Last week's edition of Aera (Sept. 3) looked at the current "Age of Discontent," while Bungei Shunju published a special issue in August on ways to find happiness. Both themes currently feature on the shelves of Japanese bookstores as well.
A story in Aera titled "Fukigen na Jidai" highlights the current popularity of "ill-humored" celebrities, such as sports idols Ichiro Suzuki and Hidetoshi Nakata, SMAP member Takuya Kimura, and, from the political world, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka. Their reluctance to smile on cue, unlike the average TV star, can be seen as a form of protest against tradition and authority, which resonates with a public that is also vaguely dissatisfied with the status quo.
Such inarticulate protest is especially vivid in the glaring and sometimes knife-wielding toddlers of Yoshitomo Nara, which can be seen in an exhibition at the Yokohama Museum of Art through Oct. 14. In an 1998 interview (quoted in Metropolis, Aug. 17), Nara explained, "I'm not making art to give the viewer hope. I'm articulating a scream for them."