Caricaturizing Politics: The Case of Articles Contributed to Bikkuri House by Editors and Readers, 1975–1985

Abstract

This study investigates how Japanese youth lost interest in politics after the 1970s. Previous research in youth studies showed great interest in and conducted research into youth culture after the 1970s. The author aims to demonstrate how the youth lost interest in politics through articles by editors and readers of the magazine Bikkuri House, published between 1975 and 1985. From the collected data, the author found that editors and readers mentioned political issues, but that youth interest changed after the 1980s. The youth supported or criticized political actors such as political parties and social movements in the 1970s. However, they came to caricaturize political actors after the 1980s because editors regarded some political topics as things of the past and expressed little interest in politics. This paper concludes that youth culture after the 1970s did not lose interest in politics, but that that interest was based on ridicule and a caricaturized view of politics.