The Japanese Cult of Cuteness Turning from National into International

Japan has always been a bit mysterious country, with its unique traditions and customs that you will see nowhere else in the world. Samurai, kamikaze, geisha, hara-kiri – when one hears these words, what idea will come to one’s mind first?Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Japanese Cult of Cuteness: Turning from National into International specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The cult of cuteness is not that ancient phenomenon as samurai or kamikaze. Yet, since the 1980s and till the present days, it is directly associated with Japan and the Japanese culture. What is more, the cult of cuteness at some point stopped to be a typical Japanese phenomenon, crossed the borders of the country, and started its journey all over the world. How did the cult start, become so popular, and reach the United States? I will try to answer these questions in my essay. When and how did Kawaii style begin? Kawaii style or cute style emerged and became dominated in Japan in the 1980s. It can be characterized as childish, simple, innocent, weak social behavior and appearance (Kinsella 220). Manifestations of cute style could be seen not only in the way people dressed or what accessories they used. It became a kind of epidemic, which penetrated in almost all spheres of life. Cuteness â€Å"conquered† the Japanese handwriting style, cute goods, clothes, and even food became prevalent. Cute pop idols and singers like Matsuda Seiko meant the same as Sid Vicious to punks (Kinsella 235). Even such fields as advertising and marketing did not escape cute style. By the way, in the Japanese marketing cuteness is still used very successfully, and you can see numerous ads and commercials that sell goods and services in a â€Å"cute way† (Riessland 130). Why is cute style so popular? The secret of cute style popularity is rather easy to explain. One of the main reasons is its close relation to childh ood. In the interview, three high school Japanese girls were asked what they associate kawaii with. The answers were – sweetness, dependence, and gentleness (Allison 40). Indeed, is not it great to feel like a child a little all the time, feel this comfort, and warmth? If you think that only ladies might think this way, you are not right. Both males and females are obsessed with cute style.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, I should say that with time cuteness in Japan has undergone some changes. First, among people, attitudes to cute style changed. In the 1990s, there were anti-cute elements who either were intellectuals or simply considered cuties to be stupid and weak (Kinsella 246). How did cute style reach the United States? Everything started with Pokemon that once penetrated on the American market, was incredibly successful, and till the present days means more for so me American children than Mickey Mouse. It seems that kids are attracted to Pokemon and other Japanese toys not only because of their big eyes, small noses, bright colors, and small bodies. They have some special relations with these characters (Allison 43). Japanese cute toys have almost nothing to do with real life, unlike many American toys and fairy tale characters. What does it all mean for Japan? It is obvious that Japan benefits from kawaii style not only from the economic point of view selling its cute goods to the Unites States and many other countries around the world. What should be considered in the first place is Japanese culture, which is spread by means of kawaii. No matter what one may think about the Japanese cult of cuteness, it is one more proof of the Japanese uniqueness. Bibliography Allison, Anne. Pikachus Global Adventure. Ed. Joseph Tobin. Durham-London: Duke University Press, 2004. Kinsella, Sharon. Women, Media and Consumption in Japan. Ed. Lise Skov and Br ian Moeran, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1995. Riessland, Andreas. Japanstudien: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts fur Japanstudien der Philipp Franz von Siebold Stiftung, 1997. This essay on The Japanese Cult of Cuteness: Turning from National into International was written and submitted by user Bryant T. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

African Americans In The South essays

African Americans In The South essays As a social and economic institution, slavery originated in the times when humans began farming instead of hunting and gathering. Slave labor became commonplace in ancient Greece and Rome. Slaves were created through the capture of enemies, the birth of children to slave parents, and means of punishment. Enslaved Africans represented many different peoples, each with distinct cultures, religions, and languages. Most originated from the coast or the interior of West Africa, between present-day Senegal and Angola. Other enslaved peoples originally came from Madagascar and Tanzania in East Africa. Slavery became of major economic importance after the sixteenth century with the European conquest of South and Central America. These slaves had a great impact on the sugar and tobacco industries. A triangular trade route was established with Europe for alcohol and firearms in exchange for slaves. The slaves were then traded with Americans for molasses and (later) cotton. In 1619 the first black slave arrived in Virginia. The demands of European consumers for New World crops and goods helped fuel the slave trade. A strong family and community life helped sustain African Americans in slavery. People often chose their own partners, lived under the same roof, raised children together, and protected each other. Brutal treatment at the hands of slaveholders, however, threatened black family life. Enslaved women experienced sexual exploitation at the hands of slaveholders and overseers. Bondspeople lived with the constant fear of being sold away from their loved ones, with no chance of reunion. Historians estimate that most bondspeople were sold at least once in their lives. No event was more traumatic in the lives of enslaved individuals than that of forcible separation from their families. People sometimes fled when they heard of an impending sale. During the 17th and 18th century enslaved African Americans in the Upper ...

Causes of Tropical Deforestation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Causes of Tropical Deforestation - Essay Example From the  Ã‚   factors  Ã‚   above, small-holder agriculture comprises 35 – 40%, thus, holding the biggest share. Cattle pasture comes  Ã‚   next while large-scale agriculture cops the fourth spot. It is obvious   that   agricultural activities vastly contribute to deforestation.  Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon (   2000 – 2005)   Cattle  Ã‚   ranching  Ã‚   is  Ã‚   the top cause of deforestation. Small-scale agriculture is followed by large-scale agriculture. Logging along  Ã‚   with other causes round up the list with 1 – 3%.   Although logging results in degradation rather than deforestation, it is often followed by clearing for agriculture.   The 1980s saw 80% of deforested land ultimately converted for extensive agriculture which was lessened by 20% by the 90s. The decrease in the figures could account for less space that can be used for agricultural purposes since companies could have taken over the operations of large-sca le agriculture. It is also a probability that when world price of beef increased, the demand   lessened; thus, volume of cattle grazing on lands decreased that resulted to slower deforestation .Tropical Deforestation by Region, 1990 – 2000, & 2000 – 2005   South America lost the most number of hectares to deforestation. From   1990 – 2000, the region has lost more than 3,500 hectares per year. Deforestation  Ã‚   slowed down between  Ã‚   2000 – 2005. This meant that population has grown and urbanization has sped the deforestation. Africa suffers the second worst with 3,600 hectares of land lost to deforestation per year in the period 1990 – 2000.

Physiology Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Physiology Presentation - Essay Example Chyme travels to small intestine, where the pH is alkaline to activate enzymes for breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, liver secretes bile for the emulsification of fat, while pancreas secrete insulin and glucagon for controlling blood sugar level converting from chyme to chyle. Numerous microvilli of the small intestine, lined by blood vessels absorbs the food as now it is in simpler forms namely monosaccharide, amino acids, fatty acids and glycerols. The refuse moves to large intestine (water absorption takes place) for expulsion. Respiration is done through nose, pharynx, trachea, bronchia, bronchioles and alveoli. It encompasses exchange of oxygen and carbon-di-oxide in lungs converting the deoxygenated blood collected by veins to oxygenated blood to be circulated back to body tissues through arteries. The exchange of gases mainly takes place in alveoli and in capillaries of numerous tissues. Blood vascular system plays an imperative role in transporting food as well a s oxygen to all the body parts and eliminating carbon-di-oxide from each tissue.

Enforcement of entertainment laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Enforcement of entertainment laws - Essay Example Compensation Agents earn a compensation for their services at between 5% and 15% of the artist gross earnings from bookings, engagement, or employment secured by the agent. The commission given to the agent may vary depending on the type of work, length of time, popularity of the artist, and state laws. Some state laws stipulate that agents and talent agencies must obtain licences before obtaining commissions, and may be charge a particular maximum amount. Before agents represent an artist, they have to sign contracts (Ronald, 2008). According to Harrison, (2007), attorneys usually assist the artists in handling any contractual negotiations on their behalf, to be certain that the terms of an agreement such as fees and duration are favourable to the artist. Talent agents can sometimes act as managers with no licence and experience, and may negotiate contracts such as recording, publishing, or merchandising contracts for the artist, is like practising law without a licence which can je opardize the artist’s career. Contracts in the music entertainment industry can involve extremely complex legal issues such as a variety of rights, and usually have long term effects on the artist’s career. Conflict of interest may arise where an agent is being paid commission on the artist’s contract. This may make the agents focus on the advance money, at the expense of what they may assume as many details concerning the artist’s royalty calculations, publishing, creative control, production, merchandising, and other long term career issues of the artist. 2.3 Enforcement of entertainment laws State laws, such as California and New York require talent agents to obtain a licence as a form of the artist... This "Music Industry Management (Entertainment Law: Portfolio)" essay outlines the main components of entertainment law. The participation of lawyers in the media has made the media law develop much faster thereby leading to the development of entertainm ent law. Entertainment law refers to a combination of various traditional laws that focus on the provision of legal services to the players in the entertainment industry. The entertainment law combines various slaws such as company law, contract law, and sales of goods law. It is also noteworthy that, artist just setting in business, or fully established in the entertainment industry should consider having an entertainment lawyer in addition to having proper knowledge of their rights as an artist. The entertainment law firms all have different practices as most of the entertainment lawyers have varying areas of specialisation. It is therefore the onus of the artist to identify their needs be it litigation need (litigation attorneys) and or transactional needs (for the transactional attorneys). While the litigation attorney only specialise in defensive and offensive legal action, the transactional attorney s are responsible for facilitating entertainment deals, negotiations, strategi c initiatives as wells as other contractual issues. It is also advisable for artist to running contracts with entertainment law firms in order to enjoy complete legal coverage and legal representation. This should happen before and after legal issues arise because one entertainment lawyer may not provide the perfect coverage.

Types Of Data Compression Computer Science Essay

Types Of Data Compression Computer Science Essay Data compression has come of age in the last 20 years. Both the quantity and the quality of the body of literature in this field provide ample proof of this. There are many known methods for data compression. They are based on different ideas, are suitable for different types of data, and produce different results, but they are all based on the same principle, namely they compress data by removing redundancies from the original data in the source file. This report discusses the different types of data compression, the advantages of data compression and the procedures of data compression. 2.0 DATA COMPRESSION Data compression is important in this age because of the amount of data that is transferred within a certain network. It makes the transfer of data relatively easy [1]. This section explains and compares lossy and lossless compression techniques. 2.1 LOSSLESS DATA COMPRESSION Lossless data compression makes use of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. This can be contrasted to lossy data compression, which does not allow the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. Lossless data compression is used in many applications [2]. Lossless compression is used when it is vital that the original and the decompressed data be identical, or when no assumption can be made on whether certain deviation is uncritical. Most lossless compression programs implements two kinds of algorithms: one which generates a statistical model for the input data, and another which maps the input data to bit strings using this model in such a way that probable (e.g. frequently encountered) data will produce shorter output than improbable data. Often, only the former algorithm is named, while the second is implied (through common use, standardization etc.) or unspecified [3]. 2.2 LOSSY DATA COMPRESSION A lossy data compression technique is one where compressing data and its decompression retrieves data that may will be different from the original, but is close enough to be useful in some way. There are two basic lossy compression schemes: First is lossy transform codecs, where samples of picture or sound are taken, chopped into small segments, transformed into a new basis space, and quantized. The resulting quantized values are then entropy coded [4]. Second is lossy predictive codecs, where previous and/or subsequent decoded data is used to predict the current sound sample or image frame. In some systems the two methods are used, with transform codecs being used to compress the error signals generated by the predictive stage. The advantage of lossy methods over lossless methods is that in some cases a lossy method can produce a much smaller compressed file than any known lossless method, while still meeting the requirements of the application [4]. Lossless compression schemes are reversible in-order for the original data can be reconstructed, while lossy schemes accept some loss of data in order to achieve higher compression. In practice, lossy data compression will also come to a point where compressing again does not work, although an extremely lossy algorithm, which for example always removes the last byte of a file, will always compress a file up to the point where it is empty [5]. 2.3 LOSSLESS vs. LOSSY DATA COMPRESSION Lossless and lossy data compressions are two methods which are use to compressed data. Each technique has its individual used. A compression between the two techniques can be summarised as follow [4-5]: Lossless technique keeps the source as it is during compression while a change of the original source is expected in lossy technique but very close to the origin. Lossless technique is reversible process which means that the original data can be reconstructed. However, the lossy technique is irreversible due to the lost of some data during extraction. Lossless technique produces larger compressed file compared with lossy technique. Lossy technique is mostly used for images and sound. 3.0 DATA COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES Data compression is known as storing data in a way which requires fewer spaces than the typical. Generally, it is saving of space by the reduction in data size [6]. This section explains Huffman coding and Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression techniques. 3.1 HUFFMAN CODING Huffman coding is an entropy encoding method used for lossless data compression. The term means the use of a variable-length code table for encoding a source symbol (such as a character in a file) where the variable-length code table has been derived in a particular way based on the estimated probability of occurrence for each possible value of the source symbol. It was developed by David A. Huffman while he was a Ph.D. student at MIT, and published in the 1952 paper A Method for the Construction of Minimum-Redundancy Codes [4]. Huffman coding implements a special method for choosing the representation for each symbol, resulting in a prefix code (sometimes called prefix-free codes, that is, the bit string representing some particular symbol is never a prefix of the bit string representing any other symbol) that expresses the most common source symbols using shorter strings of bits than are used for less common source symbols [5]. The technique works by creating a binary tree of nodes. These can be stored in a regular array, the size of which depends on the number of symbols, n. A node can be either a leaf node or an internal node. Initially, all nodes are leaf nodes, which contain the symbol itself, the weight (frequency of appearance) of the symbol and optionally, a link to a parent node which makes it easy to read the code (in reverse) starting from a leaf node. Internal nodes contain symbol weight, links to two child nodes and the optional link to a parent node. The process practically starts with the leaf nodes containing the probabilities of the symbol they represent, and then a new node whose children are the 2 nodes with smallest probability is created, such that the new nodes probability is equal to the sum of the childrens probability. With the 2 nodes combined into one node (thus not considering them anymore), and with the new node being now considered, the procedure is repeated until only one node remains, the Huffman tree [4]. The simplest construction algorithm is one where a priority queues where the node with lowest probability is given highest priority [5]: 1. Create a leaf node for each symbol and add it to the priority queue. 2. While there is more than one node in the queue: Remove the two nodes of highest priority (lowest probability) from the queue. Create a new internal node with these two nodes as children and with probability equal to the sum of the two nodes probabilities. Add the new node to the queue. 3. The remaining node is the root node and the tree is complete [7]. Figure (1). 3.2 LEMPEL-ZIV-WELCH (LVW) COMPRESSION Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) is a data compression algorithm created by Abraham Lempel, Jacob Ziv, and Terry Welch. It was published by Welch in 1984 as a development of the LZ78 algorithm published by Lempel and Ziv in 1978. The algorithm is designed to be fast to implement but is not usually optimal because it performs only limited analysis of the data. LZW can also be called a  substitutional  or  dictionary-based encoding algorithm. The algorithm normally builds a  data dictionary  (also called a  translation table  or  string table) of data occurring in an uncompressed data stream. Patterns of data (substrings) are identified in the data stream and are matched to entries in the dictionary. If the substring is not present in the dictionary, a code phrase is created based on the data content of the substring, and it is stored in the dictionary. The phrase is then written to the compressed output stream [8]. When a reoccurrence of a substring is found in the data, the phrase of the substring already stored in the dictionary is written to the output. Because the phrase value has a physical size that is smaller than the substring it represents, data compression is achieved. Decoding LZW data is the reverse of encoding. The decompressor reads the code from the stream and adds the code to the data dictionary if it is not already there. The code is then translated into the string it represents and is written to the uncompressed output stream [8]. LZW goes beyond most dictionary-based compressors because it is not necessary to keep the dictionary to decode the LZW data stream. This can save quite a bit of space when storing the LZW-encoded data [9]. TIFF, among other file formats, applies the same method for graphic files. In TIFF, the pixel data is packed into bytes before being presented to LZW, so an LZW source byte might be a pixel value, part of a pixel value, or several pixel values, depending on the images bit depth and number of colour channels. GIF requires each LZW input symbol to be a pixel value. Because GIF allows 1- to 8-bit deep images, there are between 2 and 256 LZW input symbols in GIF, and the LZW dictionary is initialized accordingly. It is not important how the pixels might have been packed into storage; LZW will deal with them as a sequence of symbols [9]. The TIFF approach does not work very well for odd-size pixels, because packing the pixels into bytes creates byte sequences that do not match the original pixel sequences, and any patterns in the pixels are obscured. If pixel boundaries and byte boundaries agree (e.g., two 4-bit pixels per byte, or one 16-bit pixel every two bytes), then TIFFs method works well [10]. The GIF approach works better for odd-size bit depths, but it is difficult to extend it to more than eight bits per pixel because the LZW dictionary must become very large to achieve useful compression on large input alphabets. If variable-width codes were implemented, the encoder and decoder must be careful to change the width at the same points in the encoded data, or they will disagree about where the boundaries between individual codes fall in the stream [11]. 4.0 CONCLUSION In conclusion, because of the fact that one cant hope to compress everything, all compression algorithms must assume that there is some bias on the input messages so that some inputs are more likely than others, i.e. that there will always be some unbalanced probability distribution over the possible messages. Most compression algorithms base this bias on the structure of the messages i.e., an assumption that repeated characters are more likely than random characters, or that large white patches occur in typical images. Compression is therefore all about probability.

Origins of Slaves :: American America History

Origins of Slaves Treating humans as property led to unspeakable cruelties. Discuss in detail the origins and use of slaves in the Americas. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" (Thomas Jefferson). In my opinion the only problem with this passage from the Declaration of Independence is that it does not say, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men including their race, creed, religion, or color are created equal, that they...." Thomas Jefferson's words were hypocritical. Not all men were created equal and these men were slaves. Slavery has existed throughout the United States at the time and by 1760 there were about 325,800 African slaves in North America. This was the most inhumane treatment any man could endure. The following essay shall discuss the state of slavery in North America and its economic and social consequences. Slavery in America started when the New World was first discovered. It started off when the first colonists came to the Americas and in order to survive they needed to farm the land and grow crops. Since they were not accustomed for the hot sun and were too lazy for hard labor. In order to survive they needed a large labor force to farm the lands. They tried to capture the native Indians and failed, for many reasons one of them was from smallpox, and from various diseases, which killed them. Another reason that the Europeans could not capture them was because they had been in America all their lives and they were a majority. Therefore the Europeans set out to seize African slaves. Africans were the perfect choice of slaves to farm in colonial America, because slavery had already existed in Africa. Plus Africans could endure the heat of the raging sun, since Africa and America's weather were similar. Also both African and European colonist's bodies could resist many diseases, unlike native Indians. Africans were shipped from Africa by the Europeans in what was called the Triangular Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This was an organized route where Europeans would travel to Africa bringing manufactured goods, capture Africans and take them to America. Eventually they would take the crops and goods and bring them back to Europe. However the Europeans had no humanity what so ever.