Otaku. It's a word that in Japanese slang loosely means someone obsessed with something; that 'thing' usually being manga, anime or video games. Who better then—or more likely—to dream up an urban center for Japanese pop culture in the 'States than pre-eminent anime and manga distributor, VIZ Pictures, Inc.?
Owned by three of Japan's largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co. Ltd., VIZ Pictures is one of the most diverse purveyors of Japanese pop culture in the world today. A company like that needs a man of vision and VIZ President and CEO Seiji Horibuchi is that man. In 2005, he pitched the city of San Francisco his idea for injecting new life into the city's antiquated Japantown Center, the core of which would become a modern complex dedicated to contemporary Japanese pop culture. Four years later, that idea has become a reality in the form of a four-story, ultra-modern glass and steel building located right across the street from Japantown's iconic Peace Plaza.
This new complex, christened “New People”, represents everything related to contemporary Japanese pop (J-Pop) culture and stands in stark contrast to its decidedly dated surroundings. Containing four floors of super-kawaii tschotckes, books, dvds, clothing, art, and food, the place seems destined to become a Mecca for fans of Japanese culture everywhere. The idea of opening such a cultural nerve center without some sort of fanfare is absurd, so on August 15th, the people behind New People, in conjunction with the Japantown Merchants Association, celebrated New People's grand opening with the J-Pop Summit Festival, complete with speeches, ribbon cutting, Kagami-wari (breaking of the sake barrel) and a visit from Hello Kitty.
The festivities began with a few words from local dignitaries like Dana Lewis, Executive Director of the Japan Society of Northern California, Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, and the beautiful and charming Takako Tokiwa, star of the upcoming film “20th Century Boys”. The crowd was restless throughout and cheered when New People's doors were finally opened Willie Wonka-like, and invited 150 lucky ticket holders (some of whom had been waiting in line since four o'clock in the morning) to come inside.
The J-Pop experience began immediately as visitors entered a lobby dominated by a large, sparkly painting by Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano. They raced past the lobby cafe—which serves trendy Blue Bottle coffee as well as snacks and bento boxes by Delica, a company that makes Japanese-style deli food—and up the stairs to the New People store. Some shoppers, unable to resist the siren song of a sea of multi-colored toys, never made it past the second floor and were in the cashier line with their arms full of purchases mere seconds after the store opened. And who, with any enthusiasm for pointlessly wonderful objects, could blame them? The New People store carries a wide range of nifty things like T-shirts with glittery luchador masks on them, specialty anime and manga titles, designer urban vinyl toys, lighting, collectibles and various items of home décor. The best thing in the store by far though was a toy car that played vinyl records via a needle attached to the bottom of it. The thing works by driving around in circles on the record's surface, happily projecting music from a speaker in the roof. Genius.
One group who wasn't distracted by this colorful array was the army of lace-trimmed Lolitas, which for those who don't know, are a subset of grown women and teenage girls who dig dressing like 19th century babies. These girls (and a few guys) raced straight to the third floor shops “Baby, the Stars Shine Bright” and “Alice and the Pirates”, tearing at the racks of pink, black and white, bowed and be-ribboned couture in a Victorian feeding frenzy. These clothing labels represent some of the cutting-edge categories of Harajuku fashion, styles characterized by flouncy baby dresses, platform Mary Janes and pirate shirts puffy enough to make Jerry Seinfeld jealous. Prices for these ruffly confections range from $50 for a frilly bonnet to $200 for an ultra-girly dress complete with baby-like embroidered pinafore and built-in petticoat. For Harajuku fans not embracing the sexy baby or wanton pirate aesthetic, New People's clothing floor was rounded out by goth-leaning clothier “Black Peace Now”, neon-colored accessory store “6% Dokidoki” and shoe shop “Sou Sou” which sells hand-made footwear from Kyoto that melds Japanese classic “Tabi” work shoes with vibrant graphic patterns.
Visitors able to tear themselves away from the retail environment and hike the stairs to the fourth floor were treated to whimsical black and white drawings in the stairwells of random things like pine trees, faces and men jumping. At the top, they were blown away by an exhibit of paintings at the Superfrog gallery called “Deva Loka USA” by artist Yoshitaka Amano. Best known for his character designs for the Final Fantasy video game series, Amano has long been an influential fine artist and graphic designer. The exhibit represents the artist's only trip to the U.S. this year and is full of stunning paintings of abstract squiggles, sexy girls and helmeted space men done in auto paint and metallic glitter; imagery inspired by his “childhood love for American comics and automobiles.”
New People has a lot to offer as a retail center and gallery but it will also function as a showcase for Japanese live-action film and anime. The Viz Cinema, located in the basement level, is a 143-seat cutting-edge HD digital projection and THX®-certified theater that will bring movies to San Francisco audiences that might otherwise be unseen in the U.S.
While New People's opening was the focus of the festival, it wasn't the extent of it. Festival tents featuring Japanese food, music, art and sake-tasting took up several blocks in front of the store while the “Girls' Rock Explosion”—Japanese girl-punk bands Red Bacteria Vacuum”, “noodles”, and “TsuShiMaMiRe”—rocked the nearby Peace Plaza. Events were held throughout the day including a discussion panel and autograph session with Yoshitaka Amano, live street painting by manga artist Yuichi Yokoyama, a Gothic and Lolita fashion show, a Harajuku Kawaii Makeover pageant where entrants competed for a free trip to Harajuku and an evening premiere screening of the live action film,“20th Century Boys” at the Viz Cinema. Of course, some dedicated festival-goers only participated in these events from afar, instead opting to wait for hours to get into the New People building in a line that wrapped around the block.
The day was filled with talk about New People representing a revitalization of the old Japantown as well as a new accord between the U.S. and Japan. While that may all be true, the real reason for the center is that it's a new place for J-Pop geeks—re...otaku—to share their enthusiasm for all things J-Pop. The highly successful festival is likely to become a yearly occurrence so anyone who missed it can still go next year. And anyone who can't get out to 'Frisco can visit New People on the web at www.newpeopleworld.com or at Mtviggy.com.
[b]Correction (November 25th):[/b] Incorrect credit to VIZ Media was changed to instead mention VIZ Pictures, Inc.
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