Is acting a young man's game in Japan

[ssih]

One thing that I've noticed is that Japanese dramas have a much higher concentration of young actors (under 25) than do western shows. There are a LOT of shows that are based in a school, with students as the stars of the show. Nobuta wo Produce, Seito Shokun!, My Boss, My Hero, Hana Kimi, Nodame Cantabile, Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu, etc. I don't know of a major American show that stars kids. There have been a couple in the past (Buffy, Veronica Mars), but not many.

And this is probably just based on my personal skewed experience, but I haven't yet seen a show that stars a mature woman. They're always in supporting roles - the main character's mother or teacher. But out of Hollywood, you've got Desperate Housewives, Saving Grace, In Plain Sight, 30 Rock, Damages, New Adventures of Old Christine, etc.

So I have to wonder about actresses like Horikita Maki and Ueno Juri. They're white-hot today, but in ten years, will they be only seen as the kindly school nurse or the bitchy rich customer at a restaurant?

[groink]

The problem here is that you're looking at Japanese dramas from outside of Japan. Therefore, what you're seeing is very limited.

98-percent of subbing are done by people under 25. Hence, the drama up for subbing must appeal to the younger people. There are just as many mature dramas as there are teen dramas. They just don't make it in the fansubbing realm.

Japan is also a young society. It has been this way since the late 1960s. It started with the likes of Aku Yu who put on talent shows, seeking new talent. A huge explosion of young talent came out of this, such as Yamaguchi Momoe, Sakurada Junko, Mori Masako, etc. - all of which were around 15 or so. Once the teeny-bopper craze was in full geer, many of the dramas and movies started appealing more and more towards teens.

In 1979, the first edition of Kinpachi Sensei aired, and tons of school-related dramas poured out. It was mega popular!

The other big huge drive for teen dramas is manga. For you and I who are Americans, virtually all of the comic books we read were what the Japanese consider "tokusatsu", such as Spiderman, Superman, etc. The Japanese, however, don't read non-image novels as much, and manga became a replacement for many teens. The imagery in these manga - most of which are shojo books, portray a certain style of Japanese male. Several talent agencies then got wind of this and started promoting males that basically look like manga characters. This is why the Japanese have far more school dramas - the Japanese love the idea of seeing live versions of the manga and anime they read/watched.

One other thing - the bond between teacher, student, and the community seems to be much tighter and more important in Japan than in America. For many Americans like myself, school was just a place to earn a diploma. But in Japan, school is far more important. It seems that it is the responsibility of the schools in Japan to keep their students in-line, while in the west this responsibility is the parents. The bond in Japan makes for good television. America did try to push the school idea in the 1970s and 1980s (Room 222, Welcome Back Kotter, 90210, ABC Afterschool Specials, etc.) but it really hasn't caught on or made an effect as much.

--- groink

[taira-yamashita]

Alot of what groink said alot of the subbers are under the age of 25 and alot of the mature dramas don't get subbed.

but their are alot of doramas with older women! (Those are the majority I watch xD)

Here are just a few that are reallly good that are subbed

Around 40
Scandal
Katagoshi no koibito
Koi no Chikara

[Issy]

i always wondered about this too. i read what groink is saying and now my understanding of why is better.
to be honest, as mature viewer i always question myself about these kind of school/manga themed dramas. for me personally, i see them as my guilty pleasure. i watch them and i enjoy them but i always question myself about what age group this particular drama is aimed at. that is why i feel better when i watch some of those "more grown up" dramas that is mentioned above.

when i look at tv channels that we have in UK, we never get these kind of dramas (i really can't make a comparison between the two but in general), young themed dramas are normally aired at much earlier times.

when i look at those dramas air time on japanese channels, they most have 9 or 10 pm where more mature/grown up dramas times in here.

sometimes i think about people's reaction here when they see a drama like nobuta wo produce, my boss my hero, mei-chan no shitsuji, ...on air at that time of night.
i understand that lots of grown up dramas don't get subbed and sometimes wont be uploaded, but i am wondering what % of japanese dramas they make.

[ssih]

Thanks for the explanation, groink! That's too bad about the situation (young subbers = no mature shows). I'll just try to look more closely at the plots and actors and less at what everyone's recommending.