higher education of the upper classes. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Britain experienced social changes that resulted in increased literacy rates, and with the rise of capitalism and industrialization, people began to spend more money on entertainment, such as commercialised public houses and sports. Reading also gained traction. The first penny serials were published in the 1830s to meet the growing demand for cheap popular literature, enabled by the newly invented railway. From the end of World War II, following major cultural and social changes brought by mass media innovations, the meaning of popular culture began to overlap with the connotations of mass culture, media culture, image culture, consumer culture, and culture for mass consumption. The abbreviated form pop, as in pop music, dates from the late 1950s. Pop is specific to something containing qualities of mass appeal, while popular refers to what has gained popularity, regardless of its style. According to author John Storey, there are various definitions of popular culture. One quantitative definition has the problem that too much 'high culture' is also 'popular'. Another defines pop culture as the culture that is 'leftover' when high culture is decided, though many works straddle the boundaries. A third definition equates pop culture with 'mass culture'—commercial culture mass-produced for mass consumption. Alternatively, pop culture can be defined as an 'authentic' culture of the people, but this can be problematic. Storey argued there is a political dimension; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory sees popular culture as a site of struggle between resistance of subordinate groups and forces of incorporation operating in the interests of dominant groups.

Reader's Guide

Popular culture is significant because it permeates the everyday lives of people in a given society and exerts a significant influence on individual attitudes towards certain topics. It is constantly evolving and occurs uniquely in place and time, forming currents and eddies that represent a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values influencing society and its institutions. The concept is generally viewed in contrast to other forms of culture, such as folk culture, working-class culture, or high culture, and is analyzed from various academic perspectives including psychoanalysis, structuralism, and postmodernism. Western popular culture has been persistently criticized as a vast engine of commercialism, designed to privilege products selected and mass-marketed by capitalists—a critique articulated by Marxist theorists including Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, bell hooks, Antonio Gramsci, Guy Debord, Fredric Jameson, and Terry Eagleton. The distinction between mass media and word-of-mouth has become blurred with the widespread use of the Internet from the 1990s, and folklore continues to propagate alongside commercial popular culture.

Did You Know?

• The phrase 'popular culture' was coined in the 19th century or earlier.
• The first penny serials were published in the 1830s to meet growing demand for cheap popular literature.
• The abbreviated form 'pop', as in pop music, dates from the late 1950s.

From War Propaganda to Cultural Diplomacy

Before the war, Japanese cinema was dominated by militaristic storytelling controlled by the policies and agendas of the totalitarian state, producing inspirational patriotic tales that portrayed the militia as victors, heroes, and self-sacrificing figures fighting for a greater cause. After the defeat in World War II, this entire framework collapsed. The first postwar cinematic blockbuster, Godzilla, marked a dramatic reversal—rather than celebrating military might, it depicted the atomic destruction of Tokyo and functioned as an anti-war statement, helping citizens process the trauma of victimization. The entertainment industry became central to national reconstruction, with pop culture gradually dominating the broader sector. The government recognized that Japan needed to shed its image of military dominance and instead project a peaceful, culturally rich identity. This gave rise to what is now called Cool Japan—a state-initiated strategy of pop culture diplomacy that packages Japan as a nation of commerce and creative expression rather than a former imperial power. The overarching goal was to reestablish healthy, peaceful relations with other nations by selling cultural products as a non-military national image.

An Economic Powerhouse Built on Imagination

The entertainment industry was not merely a leisure sector in postwar Japan—it was a vital engine of economic reconstruction. When Japan was banned from using metal to manufacture toys, producers repurposed old cans to create toy cars, which were then traded for food to feed school children. This resourcefulness became emblematic of how pop culture and commerce intertwined during the rebuilding years. Technology was viewed as the heart of recovery, since the nation believed it was the very reason they had lost the war. The toy industry was just one thread in a larger tapestry of creative industries that shaped the era. Today, that legacy has grown into a massive global enterprise. The country supports a large industry spanning music, films, and an enormous comic book sector, alongside game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke parlors that serve as well-known social hubs for younger generations, while older citizens gather in specialized parlors to play shogi or go.

Kawaii, Otaku, and the Aesthetic Soul

Japanese popular culture retains deep roots in older artistic and literary traditions, with many contemporary themes and styles of presentation traceable back to traditional art forms. Among the most recognizable aesthetic movements is kawaii, an adjective meaning cute or adorable that drives one of Japan's most popular visual cultures. Kawaii is closely tied to shōjo, a girl-power movement that has been commodified to market the image of young girls alongside pop culture products and the goods they might be interested in. Shōjo functions somewhat like a Japanese version of the girl next door, emphasizing innocence and charm. On a different axis, the otaku subculture describes individuals with deeply consuming interests in anime, manga, video games, or computers. This community has grown continuously alongside the expansion of the Internet and media, as more anime, video games, shows, and comics are produced and an increasing number of people—both in Japan and elsewhere—now identify themselves as otaku. Together, these aesthetic and subcultural currents distinguish contemporary Japan from the rest of the modern world.

Media as a Bridge Across Borders

That early ambition was interrupted by the country's defeat in World War II, but the question resurfaced amid postwar economic hardship. Japan sought to improve foreign perceptions by exporting appealing cultural products—animation, television, popular music, films, and fashion—as a form of public diplomacy aimed directly at the people of foreign countries. A landmark moment came with the television drama Oshin, which aired across Asian countries and fundamentally shifted how Japanese people were perceived, moving them from being seen as culturally odorless to forming a sense of commonality with neighboring nations. The show demonstrated media's power to soften negative historical memories of Japanese colonialism and the hostility surrounding the country's economic exploitation of the region. As television spread through Asia, Japan produced programming designed to showcase the actual lives of its citizens, building bridges where politics alone could not.