Japanese Anime: America's Pop Culture

Japanese anime represents a growing trend in North America’s pop culture, especially for the younger generations. Many are introduced to the Japanese anime from the early age as children’s channels air popular anime series such as Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Yu-Gi-Oh. Despite its growing global sensation, the use of Japanese anime as a teaching tool is not common in a typical school setting. Perhaps many teachers do not realize that anime brings educational values as they are concerned with the matter of age appropriateness, violence, and sexuality. Or, it may be due to the unfamiliarity of the anime, thus, not noticing the value and potential benefits of using the anime as an educational tool. Nonetheless, when Japanese

Learning the culture would be useful to show the contrast between the Western and Japanese cultures as the cultures are noticeably different. Additionally, as students are taking the interest of traveling to Japan, it would be helpful as they can be familiar with the custom beforehand. According to the survey, “ 86.7 percent” (Yoshimoto 254) believed that they had learned about Japanese culture from watching anime. One of the most common cultures shown through the anime is the act of bowing. In Japan, bowing is showing of respect to someone older or in high authority. It is shown to be used in many circumstances, such as for a “greeting, thank you or apology” (Jordan n.p). As the bow is frequently illustrated in almost all Japanese animes, this custom becomes apparent to the viewers. Another custom that is often shown in anime are the Japanese table manners. One can easily take notice of how the characters always say, “itadakimasu” before eating the meal. This is to show “the appreciation and the respect” (Kurihara n.p) for a person who prepared the meal. Although the custom of using the chopstick is the obvious table custom in Japan, through the anime, students may observe the etiquette when using the chopstick. Usually, the characters only use chopsticks to bring the food from the bowl into one’s mouth. Using the chopsticks in manners such as “unnecessary waving around, stabbing food or passing pieces between people”(Jordan n.p) is considered disrespectful and rude. Although anime introduces many of these cultural differences, students needs to be mindful that not everything portrayed in anime are accurate nor customs, as some actions may have been shown to illustrate exaggerated traits and