Yamaoka Memorial Foundation
第4回若者文化シンポジウム
Kyoto University, February 19th, 2020

Japanese Pop Culture’s Influence on theExperiences of Young Japanese in Germany

Timo Thelen
Lecturer (German Language, Cultural Anthropology)
School of International Studies
Kanazawa University

Introduction• Number of Japanese students learning German decreased by
50% between 1995 and 2015 (ca. 400,000 ca. 200,000)(Schöningh 2015, 541)
• In addition, ca. 75% learn German only for about one year /less than 60 hours in total, quitting at level A1/2 (Ibid., 543)
• Why do Japanese students learn German?
1) They have to (obligation for studies in law, pharmacy, etc.)
2) They have to (not accepted for first preference / obligation
for a second language) (ca. 45%) (Schaaf 2009, 266)
3) They are interested in Germany or something German

Besides the “traditional” fields like history, literature,classical music, etc., might Japanese pop culture also
influence the students’ interest?

Research Context: Media Tourism• Pop culture influences the image of and interest in places• Mediatised tourist gaze (Urry and Larsen 2011, 115):“Media cultures also create desires for tourism, novel
destinations and for new forms of mediated gazing.”• Game of Thrones attracted tourists to the filming locations in
Scotland and Croatia (Waysdorf and Reijnders 2017)• Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes increased the interest ofJapanese people in traveling to the UK and in English culture(Iwashita 2008)• Displacement (media and place are not related): tourist boomin Norway because of Disney’s Frozen (Metcalf et al. 2018)

Japanese pop culture related to Germany might also leadto an increased interest.

Research Design• Qualitative semi-structured interviews (45-90 min)• Essential criteria:– young Japanese (< 25 years old)
– temporarily living in Germany (1-2 years)– not “forced” to live in Germany (like e.g. expats)• Location: Dusseldorf and Munich• Main corpus: 10 interviews• Extended corpus: 3 additional interviews (not entirely fitting tothe essential criteria)• Research question: Did Japanese pop culture have animpact on the interest in Germany / German culture andon the experiences/activities made abroad?

AgeSexLocation

Profession

Stay in GermanyFirst interest inGermany

Interest inanime

Interest inmanga

122fDusseldorf

student

1 yearhistory

99221f

Dusseldorf

student

1 yearculture, tourism

98321

f

Dusseldorf

student

1 yearnone

1010420f

Dusseldorf

student

1 yearenvironment,
migration policy

53

521

f

Dusseldorf

student

1 yearliterature

88620

f

Dusseldorf

student

1 year

none

35

721

f

Dusseldorf

student

1 year

none

86825

f

Dusseldorf

job training(Ausbildung)

2 years

classical music

55922fMunichstudent

1 yearnone

771023f

Munichstudent

1 yearclassical music

771*

23f

Munichstudent

20 yearsfamily moved toGermany

102*

38f

Munichfreelancer

13 yearsclassical music

883*

39m

Munichemployee

13 yearsclassical music

551=lowest, 10=highest

Age Sex

Attack Fullmetal
Hetalia
on Titan Alchemist

OtherActivities in Germany related tothe consumed series
traveling, comparison ofstereotypes

Learning German?
watching anime inGerman

122f

OX

OX

2

21f

OOOX

comparison of stereotypes

no3

21f

OOO

Jojo’s Bizarre
Adventure

travelingno4

20fO

XXX521f

O

X

OX

620f

X

X

X

X

721f

O

O

OX

825f

OO

OX

922f

O

O

X

X

traveling, discussion withGermans

10 23fO

X

X

X

traveling, simple cosplay

no1* 23f

X

X

X

X

traveling

no2* 38f

X

X

X

X

noreading manga inGerman

3* 39mX

X

X

Neon Genesis
Evangelion

nono

discussion with Germans, taking watching anime inphotos of cosplayers
Germantraveling, taking photos ofa bit more motivation
cosplayers
notrying the same food, discussion
with Germans
discussion with Germans, simple
cosplay, travelingnonoreading manga inGermanmuch more
motivation, watching
anime in German

Anime/Manga series related to Germany
Attack on Titan (2009-2020)- Mentioned in nine interviews

Fullmetal Alchemist (2001-2009)- Mentioned in five interviews, but not as related to Germany

Hetalia (2008-)- Mentioned in six interviews

Saga of Tanya the Evil (2013-)- Popular in general, but not mentioned in the interviews

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)- Mentioned in one interview (older generation)

Jojo‘s Bizarre Adventure (1986-)- “WWII storyline” was mentioned in one interviewResults’ Summary• Japanese pop culture related to Germany has a certain
impact on young people learning German and on theirexperiences abroad (90% of the interviewees):– traveling inside of Germany (60%)– topic of conservations with Germans (50%)– object to study German (watching/reading translatedversions) (40%)– extra motivation for learning (20%)– pop culture depicting Germany is commonly related towar/militarism (WWI or WWII) and the late 19th / early
20th century interest for these topics

New trend and much related to Attack on Titan (andHetalia)Implications / Future Research?
• Japanese pop culture related to Germany can offer an
additional topic for German language/culture classes aswell as for German-Japanese youth exchange events(e.g., with German students learning Japanese andinterested in manga/anime)• More diversity in interviewees’ gender and location• Quantative follow-up projects? (e.g., surveys)• Content analysis of series related to Germany (what areexactly the inspirations/origins?)• Long-term development and relevance (e.g., Attack on
Titan will end soon, will there be a series similarly
popular now / in the future?)References
Iwashita, Chieko. 2008. "Roles of films and television dramas ininternational tourism: The case of Japanese tourists to the UK."
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 24.2-3, 139-151.
Metcalf, Brian, et al. 2018. "Film tourism in Norway: The effect fictional
characters have on tourism." International Business & Economics
Research Journal 17.2, 21-34.
Schaaf, Julia Christine. 2009. "Deutsch lernen in Japan-Japanisch lernenin Deutschland: Motivanalysen." Matsuyama University gengo
bunka kenkyû 29.1, 259-280.
Schöningh, Ingo. 2015. "Deutsch in Japan. Geschichte, Gegenwart undKonsequenzen für eine zukünftige Bildungskooperation Deutsch."Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache 42.6, 537-557.
Urry, John, and Jonas Larsen. 2011. The tourist gaze 3.0. London: Sage.
Waysdorf, Abby, and Stijn Reijnders. 2017. "The role of imagination in
the film tourist experience: The case of Game of Thrones."
Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies 14.1, 170191.