A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots?: A Social History of Japanese Television, 1953 - 1973 (East Asia: History, Politics, Sociology and Culture)

This book offers a history of Japanese television audiences and the popular media culture that television helped to spawn. In a comparatively short period, the television industry helped to reconstruct not only postwar Japanese popular culture, but also the Japanese social and political landscape. During the early years of television, Japanese of all backgrounds, from politicians to mothers, debated the effects on society. The public discourse surrounding the growth of television revealed its role in forming the identity of postwar Japanese during the era of high-speed growth (1955 - 1973) that saw Japan transformed into an economic power and one of the world's top exporters of television programming. Interdisciplinary Studies Book Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Tables 8 List of Figures 10 Acknowledgments 12 Part I: Introduction to Japanese Television Culture 14 Introduction 16 Part II: The History of Japanese Television Culture 28 Chapter One Prewar Roots of Japanese Television Culture: Imperial Culture, Media Culture, and Radio 30 Chapter Two Postwar Media Culture and Japanese Encounters with TV 48 Chapter Three Pro Wrestling and Body Slams: Early TV as a Mass Event 66 Chapter Four Transforming the Nation: TV Takes Root in Japan (1957–1963) 84 Part III: Japanese Interactions with Television 132 Chapter Five Television Spreads to the Countryside 134 Chapter Six Intellectuals Debate TV: Oya’s “Hundred Million Idiots” and Kato’s “Television Culture” 170 Chapter Seven Protecting the Children and Cleaning Up TV 190 Chapter Eight Politics As Spectacle: Parades, Pageantry and Protests 216 Chapter Nine Anpo Redux: University Riots and a Hostage Crisis 240 Chapter Ten America in Japanese Television: Family Dramas and Cowboys 254 Chapter Eleven After the American Boom: Japanese TV Gains Its Independence 280 Part IV: The Meaning of the Japanese Television Nation 302 Epilogue Fractured Television Nation 304 Notes 322 Bibliography 352 Index 366 In a comparatively short period, the television industry helped to reconstruct not only postwar Japanese popular culture, but also the Japanese social and political landscape. This book offers a history of Japanese television audiences and the popular media culture that television helped to spawn.