nakamura018_cs.Jpg event in San Francisco 1/27/05.The collaboration of Eric FosterThe founder of giant Robotics, a trendy magazine in Los Angeles and two stores unique to the sea.GR has magical skills in comics, anime, toys, games and more to highlight the hottest trends in Japan and other Asian countries.All of this is part of the cool Japanese wave of progress in the US.GR sold a lot in their store.Mandatory credit for Chris Stewart/Chronicle, PHOTOG and SF Chronicle /-Maggie out of lesnakamura018_cs.Jpg event in San Francisco 1/27/05.The collaboration of Eric FosterThe founder of giant Robotics, a trendy magazine in Los Angeles and two stores unique to the sea.GR has magical skills in comics, anime, toys, games and more to highlight the hottest trends in Japan and other Asian countries.All of this is part of the cool Japanese wave of progress in the US.GR sold a lot in their store.Mandatory credit for Chris Stewart/Chronicle, PHOTOG and SF Chronicle /-In the young 35-year-Old publisher in Los AngelesHeadquartered in giant robotics magazine, he is pleased to talk about his favorite things: toys, from Yoshitomo, a Japanese artist) carved quirky cute but menacing little girl and puppy he helped launch those cute Ugly Dolls."Is this a niche market?"Nak, an unofficial arbitrator of all the cool things in Asia and Asia America, reflects a recent visit to San Francisco, where he addressed a panel on the" Japanese pop culture revolution."I don't know.Animation is huge.-Even best buy is sold.So how do you draw a line between niche and large scenes?Gradually, it began to cross the line."At the gathering of the Japan Association of Northern California, there were only crowds in the station hall ---Young and seriousAsian --Hearing the latest comments on Japanese pop music from nak, 32-year-old Patrick Macias, Animerica magazine editors and writers, anime scholars Jill Portas and Alvin Lew, I am VIZ, editor director of LLC, major publisher of manga (Japanese comics and graphic novels), serving British readers.In the Millennium five years, Japan's most striking export is not economy, but culture.The jury has yet to decide whether anime (Japanese animation), comics, toys, gadgets and fashion will sweep through Central America.Until recently, the whole phenomenon was flying under the radar of mainstream cultural experts.But in December, no one other than the New York Times found an explosive Comic Market for girls, and the New Yorker awarded director Hayao Miyazaki the animation director award last month ".Earlier this week, the topic was actually "state Talk" on popular National Public Radio calls "--In the news showHowever, the United States is still considered one of the last English-speaking countriesSay stick to hug anime (Ann-ee-Mei) and comics (mahn-Gah), who's bigThe characters of the eyes, good storylines and film effects attract millions of Otaku or obsessed fans around the world.Anne Allison, president of cultural anthropology at Duke University, said: "This has become an unprecedented globalization ." Her research on the subject is "Millennium monster: Japanese toys and Global Imagination" (University of California Press), which will be released on 2006."In the past decade, especially in the past five years, the popular culture of Japan, especially the youth culture,-Anime, cartoon, Pokemon, Kids Card--Not only in the United States, but also in Western Europe, East Asia and South America.Poitras, a 53-year-old animation scholar, said: "This is very prominent in Latin America ." The author of the Golden Gate University Library and Auckland's anime books who said he had seen a girl learn Spanish from San Jose and then watched the "chaos horse 1/2" on Spanish TV.It all shows that the kids "found the difference in it, but it's cool," Alison said "."It's a different kind of cool."Adults also did it.In 2002, Hayao Miyazaki's lyrical film "thousand and thousand seek" won an Oscar and was the first animated film to win a grand prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.Japan's horror film Ringu and its American version of Ring have been a huge success.Quentin Tarantino's animated clips in "Kill Bill" are a hot topic in Hollywood, while the well-known "matrix" is inspired by the animation.On TV, the fourth show on the Cartoon Network is animation, from "Dragon Ball" to "dog and night fork" and "Pokemon"Gi-Oh!"Other anime includes the WB of the third child!programming.Then there's a bunch of anime.Inspired creations like mini Gachapon toys (numbers packed in plastic balls, sold in coins)Operating the machine) and art items such as the Louis Vuitton bag of Takashi Murakami, printed with floating eyes.Nak and his founding partner, Martin Wong, have paved the turf with the trend-leading giant robot mini-empire.The magazine recently celebrated its tenth year with three toys, books, T-Shirts and cutting edge art, a Haight on shaggy Street, and his original shops and galleries in Los Angeles (he is looking for a fourth site in New York City ).Soon there will be a restaurant "gr/eats" next to L"A.store.The 35-year-old nak has built a considerable street reputation and enjoys a near-fanatical belief --Status among followers of Asian pop culture.Movie stars frequented the GR store and he was with people like his "because" music producer Dan ("car maker") nak.But Eric nak took it easy."We just write what we like," he said ."The last day, GRSF, his 400-sq.A foot shop in Haite is chatting with customers."Great," said Aya Reynolds, 27.year-The college student of the old Art College looked at her pig.The tail and fluorescent orange jersey and jeans, just like she had just stepped out of the anime sequence."This is a toy for big children."Of course, interest in Asian affairs is not new in the United States.Hello Kitty is 30 years old after the mouth-free cat of the Sanrio toy empire, and the beloved anime legend "boy Wood" is even older.Macias, 32, said: "This has been happening since the first day ." His second book "cruising in the anime City ---New guide to otakuTokyo," was co-Written in Tomohiro, Cho Shan, a Japanese writer (he created the word "otaku ).) "The same thing happened after 80.They played the "Shogun" on TV, and thousands of sushi shops opened the next day.Now the money is bigger, and it is faster to pass on more media.Poitras, author of anime points, said: "It's no wonder anime is now the main way for people to get in touch with Japanese culture: the novice guide and the anime companion."In dealing with the daily situation of society, it is quite large in number," he said ."."You come into contact every day.to-Etiquette, food, daily items of certain social patterns.For many people, this is the beginning of a question."The Bay Area is considered the cradle of anime and manga, home to all and all themes from writer and cartoonist Frederick short to VIZ, japanese comics account for more than half of the U.S. market share.Founded in 1986, the company also published Animerica magazine.(Other major United StatesS.Comic Publisher Tokyopop is based in Los Angeles.) While the $0.5 billion animation market is large, comic sales are growing sharply every year, from $50 million in 2000 to $0.14 billion last year.S.and Canada.Last year, the junior Jump series of the Samurai comic novel "The Swordsman heart", the world's most popular comic book is Bookscan Top 100's total adult novel with a list of "Da Vinci passwords.The latest comic book is the biggest comic book publishing story of the year."We are very happy about this," Lu said.This achievement comes from the fact that more and more girls and women have become comic fans since the TV drama Sailor Moon was released on the spot in 1995."There are 16-year-The old girl in the Midwest knows more about what's going on than I do, "says Macias."They made friends in Japan and are learning the language."Now there are comics in the chain bookstore.Therefore, while visually eye-catching anime has long been driving the popularity of comics, which usually have the same character as anime, it now has the consumer channel that anime dreams.VIZ is a subsidiary of Shogakukan and Shueisha, two major publishing companies in Japan, and its success has driven the growth of VIZ.In fact, recently moved from the location of the Soma to a more spacious location in the North Point theater building."Our business model has completely changed ."Despite some disturbing news that Japanese comic sales have fallen and that Japan's vast animation industry is static, the future looks optimistic.But animation and comics have created a thriving lifestyle change.In Japan, fans will attend the big cosplay conference or wear their favorite characters.It has spread to the United States.S.Last year, there were 19 conferences from Il Rosemont.To Olympia, Florida.Peter Goodman, publisher of Berkeley Stonebridge Press, said that's what happens when things are left to fans, which opens up a niche in the field."The irony is that a lot of these things have quietly entered the United States.S.In the hands of the children, "Goodman said."You let this generation grow with this.What kind of building will they build?What kind of clothes do they want to design?It's like fresh air and fresh breath.Now, it's in the hands of fans.