My 2015 kicked off with a January concert by Hatsune Miku, Japan¡¯s digital pop star, in Las Vegas. It is winding down with a visit to Miku¡¯s creator, Hiroyuki Itoh, at his company¡¯s head office in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
I¡¯ve long learned to temper my skepticism toward Japan¡¯s cultural presence in the United States. As a half-Japanese American kid, I never thought I¡¯d see sushi in supermarket aisles, manga in malls, or Pikachu and Hello Kitty balloons soaring over Manhattan in the annual Macy¡¯s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as they did again last month in that distinctly American matsuri (festival).
I also never imagined that a Japanese virtual singer (Miku) would be the featured musical act on an iconic American TV talk show (¡°Late Show with David Letterman¡± in 2014).
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