Mark Schilling

This book is so intimidating. It's massive, but thankfully it included a lot of information about nearly everything you could ever want to know about Japanese culture. If an odd topic of some underground Japanese subculture were to ever come up in conversation and I didnt know what it was, I'm sure I could run to this book and find out.
Unfortunately, I dont have the time, or willpower, to read this whole thing, or even a forth of it. Though entertaining, it's more like a reference or coffee show more table book. show less

I read this book back when I was a university student. I made a point of reading at least one article a day (but usually many more), until I had finished it. It really was, and is, a great overview of Japanese pop culture. I certainly still recommend it, however 12-years later, it is certainly looking dated. I would certainly love to see a second edition published with more content from the last decade!

Fun introduction to Japanese pop cultural artifacts. Loses a few points for not mentioning the Onyanko Club's shocking sexual lyrics.