Shōwa nostalgia () includes

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...

for certain aspects of the

postwar A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

Shōwa era The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...

.Showa Nostalgia

NHK World-Japan NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-service broadcasters, ...

. Broadcast 2 March 2024.Japan is nostalgic for a past that was in part worse than its present

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

. 22 June 2023.The Showa Revival in Japan: Why It's Happening and Where to Get Your Retro Fix

Tokyo Weekender ''Tokyo Weekender'' is an English-language magazine published in Japan. Founded in 1970 by Corky Alexander and Susan Scully, ''Tokyo Weekender'' was first published bi-monthly. Now ''Tokyo Weekender'' is published monthly and is distributed in e ...

. 16 June 2017. Shōwa retro () is

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

related to the Shōwa era. The Shōwa retro boom () includes increased popularity and sales of Shōwa retro goods and services.なぜ昭和レトロな商品やサービスがヒットするのか「写ルンです」や「商店街」など
News ポストセブン. 11/10/2021. The expression also loosely includes increased popularity of some things from the early part of the

Heisei era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, when his ...

.Kohei Takano
昭和レトロはどこへ行く——令和の若者にウケるわけ
Chūō Kōron. 10 May 2024. The beginnings of periods of increased nostalgia have been dated to 1974, 1986,もはや「レトロブーム」自体が懐かしい

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

. 19 April 2024. 2005, 2012令和の若者には新鮮「昭和レトロ」...純喫茶のクリームソーダやプリン人気、花柄グラス復刻
Yomiuri Shimbun. 11 April 2024. and 2017.

Overview

As of 2017, three quarters of the Japanese population were born in the Shōwa era.Japan's magazines get misty-eyed over Showa Era brothels
The Japan Times. 4 March 2017. By 2004, the expression was in use. Neo Shōwa () is a fusion of the culture of the past Shōwa and current

Reiwa is the current and 232nd era of the official calendar of Japan. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's eldest son, Naruhito, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The day before, Emperor Akihito abdicated ...

eras. Enthusiasm for Shōwa retro is not confined to people who remember the Shōwa era. Shōwa retro is popular with

Generation Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...

, who were born after the Shōwa era. Enthusiasm for Shōwa retro is not confined to Japan or to Japanese people. As of 2024, there is a Shōwa retro boom in Thailand, where people are enthusiastic about Shōwa era Japanese drama and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

. Shōwa nostalgia includes anemoia. It has been said that Shōwa retro is popular with

Generation Y Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990 ...

. It has been said that the Shōwa nostalgia boom was preceded by Meiji and Taishō nostalgia, which existed circa 1950. It has been said that nostalgia for the Shōwa 30s existed by 1971. In 2011, Thompson said that nostalgia seemed to be centred on the Shōwa 30s (1955 to 1964). There was said to be a Shōwa 30s boom (Japanese: 昭和30年代ブーム). In 2016, Hidaka said that nostalgia seemed to be centred on

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and the rest of the Shōwa 40s (1965 to 1974).Hidaka, "Showa nostalgia and the year of 1968", Japanese Media at the Beginning of the 21st Century, 2017, hardback p 157, eboo
PT243
In 2024, Kohei Takano said the retro boom that began in 2017 is centred on the

1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 335px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Space Shuttle Columbia, Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union, Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party of ...

, the end of the Shōwa era, and the start of the Heisei era. Shōwa nostalgia has been followed by, and exists alongside,

Heisei retro The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, when hi ...

(Japanese: 平成レトロ) which is nostalgia for certain aspects of, and retro related to, the Heisei era. Heisei retro includes, in particular, nostalgia for the later part of the 1990s, of which the music of

Nanase Aikawa is a Japanese singer. She publishes her music under the Motorod label, a division of Avex Group. Biography Early life She was born in Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan on February 16, 1975. Throughout her school years, Nanase had sung and p ...

, for example, is said to be particularly representative.

Film and television

Manifestations of Shōwa nostalgia include television programmes about the Shōwa era, such as ''

Takeda Tetsuya no Shōwa wa kagayaiteita ''Takeda Tetsuya no Shōwa wa kagayaiteita'' ( Japanese: 武田鉄矢の昭和は輝いていた) (English: Tetsuya Takeda's Showa was Shining) is a Japanese television series broadcast since 2013. It is broadcast on BS TV Tokyo (called BS Japan ...

'' (2013 onwards),【酒井惇一・昔の農村・今の世の中】第40回「大正は遠くなりにけり」はどこへ？
JAcom. 14 February 2019. '' Himekuri Taimu Toraberu'' (2007 to 2011) and most of the original series of ' (2000 to 2005). It has been said that the film '' Always: Sunset on Third Street'' (2005) caused a period of increased Shōwa nostalgia.「良き時代への懐古」が意味するもの——『昭和ノスタルジアとは何か』
好書好日. 7/1/2021. The film ''

From Up on Poppy Hill is a 2011 Japanese animated drama film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, written by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, a ...

'' (2011) is nostalgic about 1963 Japan. The film's director, Goro Miyazaki, said that he was nostalgic about late 1950s to early 1960s Japan. Other Shōwa nostalgia films include ''

Hula Girls is a Japanese film, directed by Sang-il Lee and co-written by Lee and Daisuke Habara, and first released across Japanese theaters on September 23, 2006. Starring Yū Aoi, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Etsushi Toyokawa, Shizuyo Yamazaki, Ittoku Kishibe, ...

'' (2006) and '' Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad'' (2007). There are Shōwa nostalgia films about the

300 million yen robbery , also known as the 300 million yen affair or 300 million yen incident, was an armed robbery that took place in Tokyo, Japan, on December 10, 1968. A man posing as a police officer on a motorcycle stopped bank employees transferring money and st ...

. Shōwa nostalgia is the subject matter of the anime film '' Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back'' (2001). The film ''

20th Century Boys is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine '' Big Comic Spirits'' from 1999 to 2006, with the 249 chapters published into 22 volumes. A 16 chapter ...

'' (2008) is similar. The television programme ' (2024) has Shōwa retro content depicting the time before and during

Expo '70 The or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, between 15 March and 13 September 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

. ''

Oshin is a Japanese television, Japanese Asadora, serialized morning television drama (''asadora''), which originally aired on NHK from 4 March 1983 to 31 March 1984; it is the 31st ''asadora'' overall to be produced. The 297 15-minute episodes follo ...

'' (1983 to 1984) was a nostalgia television programme that covered the Shōwa era. Television programmes made in the Shōwa era, before self-imposed restrictions by the industry, are popular with young people. '' Extremely Inappropriate!'' (2024) satirizes the excessive safety of

Reiwa era is the current and 232nd era of the official calendar of Japan. It began on 1 May 2019, the day on which Emperor Akihito's eldest son, Naruhito, Enthronement of the Japanese emperor, ascended the throne as the 126th Emperor of Japan. The da ...

television by contrasting it with Shōwa era television. As of 2023, ''

Takeshi's Castle is a Japanese game show that aired between 1986 and 1990 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS). It features the Japanese comedian Takeshi Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) as a count who sets up difficult physical challenges that players ...

'' (1986 to 1990) is popular with young people and got a new season on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. There is nostalgia for ''

Choudenshi Bioman is a Japanese tokusatsu science fiction television series; Toei Company's eighth installment in the Super Sentai metaseries. Its 51 episodes aired on TV Asahi from February 4, 1984, to January 19, 1985, replacing ''Kagaku Sentai Dynaman'' and was ...

'' (1984 to 1985) in South Korea. There is a Shōwa 100th anniversary film festival (Japanese:昭和100年映画祭).

Music

It has been said that

the resurgence Resurgence may refer to: *Resurgence (spring), spring discharge, where water comes from the ground *Resurgence (pest) of (usually agricultural) pest_(organism) , pests, due for example, to the misuse of pesticides *Resurgence (Dutch Revolt), the p ...

city pop is a loosely defined form of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in popularity during the 1980s. It was originally termed as an offshoot of Japan's Western-influenced " new music", but came to include a wide range of st ...

began with nostalgic crate digging by Japanese DJs at the end of the 20th century. It has been said that the city pop boom was the beginning of a period of increased interest in Shōwa retro.令和に復刻した「昭和レトロ」にZ世代も昭和世代もメロメロ！その理由は？
AERA dot. 21 September 2024. Older people are nostalgic about the songs "

Mayonaka no Door is the debut single by Japanese singer Miki Matsubara, released on November 5, 1979 (Shōwa 54). The song saw a resurgence in popularity in 2020, 41 years after its original release. Composition and release Matsubara recorded "Mayonaka no Do ...

" (1979) and "

Plastic Love is a song by the Japanese singer Mariya Takeuchi from her 1984 album ''Variety (Mariya Takeuchi album), Variety''. Written by Takeuchi and arranged by Tatsuro Yamashita, it was released as the album's third single on March 25, 1985. "Plastic ...

" (1984).坂本つとむやシティーポップ、「ふてほど」のヒットから再生のキーワードは1980年代？！/芸能ショナイ業務話

Sankei Sports is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper published by Sankei Shimbun. In 2014, it had a circulation of 1,270,000. The newspaper is known by its nickname . See also * Fujisankei Communications Group , abbreviated FCG, is Japan's largest m ...

. 11 April 2024. It has been said that the interest of young people in Shōwa retro came to public attention around 2017 when, amongst other things, a dance that uses the song "

Dancing Hero (Eat You Up) is the seventh single by Japanese singer Yōko Oginome, released on November 21, 1985 by Victor Entertainment. It is a Japanese-language cover of the 1985 song " Eat You Up" by British singer-songwriter Angie Gold. Background and release "Danci ...

" (1985) became popular. As of 2024, there is nostalgia for the artists

Meiko Nakahara , real name (born May 8, 1959 in Chiba Prefecture), is a former Japanese singer and composer. Early life and career As early as grade school she was already composing her own music. She debuted in 1982 with the single and the album . Her 19 ...

and Saki Kubota, who created songs in the new music genre in the 1980s. It has been said there is a "Shōwa song boom" () and that Shōwa era songs have become popular among young people.「ザ・ベストテン」まるごと再放送若者にも昭和歌謡ブーム「マツコ」で手応え
Sponichi Annex. 29 May 2020. Episodes of ''

The Best Ten , was a Japanese music chart television program broadcast on TBS Television (Japan), TBS Television from 1978 to 1989. The weekly shows were broadcast live on Thursdays. During its broadcast history, the air time and day changed only once. Each e ...

'' have been rebroadcast in Japan and the Shōwa era music of

Akina Nakamori is a Japanese Singing, singer and Actor, actress. She is one of the most popular and List of best-selling music artists in Japan, best-selling music artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the tal ...

and

Seiko Matsuda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer-songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she has continued to release new singles and albums, go on annual summer concert tours, perform at wi ...

,松田聖子と中森明菜が2トップ...韓国に空前の日本歌謡ブームで商機到来！

Nikkan Gendai is a tabloid-sized evening newspaper published Nikkan Gendai Co., Ltd., a publisher belonging to the Otowa Group centered on Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes man ...

. 16 October 2024.

Yoko Minamino , also known as Nanno (ナンノ), is a Japanese actress and singer. She is best known for playing Saki Asamiya in the second season of the live action ''Sukeban Deka'' television series. Though currently independent, Minamino was previously unde ...

and others, has become popular in South Korea. There is nostalgia for the Shōwa era kayōkyoku songs of

Momoe Yamaguchi , known by her maiden name , is a Japanese former singer, actress, and Japanese idol, idol whose career lasted from 1972 to 1980. Often simply referred to by her given name "Momoe", Yamaguchi is one of the most successful singers in Japanese musi ...

. The 2023 music video for

ClariS Claris International Inc., formerly FileMaker Inc., is a computer software development company formed as a subsidiary company of Apple Inc., Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) in 1987. It was given the source code and copyrights to several program ...

' cover version of " Samishii Nettaigyo" (1989) is an homage to

Wink A wink is a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. However, it is ambiguous by itself and highly dependent upon additional c ...

, the original artists. A performance in Tokyo in 2024 of a cover version of "" (1980) by Korean band

NewJeans NewJeans (), also known as NJZ (), is a South Korean girl group formed by ADOR, a sub-label of Hybe Corporation, Hybe. The group is composed of five members: Minji (singer), Minji, Hanni (singer), Hanni, Danielle Marsh, Danielle, Haerin, and H ...

went viral in South Korea and Japan.NewJeans' 'Blue Coral Reef' cover spurs retro consumption in Japan

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' () is a daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language, Korean-language daily. It is the oldest active daily English-language newspaper in South Korea. ...

. 24 July 2024.

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

(2005 onwards) re-used ideas from

Onyanko Club was a large all-girl Japanese pop idol group in the 1980s. Some members of the group participated in spin-off groups, such as Nyangilas, Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi and Ushirogami Hikaretai. Many of the latter two groups' songs were used as theme ...

(1985 to 1987), both of whom were produced by

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, ma ...

. As of 2023, the song " Gakuen Tengoku" (1974) was popular on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. As of 2022, the song "" (1985) by

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

, and the song " Roman Hikō" (from a 1987 album), were popular on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. There have been karaoke rankings and opinion polls on people's favourite Shōwa era songs. It has been said that the popularity of 1980s female idols with young people is partly attributable to the appearance of Kyoko Koizumi and

Hiroko Yakushimaru is a Japanese actress and singer. Biography After passing the audition for the film produced by Haruki Kadokawa, she began her acting career. Along with teen idols Tomoyo Harada and Noriko Watanabe who debuted from Kadokawa Haruki Corporation, ...

in ''

Amachan is a Japanese television drama series. It debuted on April 1, 2013, and was broadcast until September 28, 2013. It was scripted by Kankurō Kudō and starred Rena Nōnen as Aki Amano, a high-school girl from Tokyo who moves to the Sanriku Coast ...

'' (2013). There have been Shōwa retro

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

s, and Shōwa retro

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a Musical ensemble, music group, Singing, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the so ...

s to Showa era musicians such as the Candies. The "Shōwa Retrophone" (Japanese: 昭和レトロフォン) resembles a

gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

, and plays Shōwa era music by

Shizuko Kasagi was a Japanese jazz singer and actress. At the peak of her fame in the immediate post-war era, she earned the nickname the . Kasagi frequently sang songs composed by Ryōichi Hattori, including 1947's "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie", which remains her be ...

, which appeared on television in ''

Boogie Woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...

'' (2023). The song "" (1991) by Mi-Ke is a homage to

group sounds , often abbreviated as GS, is a genre of Japanese rock music which became popular in the mid to late 1960s and initiated the fusion of Japanese ''kayōkyoku'' music and Western rock music. Their music production techniques were regarded as playin ...

with lyrics that list twelve songs released from 1966 to 1968.

Hitomi Shimatani is a Japanese pop singer. Formerly signed to the Avex Trax label for 22 years, Shimatani started her career as an Enka singer with the release of her debut single in 1999, but later decided to get into the dance/ pop style for her music. Shim ...

's 2002 cover version of the ' song "" (1968) sold more copies than the original. In 2005, there was said to be a group sounds revival. 1960s GS films were released on DVD in 2007, and there were group sounds festivals that summer. (2008) is a group sounds nostalgia film.

Manga

It has been said that the publication of '' Sunset on Third Street'' in 1974 caused a period of increased nostalgia.

Magazines

Shūkan Shōwa Taimuzu (2007) and Shūkan Shōwa (Japanese: 週刊昭和) (2008) are Shōwa nostalgia magazines. The nostalgia magazines Shōwa 40 nen Otoko (2009), Shōwa 45 nen Onna (2021) and Shōwa 50 nen Otoko (2019) are aimed at people born in 1965, 1970 and 1975.

Video games

Shōwa retro includes handheld versions of arcade games such as ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...

'' (1978), ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'' (1980) and ''

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling ...

'' (1981), the revived popularity of

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

,昭和レトロが心地よい
AERA dot. and the release of new consoles capable of playing Famicom games.

Toys

Adults are expressing Shōwa nostalgia by collecting capsule toys. There is nostalgia for Shōwa era toys, and the Shibamata toy museum (Japanese: 柴又のおもちゃ博物館) in

Shibamata Shibamata () is a in Katsushika City, Tokyo. The current addresses within the neighbourhood are Shibamata 1 to 7 chome. The neighbourhood is the family home of Tora-san in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi At ...

has a collection of them. As of 1988, there were displays of celluloid dolls (Japanese: セルロイド人形) that had been popular before 1956. The Rubik's Cube was popular in 2024, and there was a trend for new versions of Shōwa and Heisei era toys.

Miniatures

There are Shōwa retro miniatures, such as the Shōwa series (Japanese: ザ・昭和シリーズ) of miniature replicas of Shōwa era electrical appliances.

Sport

The Oriental Witches volleyball team were featured in

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

Shōwa nostalgia television programmes in the 1990s.

Exhibitions and amusement parks

There is nostalgia for

.Hidaka, Japanese Media at the Beginning of the 21st Century, 2017, hardback p 4, eboo
PA2004
There are Shōwa retro theme parks. Showa no Machi is a Shōwa retro town.

Fashion

Shōwa retro includes the revival of Shōwa era fashions such as the clothing style. There are Shōwa retro

sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...

, and there are shops for clothing produced in the Shōwa era. The wearing of

shoulder pads The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

is a manifestation of nostalgia for the bubble era of the 1980s. Akina Nakamori's Shōwa era makeup is being imitated by teenage girls in China. Her Shōwa era hairstyle is also imitated and popular. There is nostalgia for the

Seiko-chan cut Seiko-chan cut (聖子ちゃんカット) is a popular name for a kind of feathered hairstyle, named after and popularized by J-pop, Japanese pop singer and Japanese idol, idol Seiko Matsuda, although the hairstyle itself predated Matsuda's debut. ...

and there are Shōwa retro barber shops.

Food and drink

Manifestations of Shōwa retro include the revival of and tableware with floral patterns, and the consumption of and ice cream soda ().

McDonald's Japan Den Fujita (藤田田, ''Fujita Den'', March 3, 1926 – April 21, 2004) was a Japanese businessman. He was the founder of McDonald's Japan. Background Fujita was born in Osaka, Japan to a Christian mother and father who worked in a foreign ...

produced the "Kissa Mac" range of food in 2023.

Shopping

There are Shōwa retro (shopping streets).いまも現役！全国の「昭和レトロ商店街」を巡る旅歴史が積み重なった佇まいと人の温もりを感じられる7選
News ポストセブン. 4 March 2024. There is a recreation of a 1960s shōtengai in the

Seibu-en is an amusement park located near Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. It is just outside the Seibuen-yūenchi Station, which is also owned and operated by the Seibu Railway. The park underwent a significant expansion and redesign for the 202 ...

amusement park. The

Sagamihara Vending Machine Park The is a collection of retro vending machines in the city of Sagamihara in Kanagawa, Japan. It was created by , the president of the Rat Sunrise used tire shop, originally to entertain waiting customers. It has over 100 machines in two rows ...

consists of retro vending machines from the Shōwa era.

Architecture

There is nostalgia for the

Tokyo Tower , also known as the Japan Radio Tower (, ) is a Radio masts and towers, communications and observation tower in the district of Shiba-koen in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, completed in 1958. At , it was the List of tallest structures in Japan, tallest ...

. There are Shōwa era architecture enthusiasts.

Technology

Shōwa retro includes the revived popularity of

rotary telephone A rotary dial is a component of a telephone or a telephone switchboard that implements a signaling technology in telecommunications known as pulse dialing. It is used when initiating a telephone call to transmit the destination telephone number ...

Analogue technology

Manifestations of Shōwa retro include the revival of

disposable camera A disposable or single-use camera is a simple box camera meant to be used once. Most use fixed-focus lenses. Some are equipped with an integrated flash unit, and there are even waterproof versions for underwater photography. Internally, the c ...

s, such as the Fujicolor Utsurundesu (; 1986),たまごっち、写ルンです... 昭和から平成、レトロを楽しむZ世代
Mainichi Shimbun. 30 October 2021. and

cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

s, and

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

, and

jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

es. The VHS Cam app, which imitates 1980s

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

footage, was popular in 2019.

Cars

The Mitsuoka M55 is a Shōwa retro car from

Mitsuoka is a small Japanese automobile company. It is noted for building cars with unconventional styling, some of which are modern while most others are retro-styled to imitate the look of American, European and particularly British cars of the 1950s ...

. There are collectors of Shōwa era cars.

Second-hand goods

As of 2023, the value of some second-hand Shōwa retro goods produced in the Shōwa era had doubled. Shōwa era retro goods have become popular as Christmas gifts.

Museums

There is a in

Ōme, Tokyo is a Cities of Japan, city located in the Western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,128, and a population density of 1300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Ge ...

. There are Shōwa retro exhibits at the in

Nishi-ku, Sapporo Nishi (西区; -ku, lit. "west ward") is a ward of Sapporo composed of residential neighborhoods mostly arranged in grid patterns, with some areas of farmland and forested mountainous terrain mostly near its western and southern edges. It is locat ...

and at the in

Kitanagoya is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 86,068 in 36,904 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Kitanagoya is a member of the World Health Organization’s Alliance for ...

."昭和レトロ"を感じさせる食器等集めた展示会 1000点以上並ぶ愛知・北名古屋市昭和日常博物館

Tōkai Television Broadcasting JOFX-DTV (channel 1), branded as is a Japanese television station serving as an affiliate of the Fuji News Network and the Fuji Network System for the Chūbu region. Owned and operated by its headquarters and studios are located at the Tokai ...

. 16 May 2024.

Politics

As of 2017, there was nostalgia for former prime minister

Kakuei Tanaka was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who ...

Masks

As of 2011, Shōwa retro included the revival of kamado-gami masks.Japan's Showa Retro Boom: Nostalgia, Local Identity, and The Resurgence of Kamadogami Masks In the Nation's Northeast
(2011) 44 The Journal of Popular Culture 1307

References

*Katsuyuki Hidaka (日高勝之). 昭和ノスタルジアとは何か——記憶とラディカル・デモクラシーのメディア学. 世界思想社 (Sekai Shisosha). 2014
ExcerptsNDL
*Katsuyuki Hidaka. Japanese Media at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Consuming the Past. (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series). Routledge. 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-67222-2 (hardback)
GoogleTaylor & FrancisReview
* Kohei Takano. 昭和ノスタルジー解体「懐かしさ」はどう作られたのか. 晶文社 (Shobunsha). 2018
ExcerptsReview
* Michiaki Asaba. 昭和三十年代主義もう成長しない日本.

Gentosha is a Japanese publisher, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Gentosha publishes manga magazine '' Comic Birz'', Web comic magazines '' GENZO'', ''SPICA'', '' Comic MAGNA'', literary magazines ''Lynx'', ''papyrus'', as well as business magazine ''GOE ...

. 2008
Google世は「昭和レトロブーム」だなんて湯浅博

Sankei Shimbun The , name short for , is a daily national newspaper in Japan published by the Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd, ranking amongst the top five most circulated newspapers in Japan. Together with its English-language paper ''Japan Forward'', the ''Sankei ...

. 4/8/2023.
「昭和レトロ」が新しい非日常感、若者ひき付ける

The Nikkei ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tokyo ...

. 20 April 2021.
若者なぜ昭和レトロ
The Nikkei.
〝大人の遊び場〟に魅了「逆に新しい」
The Nikkei. 19 December 2021.
アナログ感満載の個性温かみに新鮮さ
The Nikkei. 19 December 2021.
貯金箱は「眺める」モノへレトロ人気で落札価格2倍
The Nikkei. 20 September 2023.
＜昭和レトロ探訪＞（1）名古屋の「広小路キッチンマツヤ」

Chunichi Shimbun The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of the three major Japanese metropolitan areas, it boasts the third highest circulation after the group newspa ...

. 30 April 2023.
"昭和レトロブーム" で「蚤の市」も若者のトレンドに、『昭和レトロ市』に若年層が集まったワケ
ピンズバNEWS. 29 October 2024.
阿部サダヲ『ふてほど』で昭和人気が再燃！10～30代男女「憧れの昭和カルチャー」【第5位以下】
ピンズバNEWS. 18 March 2024. *Jordan Sand
Showa Nostalgia
Weekend

Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

. 5 to 9 April 2007.
Showa Sweetness

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

. 13 November 2008.
＜ここに昭和 100年目の風景＞（4）ブーム再来ガチで、進化！レトロ愛

Tokyo Shimbun is a Japanese newspaper published by The Chunichi Shimbun Company. The group publishes newspapers under the brand name of The Tokyo Shimbun in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and under The Chunichi Shimbun in the Nagoya Metropolitan Area. The grou ...

. 5 January 2025. *Marilyn Ivy. Discourses of the Vanishing: Modernity, Phantasm, Japan. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1995. pp&nbs
55
to 58.
松田聖子、中森明菜、松原みき、Z世代&海外でも話題の「昭和歌謡」令和の時代に刺さるこれだけの理由
週刊女性Prime. 12 September 2024.
昭和100年レトロブームの背景は？庶民文化研究家・町田忍さん（74）に聞く

. 9 January 2025.
昭和歌謡、平成J-POPがなぜ流行り続けるのか？──Z世代が"発見"する過去曲との新鮮な出合い
GQ Japan. 30 December 2024.
懐かしの音楽特番も限界？"お宝映像"に視聴者の慣れも
News ポストセブン. 22 October 2019. *Takahiro Asaoka, 昭和 30年代へのまなざし (2004) 46 応用社会学研究 (The Journal of Applied Sociology) 7
CiNiiRikkyoRenewed popularity of Japanese pop songs in South Korea sparks new era of cultural appreciation
NHK World-Japan. 13 February 2025.
特集・昭和レトロ①岩手に残る昭和の面影

TVi TVI may refer to: *RTL-TVI, a French-language television station in Belgium *TVi (channel), a Ukrainian TV-channel *TVi, former name of TV Okey, a Malaysian TV-network * Tamil Vision International, a Tamil language television channel in Toronto, C ...

News NNN. 4 February 2025.
【昭和100年】特集・昭和レトロ③懐かしさ感じさせる「喫茶店&温泉」
TVi News NNN. 18 February 2025.
昭和レトロにどっぷり SNSで広がる蓄音機と琉球切手の世界懐かしさに浸れる場所

Okinawa Times The is a local newspaper based in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The company has its registered headquarters in Naha. The newspaper is one of the two major dailies in Okinawa, the other being Ryukyu Shimpo. In 2015 the editor in chief was Kazuhi ...

. 30 April 2025.
昭和100年でZ世代が注目！宮城で楽しむ「昭和レトロ」の世界古いけど新しい不思議な魅力
FNNプライムオンライン. 29 April 2025. {{reflist Shōwa era Nostalgia