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tjmHoldenAbout tjmHolden Todd is a novelist, essayist, academician, songwriter, web designer, teacher, lecturer, former DJ, past basketball coach, son, brother, husband, father, and friend. Sired in Pasadena, California, with time spent in Paris, France; educated in Syracuse, New York, now educating in Sendai, Japan, Todd is a person of multiple identities: an intellectual gypsy with cross-national links and a transnational perspective. Todd holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Social Science and is currently Professor of Mediated Sociology in the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies (GSICS) at Tohoku University, in Sendai, Japan. For analyses of Japanese popular culture by tjm Holden, see archived issues of his column, ReDotPop: Mediations of Japan; and for adventures in the journey of life, see his PopMatters’ travel blog: Peripatetic Postcards. Columns
When Can We Be Friends?When it comes to sports, while we may be swimming in the cool pool of popular culture, if those sports happen to pit South Korea against Japan, then we have strayed into the searing hot tub of politics. [29 March 2009] (more ReDotPop) Jero: Oh Yes, He CanHow a young 'half-breed' is reviving a very old, traditional, insular, often ridiculed form of Japanese music. [17 February 2009] (more ReDotPop) In a Groove, in a GroveEven in the dead of summer when a cacophony of cicadas clinging to the limbs assail the ears, the visitor caught in the grove cannot help but be sucked into the mystical vortex. [6 November 2008] (more ReDotPop) When Bathing Suits None and AllIn the ReDot realm, while no bathing suits are allowed for any at bath-time, bathing suits one and all. [6 June 2008] (more ReDotPop) Creating Japan: The Truth About the MythSeparated lovers, a hero, a villain, creepy surrogates, immortal power, the wrath of the gods, a perilous journey to hell and back, a breakneck chase, daring escapes, fortune, and an ending that will make you cry yourself to sleep. [1 February 2008] (more ReDotPop) High Moon: The Japanese WesternReDotPop’s version of the western, the re-emerging samurai genre, serves as moral compass, as spiritual guide at a time when it is needed most. [4 October 2007] (more ReDotPop) You Are Where You EatThis is a story about food. Specifically, the transformative powers of the humble udon noodle. [7 June 2007] (more ReDotPop) Fishing for Deep Dot PearlsIn many popular Japanese films, enduring elements of Japanese/US relations, endemic attitudes of superiority and equality among races, and volatile notions of convention and propriety are pitted against emergent, maverick, fun-loving difference. [1 February 2007] (more ReDotPop) The Saga of Sagi SocietyWe ReDotPoppers find ourselves in the moment of con, in an age of deceit, trapped within the epoch of cheat, run-through by an ideology of insincerity. It is definitely time for a new Emperor, a Hisato, whose name includes virtue. [29 September 2006] (more ReDotPop) ReDotFlow: J-Pop That Would Hit AnywhereReDotFlow has been expressed through greater interactions and collaborations between countries; record and entertainment companies, producers, singers and musicians on both ends of the Asian region. Holden provides an in-depth look at how music from Japan spans pop culture boundaries. [13 April 2005] (more ReDotPop) ReDotFlow: J-Pop That Would Hit AnywhereReDotFlow has been expressed through greater interactions and collaborations between countries; record and entertainment companies, producers, singers and musicians on both ends of the Asian region. Holden provides an in-depth look at how music from Japan spans pop culture boundaries. (more ReDotPop) ReDotFlow: J-Pop That Would Hit AnywhereReDotFlow has been expressed through greater interactions and collaborations between countries; record and entertainment companies, producers, singers and musicians on both ends of the Asian region. Holden provides an in-depth look at how music from Japan spans pop culture boundaries. (more ReDotPop) The Gist List: ReDotPop’s Most Memorable Moments, circa 2004 (part 3 of 3)It is perhaps the biggest story of ReDotPop 2004: baseball came to Sendai, bringing with it a dramatic strike between management and the players that struck at the very core of Japanese identity. The strike itself was so typically Japanese: the players continued to play weekday games -- so as not to inconvenience the fans too greatly -- and only suspended play on the weekends; and the fans became deeply embroiled in the matter. Holden wraps up his reflection on life in Japan, 2004, with this quintessential example of what it means to be Japanese in these times. [16 February 2005] (more ReDotPop) The Gist List: ReDotPop’s Most Memorable Moments, circa 2004 (part 2 of 3)Neighborly relations, intimacies among relations, relating, long-distance... a look at life in Japan, 2004, continues with stories of a resiliant abductee, a consummate baseball player, players in the film industry, and of course, members (of varying merit) in the Royal Family. [9 February 2005] (more ReDotPop) The Gist List: ReDotPop’s Most Memorable Moments Moments, circa 2004 (part 1 of 3)New Years' celebrations in Japan can get pretty roudy, as anyone who has suffered asphyxiation by rice cake would tell you - if they were alive to tell. Like New Years' celebrations the world over, the occasion calls for reflection on the year just passed. Holden looks back on 2004 in ReDotPop land with tongue-in-cheek. This is the first of three installments. [2 February 2005] (more ReDotPop) ReDotBlueDotPop: At Home, AwayHolden takes a two-hour plane ride from Tokyo to Seoul and finds himself in a completely different, yet paradoxically very similar world of Japanese and Korean pop culture. [29 September 2004] (more ReDotPop) The Trials and Tribulations of Parenting Adolescent TechiesReDotPop faces tech-savvy, consumer-primed, expensive adolescence in the form of teenaged cell phone users. Holden wavers between pride and panic as his offspring dabble in art via on-screen decals, and explore a range of music via ring options. [26 May 2004] (more ReDotPop) Can Pop Last Forever?Is pop as ephemeral as a cherry blossom... like youth, so quick to burst with beauty and excitement, so quick to fade? Or is it a perpetually regenerating force, like the magnificent and tenacious sakura that hosts the blossom? [31 March 2004] (more ReDotPop) WhiteDotPopJapan is so much more than simply a handful of groups characterized by crystal-clear definitions and cut-and-dried allegiances: male, female; 'enka', rock; wheat tea, Coca-Cola; 'kimono', blue jeans. [28 January 2004] (more ReDotPop) DeaDotPop?ReDotPop -- A Concept Due Its Title -- It is a sniff-the-breeze, taste-the-frisky-freshness-of-freedom problem that has no Japanese word to describe it. [19 November 2003] (more ReDotPop) DeaDotPop?It wasn't until I disembarked in Narita, with my bottle of French brandy and Eiffel Tower mug and Polish soccer scarf and amber bracelet from the darkest Slavic forests, that I reentered the world of the living. [24 September 2003] (more ReDotPop) SMAP: The Story of EverythingIt wouldn't be far-fetched to venture that SMAP is a cultural institution, a cottage industry, and a magical commodity that works tirelessly to beget more commodities. [20 August 2003] (more ReDotPop) Spy-day Night at the FightsSo much of Japanese TV these days appears predicated on this harsh formula: spying, confrontation, setting up and exposing the cads, giving them their due, then watching them twist and turn in the turbulent wind. [28 May 2003] (more ReDotPop) The Great WaveThe false notion that culture exported worldwide is an American invention has been swept into the historical soup of misconception, along with famous fallacies such as Aryan supremacy and the glories of Stalinism or Maoism. [5 February 2003] (more ReDotPop) The Noble SararimanHe was a dupe, a fool, a brainless, clueless buffoon who'd been sold a bag of goods, and willingly sacrificed everything to gain nothing in a world that had quickly gone to garbage. [6 November 2002] (more ReDotPop) The Schizophrenic Collide-a-ScopeCommercials not only serve as the sort of national archives for domestic events and values -- the town crier, if you will -- but advertising is one of the ways that popular culture actually manages to persist. [4 September 2002] (more ReDotPop) In the Main It’s More Than the Mane. . . (F)or all its post-war success, its unrivalled rise from the ashes, Japan views itself as the national equivalent of Charley Brown. [10 July 2002] (more ReDotPop) Aware of What They Wear?'Do you know,' I inquired in wonder, 'what that . . .' careful how I pointed my finger, 'um . . . means?' She followed the line of query to the tip of her extremis, mouthed the words written thereon, returned her eyes to my general direction, face reddening (possibly implicating her in the act of cognizance), and replied, 'No?' [23 April 2002] (more ReDotPop) Consolidating CultureIn such creations one finds evidence of the Japanese people's 'innate propensity toward shrinking things'. [13 February 2002] (more ReDotPop) Mediations of Japan: Ashita ga aru saReDotPop -- Ashita ga aru sa. [25 September 2001] (more ReDotPop) Mediations of Japan: Japan’s Beat GenerationReDotPop -- Japan's Beat Generation. [19 April 2001] (more ReDotPop) Mediations of Japan: Brought to you by Public TransportationReDotPop -- Brought to you by Public Transportation. [7 October 2000] (more ReDotPop) Mediations of Japan: FoodReDotPop -- Food: With the duo endlessly crooning about crustaceans over radios, on variety shows, as backing in television commercials, through speakers in elevators and restaurants, via CD rentals, and in karaoke boxes, Puffy had Japan from Hiroshima to Hakodate singing the praises of scarfing shellfish along summer shorelines. [13 May 2000] (more ReDotPop) BlogsPeripatetic Postcards: Cool in Korea, Part II [19 November 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Cool in Korea, Part I [18 November 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Walking on Water [14 November 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Original Sin [12 November 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: What’s Hot in Korea [8 November 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: From South Korea, sans Seoul [2 November 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: U2 on YouTube [25 October 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Take Pelham 1, less 2, thee [21 July 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Euclid’s Chi-Town [15 July 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Seeing is Believing (they say) [12 July 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: If I Could Get Away, I’d Go to . . . [2 July 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Going Inswine [7 June 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Catch-22, Blog Style [4 April 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Figuring Out the Figures [30 March 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: The WBC as Young Frankenstein [26 March 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Pre-Pop Presidents [16 February 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Super Bowl Wrap: The PETA Ad [3 February 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Super Bowl Wrap: The Ads, Part I [2 February 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: PopBlogging the Super Bowl, II [1 February 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Pre-PopBlogging the Super Bowl: The Boss’s Play-listPeripatetic Postcards: PopBlogging the Super Bowl, I [30 January 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Fear: Beyond Routine [26 January 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Driven Senseless [24 January 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: Will that be an Aisle or Window Seat, Sir? [22 January 2009]Peripatetic Postcards: The Peripatetic Vote [4 November 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Wittgenstein, Semiotics, Proposition 8 [25 October 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Mainstreamed Vulgarisms [17 October 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: PopBlogging the Debate [15 October 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Cool Hand Paul [28 September 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Life Stranger than Fiction: The Palin phenomenon [16 September 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: North by Southwest [28 August 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: The End of the Road [16 August 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Beijing (Capital Airport) 2008 [9 August 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Serendipity (all over again) [3 August 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Round, Round, Get-Around (I . . . ) [30 July 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Ostermalmstorg: Peace [28 July 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Yeah, Team [22 July 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Scenes on the way to Stockholm (or . . . all light, all night) [20 July 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Travel Light [17 July 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: From Here to K-9 Come [7 July 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: In that sushi-ya, on that Saturday night, in Meguro (Tokyo) [23 June 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Events: Structured and Spontaneous [14 June 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Time, Place, Opportunity, Lifestyle [11 June 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Whatever Gets You Through… [26 May 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Coolest Song Standing [18 May 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Weathering Media Events [12 May 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: You’re In! [30 April 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Reality. Now What? [15 April 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Back from the Dead [6 April 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Black Magic? Once! [6 March 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Pine Coast [27 February 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Blog, After All: PCH pics and bits [18 February 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Buellton Bulletin [14 February 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Ventura Highway [13 February 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Super (Competitive) Society [8 February 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: Travel, the Write Way [1 February 2008]Peripatetic Postcards: I am Legend (Part 2) [29 December 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: I am Legend (Part 1) [16 December 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Squeegee Man with Stump (Somebody’s Baby) [8 December 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Picture (this), without Words [4 December 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Drive, Talk: Listen [28 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Being Thankful (or . . . Have Yourself a Merry Little Turkey Day!) [22 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Protest-a-float [20 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Comp 24-7 [11 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: War is Peace (and other nefarious syllogisms) [8 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Fill in the Blank [5 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: The Devil Made Me Do It [1 November 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Here-a-Haunting [28 October 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: The Terrorist’s Tune [23 October 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: All Things Must Pass [18 October 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Every Picture Tells A Story [8 October 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: So . . . what do you do? [30 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: On the Bus [27 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: I Wonder as I Wander [23 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: 15 Seconds (or notes on the Post-Warholian World) [18 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: My Old School [13 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Suffern Succotash [9 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Yellow Hack Lost [1 September 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Coup-ons [30 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Nyu- Yawkahs [26 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Life, Like That [24 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Go Ask the Globe [17 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: P-o-V [14 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: I Know It When I See It [10 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Parisian De-sign [6 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Long Live Light [2 August 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Eco-Cyclic [31 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Iconic Eye-full [29 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Huis Clos [28 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Re/Connaissance [26 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Paris! Is . . . [23 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Privileging Life [20 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Virtual Pre-visitation [16 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Tunnel Vision [8 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Bunny Country [3 July 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Guitar Rex [30 June 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Simulacra: The New Old in place of the Same Old [14 June 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Buddy, Can You Spare a . . . Metaphor? [3 June 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Baby Dropping (or: the land of any child left behind) [1 June 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Song Swapping [27 May 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: The Tipping Point [26 May 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Babel Babble [21 May 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Socially Correct Clues [3 May 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Land of Sakura, sans Shinkansen [2 May 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Golden Time [1 May 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: When Does Art Mean? [6 April 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: On Breasts and Public Behavior [30 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Vigeland’s Vision [29 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Things Least Expected [21 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Making More of Munch [19 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Making the Rounds at the Munch [18 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Inside the In-Between [17 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Going Against Expectations [16 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Long Day’s Journey into Oslo [15 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: The Man in the Station [14 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Train Tidbits, Tokyo [12 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: On Starbucks and Recurrence [11 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Just Another Band . . . [9 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Radical Departures [8 March 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Does Anyone Read KVJ Anymore? [26 February 2007]Peripatetic Postcards: Living in Metaphors [23 February 2007] |
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