Sailor Moon in Asian Culture News!

Japan's Pop Culture Influence Grows in China

Searchina reports that Japan's growing pop culture influence on China is growing to epidemic proportions among those born from the 1970s on. These Chinese look forward to skateboarding, listening to Japanese Hip- Hop, and wathing anime like Doraemon, Chibi Maruko-chan, Slam Dunk, and Sailor Moon. We don't see a problem, but the tone of the article makes it seem like it is *shrugs*. The article goes on to say that J-dramas like Love Letter and Tokyo Love Story are very popular. They also like wearing platform shoes, short skirts, and curly hair. Celebrities like Noriko Sekai, Namie Amuro, Utada Hikaru, Ayumi Hamasaki and SMAP star Takuya Kimura are more popular than Chinese celebrities. Ayumi Hamasaki's statue is especially popular in Hong Kong's Madame Tussaud's Museum, and many stop to take pictures with it (We've pictured it here for you). We'll also add that Ayumi Hamasaki in 2007 performed for the first time in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Shanghai. She'll be performing in those places again in the fall. In 2006 , her song Secret was used as the theme song for a Hong Kong film, Confession of Pain. We thought this hit sounded a lot more oriental than what we are used to hearing from her (except for her song Will which we think is highly underrated). Last summer's smash singles Glitter and Fated had videos that were shot in the form of a mini-movie called Kyo Ai - Distance Love. Those were shot in Hong Kong, and featured Cantonese film actor Shawn Yue as her love interest. It's always nice to see celebrities cross countries , seeing past country rivalries because in the end it's all about what a fan likes to see.

Nakayoshi's Big Event to Have Restrictions on Attendance This Year

Nakayoshi, is a manga magazine that is aimed for little girls in Japan, featuring a special toy in each issue. Sailor Moon made it's debut in the magazine in February of 1992. Each summer, Nakayoshi holds a special convention known as the Big Event, in Tokyo. There are activities for the girls like screenings, dance lessons, mini-drama (we assume they are talking about kigurumi), and autograph sessions where the manga artists and actors come together. Anime such as Pretty Cure, and Sailor Moon have been featured in the past. Lately, there has been a disheartening trend, according to Techinsight. More and more adult men are coming to the Big Event, taking all of the swag before the little girls can. The article goes on to say that there is a famous picture somewhere on the internet of a little girl being shoved from the front of the stage by much bigger, adult men who wanted to watch a Shugo Chara show. It was her backside that they should have been seeing, not the other way around. Sponsors of the event this year expect Nakayoshi to place restrictions so that the girls can enjoy it without being intimidated.