INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale
The development of technology such as the internet and cable television supports the spread of culture and information from one culture to one another. It is undeniable that every culture in the present world is now ‘mixed up together’. The most powerful and influential culture that many feel familiar with is American culture, which possesses the quality of a dominant culture, having influence over many others. As mentioned in “The Peril of the Dominant Culture and the Idea of America”, Dr. David R. Young, Managing Director of Oxford Analytica, stated that the US is now considered the most dominant of dominant powers in modern history and that America’s global dominance has been made possible by four important powers, namely political, military, economic and cultural (Young, 2003).

With the advance of today’s technology, the cultures of different countries have become both spread and intermingled. There are some evidences of the spreading of other cultures such as Korean culture, which during recent years has played important roles in many cultures. The popularity of Korean television series and movies as well as pop music, has entered many countries in Asia such as Thailand and Japan. Besides Korean, Hong Kong, Chinese and Taiwanese movies and music also keep coming and having influence in many other countries. Even Thailand has influence on others when it exports dramas to neighboring countries such as Cambodia.

Not only American culture has become a dominant culture and widespread to others, another culture of Asia becoming as influential as that of the American during the past few decades is Japanese culture. In Igarashi’s terms, in the late 1980’s, another powerful popular cultural force along with American culture in East Asia is Japanization, appearing on the scene and capturing people’s hearts. Japanese popular trends have swept throughout Asia; for example, in Seoul and Bangkok, the numbers of Japanese-style bars outnumbered KFC and McDonalds franchises. Japanese cuisine such as sushi is very popular (Igarashi).

In the entertainment circle, Japanese pop music (J-Pop) has spread to East Asia and karaoke is an essential part of the entertainment scene. Moreover, there are even Japanese songs that have been reproduced with native lyrics and vocalists. The popularity of Japanese films also cannot be denied even by Hollywood itself in that Japanese movies have been remade for American audiences. One example is The Grudge which was a remake of the movie Ju-on. Animated film productions from Japan have a big share in the world’s film industry. While Walt Disney studio owns the unmatched share in the animated film market in theaters, the Toei Studio (Japan’s largest film company) laid a foundation in made-for-TV animation and gradually increased its share of the animated film industry. These days, most children all over East Asia spend their afternoons glued to their TV sets in order to watch Japanese TV animation (Igarashi).

Another spread of Japanese culture that should not be overlooked is the coming of the Japanese comic or manga books. In Igarashi’s words, Japanese comics and magazines together make up to 600 billion yen in annual market sales which is the No.1 market of its kind in the world. Even American or other European comic books cannot win over the Japanese comic world. The reason is that Japanese comics have a wide range of readers from children to adults while European comics like the French Bande Dessinee are too difficult and suit only adults. American comics, on the other hand, generally cater to children. Dragonball Z is evidence of this, selling over 50 million copies in Asia and 10 European countries. In Thailand and Hong Kong, the weekly manga magazines, with a circulation of 6 million copies, are translated and printed alongside the works of native cartoonists (Igarashi).

In Thailand, it can be observed that the trends in Asian culture, such as that of Japan, is very strong amongst the present youth generation, and is perhaps having influence on Thai youth in a different way from that of American culture on the previous generations. One possible reason as mentioned in Igarashi’s article is because the common culture and consciousness of the people within the region, which may have helped push the growth of Japanization as the popular culture of Asia or, in other words, people in Asia feel more familiar with Japanese culture than American culture. The popularity of Japanese pop culture in Thailand can be seen through some entertainment genres. For example, Thailand even has domestic magazines specializing on Japanese celebrities and idols (Igarashi). In the music industry, many Japanese singles and albums are successfully sold in Thailand. There are many TV and radio programs that broadcast Japanese pop music only. And besides, many Thai singers are influenced by Japanese singers in their styles of dressing and singing. The culture of Japanese pop music and idol fever has been strongly felt.

A research on the impact of Japanese entertainment on Thai youth was conducted by Viparat. Her research, “Foreign Cultural Influence on Thai Adolescent Identity: a Case study of Japanese Music” aimed at understanding Thai adolescent’s identity in relation to their consumption behavior of Japanese pop music. The results showed that media and peers play a prominent role in influencing adolescents in encountering Japanese music. Viparat claimed that the unconventional behavior of adolescents who are influenced by Japanese culture is a critical phenomenon because it signifies the transition of identity among Thai adolescents. Their transition of identity can be divided into two processes. The first one is the distinction process, in which Thai adolescents act differently from those who are not part of a Japanese music fan club. They choose to speak and dress differently in order to form their own group. The second is the imitation process in which they act and dress in emulation of their favorite singers and superstars (วิภารัตน์, 2544).

Interestingly, Viparat’s study categorized Japanese pop music into three main groups, visual rock band, all-female band and all-male band. The all-male band category that she mentioned is from the Johnny’s Jimusho or Johnny’s Family, which is the agency that has produced boy bands and male idols since the 70th century and is very popular, not only in Japan but also in Thailand. From observation, some male singers in this group possess some qualities of female image, especially during more recent years (วิภารัตน์, 2544).

The female image as presented in these male singers is similar to a kind of androgyny, in that they do not look like men, women or gay men either. They are men with ‘beautiful faces’ and a slim figure, white complexions, hairless bodies, waxed eyebrows, long flowing hair and dressed in a very neat and boutique style. In magazine fashion sets, they are usually presented in female postures, while in TV shows they imitate and dress like female characters. Their images are quite similar to what American society called ‘metrosexual’, but the word metrosexual covers all aspects of life style and appearance. However, this study will focus only on the images as presented in the media. The image of male superstars, as such, is the rising trend in Japanese media and can be often seen through cartoon and drama characters as well as actors and singers. The trend is becoming stronger in Thai culture as can be seen through Thai superstars and singers. It shows that the trend is being widely accepted among Thai teens.

However, adolescents are individuals who have not yet reached maturity, nor developed a keen sense of understanding and insights to judge the reliability of news and information they receive can, therefore, be easily influenced by foreign culture. It would, therefore, be interesting and worthwhile to further study attitudes and behaviors of Thai adolescents towards their perception of foreign media idols. This proposed research will study the attitudes and behaviors among Thai female adolescents towards the feminine image of Japanese male singers. It is hoped that the results of the study will lead to a better understanding of the impact of foreign cultures on Thai youth and provide another perspective for those who are concerned to evaluate such impacts intelligently.

1.2 Purposes of the study

1) To study the attitudes of Thai female adolescents who are fans of Japanese male singers in relation to the feminine image of Japanese male singers.

2) To study the behaviors of Thai female adolescents who are fans of Japanese male singers in relation to the feminine image of Japanese male singers.

3) To analyze factors influencing Thai female adolescents in the context of said attitudes and behaviors.

1.3 Education / application advantages
Information from a study of attitudes and behaviors of Thai female adolescents towards the feminine image of Japanese male singers can provide baseline information and other perspectives for those who are concerned with the impact of foreign culture to evaluate such an impact intelligently.

1.4 Scope of study
Population: The data will be based on a random sampling of 10 Thai female adolescents.
Contents: It is an attitudinal and behavioral study aimed at revealing attitudes and behaviors of Thai female adolescents towards the feminine image of Japanese male singers.

1.5 Definition of terms
Thai female adolescents refers to Thai female teenagers aged between 15-22 years old who are the fans of Japanese male singers.

Feminine image refers to the image of the female as presented through the characteristics of Japanese male singers; for example, by their physical appearance, clothing and manners.