International team of authors explores Japanese popular culture, including sumo, manga and women's magazines.

Introduction: the worlds of Japanese popular culture: gender shifting boundaries and global cultures D. P. Martinez; 1 Sumo in the popular culture of contemporary Japan Yamaguchi Masao; Part II. The Male Domain: 2 Transformational magic: some Japanese super-heroes and monsters Tom Gill; 3 Akira postmodernism and resistance Isolde Standish; 4 Japan's empty orchestras: echoes of Japanese culture in the performance of karaoke Bill Kelly; Part III. The Female Domain: 5 Vampries psychic girls flying women and sailor scouts: four faces of the young female in Japanese popular culture Susan Napier; 6 Japanese women's magazines: the language of aspiration Keiko Tanaka; 7 Nonchan's dream: NHK morning serialised television novels in the 1980s Paul Harvey; Part IV. Shifting Boundaries: 8 Je t'aime moi non plus: media stories of bliss and mixed blessings in marriages between the 'inside' and the 'outside' in Japan Halldór Stefánsson; 9 The cult of Oguricap: or how women changed the social value of Japanese horse-racing Nagashima Nobuhiro; 10 Soccer shinhatsubai: what are Japanese consumers making of the J League? Jonathan Watts.