In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

10 VCD a s Programmati c Technology: Japanese Televisio n Dram a in Hon g Kon g Darrell฀William฀DAVIS฀&฀Emilie฀Yueh-yu฀YEH฀ Introduction Whether touris t o r resident , on e confront s a surprisin g amoun t o f Japanese commodit y cultur e i n Hon g Kong : Japanese supermarkets , Japanese comic s (manga) o n newsstands , Japanese fas t food , po p music, and ubiquitou s Hell o Kitty shops selling every kind o f trinke t imaginable. I n electroni c media , ther e is a huge selectio n o f Japanese computer games, toys, and anime (animation) a s well as Japanese film s screening at multiplexes. In video and record shops, there are not onl y large section s o f "J-pop, " bu t als o handsom e bo x set s o f Japanes e prime-time televisio n calle d simpl y "yat-kek " (Japanes e drama ) i n Cantonese. One featur e o f al l thi s stand s out : i t appeal s primaril y t o youn g people, particularly teen s and working youth. Consumer s all over th e world rely on Japanese electronics, cars, cameras, and other durables ; but i n Hong Kong , Japanese ephemer a i s snapped u p just a s quickly . This is not a Hong Kong idiosyncrasy, but par t o f a trendy pan-Asia n 228฀Darrel l฀William฀DAVI S฀&฀Emilie฀Yueh-yu฀YEH฀ youth culture . Furthermore , non e o f i t ha s connotation s o f refined , "traditional" Japanese aesthetics ; its appea l i s "dak-yi " (o r kawaVi i n Japanese), that unmistakable Japanese graphic quality usually described as "cute" or "adorable " in English. According to a writer at Time Asia, kawai'i "ha s become much mor e than a word. I t is a state of mind .. . a modifie r tha t mean s cool , bitchin' , groovy , kille r an d I-love-i t al l rolled int o one , then squared " (Time Asia 2001 , p. 47). To describe Japanese commodit y cultur e i n term s o f kawaVi ove r tradition, a s ephemer a ove r durables , i s already t o make crucia l age , gender, an d clas s distinctions . T o invoke Hell o Kitt y i s t o conjur e a specifically feminine, nostalgic, and perversely regressive figuration tha t is opposed to orthodox, "quality " brands such as Sony1 Th e argumen t of this chapter, however, is that the "soft" power of Japanese ephemer a has bee n enable d b y a "throwaway " hardware : vide o compac t discs . VCDs, ironically, are virtually unknown in Japan, as in North Americ a and Europe. It is Taiwan, Guangdong province, and Hong Kong itself that have added value to Japanese-inspired youth cultur e by copying , marketing, an d viewin g it on th e VCD format. A further twis t is tha t Sony, Panasonic , an d othe r Japanese companie s mak e an d sel l VC D players fo r a large Asian market — excludin g Japan. In 199 8 an d 1999 , pirate d Japanes e dram a serie s cos t aroun d US$20 t o $2 5 each. VCDs can be played o n th e C D drive of a PC or , more often , o n a n inexpensiv e machin e hooke d u p t o a televisio n monitor. Man y of these machines are made in China and cos t aroun d US$40 t o $60 . Althoug h thei r visua l qualit y i s lo w du e t o th e "compressing" o f large amounts o f video dat a ont o low-densit y CDs , the quality of their audio (which requires less digital space than video) is usually acceptable, but barely. Sometimes th e jagged visua l qualit y of VCDs is improved a little by recopying to videotape. VCDs all have Chinese subtitles , most don e in Taiwan, fo r eas y comprehension . In studie s o n th e impac t o f Japanese popula r cultur e o n loca l consumers, the primary concern s are the formation an d developmen t of Hon g Kon g identit y an d it s social , cultural , class , an d gende r implications (Fun g...

Share