Granted manga has gotten a lot of press lately thanks in part to Wired magazine and in part to bookstores’ wide acceptance of the medium. Granted Yugi-oh is becoming part of the culture thanks to MacDonald’s Happy Meal toys and series re-runs. Sure, there’s more people aware of anime because of Adult Swim, and yes, the sushi craze has gotten more people educated that sushi doesn’t necessarily equal raw fish.

However, most people still think “Pokemon= Anime” and “Manga= Japanese Language American Comic Books“. Not only does the general public still have no clue as to the scope and variety of anime, and how manga is nothing like American comics, the entire concept of Japanese popular culture, with it’s fashion, food, music, and entertainment, is still aways off from being commonplace.

I believe within the next ten years, Japanese food, culture, terms, and entertainment will be as readily familiar as “tsunami”, but the whole affair still has a long way to go. After thumbing through various food magazines, there still isn’t much mention of the astounding health benefits of Japanese food. Nor do local newspapers or TV stations have any clue as to what anime actually is. Sad? No. It’ll take at least 10 years in my estimation for the Japanese culture to pervade the US the way American culture pervaded the Japanese, but pervade it will.

Do you think Japanese pop culture is starting to take a foothold in the US or is it already prominent in your community? Will Americans begin to toss around phrases like “moe”, “yaoi” and “tsundere” the way newscasters do with “sushi” and “tsunami”? Can you see micro Akihabaras cropping up in the local malls or are they already open? Has Japanese popular culture “arrived” in America? Will it ever?