“Koichi Iwabuchi has given us a uniquely fascinating and empirically rich study of cultural globalization—Japanese style—as it evolved in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Eye-opening and insightful, this is an immensely readable book, adding considerably to the growing stock of non-Western voices and perspectives in transnational cultural studies.”—Ien Ang, author of On Not Speaking Chinese: Living between Asia and the West “This book will be one of the most important in Japan studies to come out in a long time. The author’s anaylsis, which theorizes and critiques Japan’s position as a kind of intermediary between Western and Asian pop cultural formations, and the complex will to power that is being worked out under various consumerist guises, is smart and very much needed in the Japan field.”—Karen Kelsky, author of Women on the Verge: Japanese Women, Western Dreams "A very rich and subtle study. I predict that Iwabuchi´s book will quickly become a central reference in debates over the global organization of popular culture"—Ulf Hannerz, author of Transnational Connections: Culture, People, Places