Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture is a non-fiction

Non-fiction

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

 photographic narrative

Narrative

A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...

 from Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 artist Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami

is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...

. The book is about the aesthetics of postwar culture in Japan.

Blueprint

The 448 pages hardcover book was published by Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in conjunction with a series of art exhibitions and music events in the Japan Society of New York in 2005. The book interprets the complex intuitive twist of postwar Japanese art while defining its high-spirited and naturally buoyant escape from human tragedy and the events of World War 2. Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami

is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...

 also coins the term superflat

Superflat

Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. It is also the name of a 2001 art exhibition, curated by Murakami, that toured West Hollywood, Minneapolis and Seattle....

 to chronicle the two-dimensional aspect of manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 (comics) and anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 (animated television and cinema). He argues how this international boom in pop media culture influenced Japanese fine art in relation to the social implications of superflat

Superflat

Superflat is a postmodern art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, which is influenced by manga and anime. It is also the name of a 2001 art exhibition, curated by Murakami, that toured West Hollywood, Minneapolis and Seattle....

 regarding the true impact of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...

 in 1945 on Japanese art and culture. Little Boy

Little Boy

"Little Boy" was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...

 is the code name for one of the atomic bombs that devastated Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Little Boy also examines Kawaii (可愛さ kawaisa), the culture of cuteness which influenced Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 during the postmodernist era of late 1900s; and the dissected pop-culture movement of Otaku

Otaku

is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...

. The book contains a collection of works including the first Godzilla

Godzilla

is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...

, the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion

, commonly referred to as Evangelion, is a commercially and critically successful Japanese anime series that began airing in October 1995. The series was highly influential, and launched the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. It garnered several major animation awards...

, and the paintings of Chiho Aoshima

Chiho Aoshima

is a Japanese pop artist and member of Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki Collective. Aoshima graduated from Department of Economics, Hosei University, Tokyo. She had a residency at Art Pace, San Antonio, Texas in 2006. This young graphic artist began in Murakami’s factory with no formal art training...

.

Japan Society exhibit

Little Boy is the companion volume for an art exhibition of the same name at the Japan Society in conjunction with the Public Art Fund

Public Art Fund

The Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 by Doris Freedman , a Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society. They have organized highly visible artists' projects, new commissions, installations and exhibitions in...

 in April 2005. This exhibition, curated by Murakami, explored the culture of postwar Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 through the art and visual media from Hideaki Anno

Hideaki Anno

is a Japanese animation and film director. Anno is best known for his work on the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. His style has come to be defined by the touches of postmodernism that he injects into his work, as well as the thorough portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions,...

, Chiho Aoshima

Chiho Aoshima

is a Japanese pop artist and member of Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki Collective. Aoshima graduated from Department of Economics, Hosei University, Tokyo. She had a residency at Art Pace, San Antonio, Texas in 2006. This young graphic artist began in Murakami’s factory with no formal art training...

, Chinatsu Ban

Chinatsu Ban

Chinatsu Ban is a Japanese artist.Ban is known for drawing elephant and human figures on rice paper. A sculpture, titled "V W X Yellow Elephant Underwear/H I J Kiddy Elephant", was featured in an exhibit about modern Japanese culture called Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture.Ban...

, Fujiko Fujio

Fujiko Fujio

was a nom de plume of a manga writing duo formed by two Japanese manga artists. Their real names are and . They formed their partnership in 1951, and used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1954 until dissolution of the partnership in 1987....

, Kawashima Hideaki, Kato Izumi, Komatsuzaki Shigeru, Mahomi Kunikata, Leiji Matsumoto

Leiji Matsumoto

is a well-known creator of several anime and manga series. His wife is also known as a manga artist.-Space opera:Matsumoto is famous for his space operas such as Space Battleship Yamato...

, Miura Jun, "Mr.

Mr.

Mister, usually written in its abbreviated form Mr or Mr. , is a commonly used English honorific for men under the rank of knighthood. The title derived from master, as the equivalent female titles, Mrs., Miss, and Ms, all derived from the archaic mistress...

", Narita Toru, Tarō Okamoto, Oshima Yuki, Katsuhiro Ōtomo

Katsuhiro Otomo

is a Japanese comic book creator, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation. Otomo has also directed several live-action films, such as the 2006 feature film adaptation of the manga Mushishi.-Biography:Katsuhiro Otomo was...

, Otomo Shoji, Aya Takano

Aya Takano

Aya Takano was born 1976 in Saitama, Japan. She is a Japanese pop artist associated with the Superflat movement.-Early Life and Influence:...

, Tsubaki Noboru, Kenji Yanobe

Kenji Yanobe

Japanese artist Kenji Yanobe is famous for his upbeat yet nightmarish artwork. His sculpture simulates consumer products designed for survival after a nuclear holocaust.-Artwork:...

, Yoshitomo Nara

Yoshitomo Nara

is a Japanese artist. He currently lives and works in Tokyo, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara received his B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. Between 1988 and 1993, Nara studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, in Germany. Nara...

 and Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami

is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media—such as painting and sculpture—as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media —fashion, merchandise, and animation— and is known for blurring the line between high and low art...

.

External links

• Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture, April 8 - July 24, 2005, Japan Society of New York