Pop Culture: The Ultimate Ice-Breaker

After I got back from Argentina this summer, I remarked that “I am grateful for Shakira because she is a the one pop culture connector we have between North and South America.” Aside from Utada Hikaru (J-Pop singer), Winter Sonata (popular Korean soap in Japan) and a few Japanese movies, I am fairly ignorant of what is popular in Japan. So, of all the optional workshops in Tokyo, my favourite one was “Japanese Pop Culture”. Two current JETs walked us through the various groups, shows and movies that have hit it big in Japan. Seems that the Japanese stars have more staying power than some of our North American celebrities who are hot one minute and not hot the next. Since I’ll mainly be teaching elementary school aged children, it seems like Harry Potter is the big thing as is Johnny Depp and his role as Capitan Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. Another pop culture phenomenon in Japan is the popularity of anything kawaii (cute) that is popular with any age group. I even fall into this trap sometimes with wanting to buy asthetically cute stuff. Aside from getting us up to speed on who is hot in Japan now, they also showed us what is possibly the funniest video on Japanese etiquette ever by a comedy group called Rahmens. This video covers the Sushi Restaurant. Test yourself and see if you guys what is right and what is worng!