asianbeat original pop culture column [Summary of 2009 pop culture goods]（2/2）

2009 was also a year where history and tradition infiltrated pop culture.
The Tokyo National Museum recorded its third biggest number of visitors with the display of the famous National Treasure Asura buddhas (pictured)

946,127 visited Tokyo and 710,138 visited the Kyushu National Museums.

Not only were there waves of visitors, but books and magazines on Asura sold like hot cakes. It was similar to the Ito Jakuchu boom of 2006.

Previously asianbeat introduced the Sengoku Busho iPhone case. This by-order only item sold well too.


The current One Piece movie is a hit and there are signs that some goods may be forthcoming. The movie is boosting the sales of the original comic books so they may be looking to spur on demand.

There is no limit to the number of pop culture products that have hit the scene.

However, after looking at all the pop culture related products on the market there is no one item – used by that character – that stands out above the rest.

Personally I prefer the Sony Ericsson phone that James Bond uses in Casino Royale and A Quantum of Solace, over the Evangelion NERV. I thought I wouldn’t mind having a phone that had the same functions, but apart from that I couldn’t find anything that caught my fancy.

Not so long ago the bike that Kimura Takuya rode easily turned into a hit product. But in the days of recession it is not the case, and viewers are getting smarter.

Not only now, but in the past as well, people didn’t simply just buy pop culture related products because they has a picture of their favorite character.

What they buy are not goods as such, but a media for us to delve into the world of the story we love.

The media mix is evolving rapidly also. That’s one impression I have. On the other hand, the reality is that my view of the world is derived from the anime of 30 years ago – of course this view is widening all the time.
Digitizing media and sending it to a terminal via a server is called cloud computing.

Relying on something real for your view of the world, and using a variety of goods as a medium, bringing that part of the world into your own lifestyle.
Is the framework of these two concepts so different?

I think pop culture has already been transforming into the cloud.

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