In this lively ethnography Ian Condry interprets Japan s vibrant hip-hop scene, explaining how a music and culture that originated halfway around the world is appropriated and remade in Tokyo clubs and recording studios. Illuminating different aspects of Japanese hip-hop, Condry chronicles how self-described yellow B-Boys express their devotion to black culture, how they combine the figure of the samurai with American rapping techniques and gangsta imagery, and how underground artists compete with pop icons to define real Japanese hip-hop. He discusses how rappers manipulate the Japanese...

In The Soul of Anime, Ian Condry explores the emergence of anime, Japanese animated film and television, as a global cultural phenomenon. Drawing on ethnographic research, including interviews with artists at some of Tokyo's leading animation studios such as Madhouse, Gonzo, Aniplex, and Studio Ghibli Condry discusses how anime's fictional characters and worlds become platforms for collaborative creativity. He argues that the global success of Japanese animation has grown out of a collective social energy that operates across industries including those that produce film, television,...