Final Presentation Outline

I will be doing my final presentation on the imagery of popular Japanese music in the 1980s and its relation to what was occurring socially and economically at the time. I will not be focusing on one genre in particular, but instead will jump back and forth between genres. Through research I found that many of these genres were very much interconnected, and also that each had its own unique insight to offer into various aspects of society through its visuals. The four main subjects that I will be looking at are:

1.) 1980s pop/new-wave music and its relation to Japanese technological innovation at the time (which was due largely to an expanding economy).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHhYbVVDuoA

2.) The movement of "Visual Kei," which grew substantially in popularity in the second half of the 1980s and enjoyed a revitalization in 2007. What is its relation to the gender roles conceptualized at the time? And why the sudden revival?

3.) The inclusion of traditional Japanese instruments in songs, as well as "traditional" (or stereotypical) Japanese imagery on album covers, in band photos, etc. Does this reveal nostalgia for Japan's "glory days?"

4.) I was also thinking about comparing this Visual Kei imagery with what was happening with American bands at the same time. The imagery was similar... were the Japanese influenced by the American groups, or vice-versa, if they paid any attention to one another at all? Also, Japanese bands and American bands that looked similar had very different explanations/motives for why they chose to dress as they did. Despite the similarities, they were actually quite removed from one another.