WA2: Researching Visual Kei

For my ethnography, I will be doing research on the Japanese subculture visual kei. I am going to do my research both through online communities and at the weekly anime club meetings held here on campus. In the online communities, I will be looking at how different people incorporate and are influenced by visual kei in their daily lives. There is a vibrant visual kei community on Tumblr. This is a good research site because it shows just how diverse the fans of visual kei are and how it influences everyone differently. I follow many people on Tumblr who are avid visual kei fans, and I also look at the community and contribute to it myself multiple times a day. At the weekly anime meetings, I will be looking at the many things that tend to contribute to an interest in visual kei, such as an interest in Japanese culture and, particularly among non-Japanese fans, an interest in anime and manga, which often exposes people to visual kei. The anime club is a good research site for visual kei because while all members may not be into visual kei, they are familiar with it and it shows the primary way that non-Japanese fans get into visual kei – through anime, manga, or an interest in Japanese culture.

Through my research, I hope to learn how both new and old fans of visual kei have been influenced by it. I would also like to learn how visual kei formed and how it is different from other Japanese subcultures. I will ask how people got interested in visual kei and how they believe it has affected their lives. I will also ask what they think are the biggest differences between the older and more modern styles of visual kei. I would also like to find out what other people think about the regular disbanding of bands associated with visual kei and what they believe the future may hold for visual kei. I got interested in visual kei through watching anime and reading manga. This interest then developed into an interest in Japanese music, which then evolved into a love for a particular band that identified with visual kei and introduced me to it.

I will show the insider perspective by describing the intricacies of visual kei. Insiders are familiar with visual kei and realize that there are many different styles. The outsider perspective can be portrayed through the many misunderstandings and stereotypes associated with visual kei. Illustrating these points is possible because both insiders and outsiders have different views about visual kei. These views are influenced by what they know or may not know about visual kei, where they are from, and their personal experiences with it.

My research sites are connected with culture and community because visual kei is part of a culture that interests many people of many backgrounds. It is also something that people who are not into Japanese pop culture may not know anything about. The visual kei fandom consists of a lot of mini-fandoms, all of which are connected through a common interest, visual kei. To those unfamiliar with the community, visual kei may seem like an entirely foreign concept. I think visual kei is an interesting topic because it is an obscure subculture, even in its native land of Japan and is even more obscure in other countries. Despite this obscurity, people from all over the world have been able to come together, talk, discuss, and voice their opinions on the visual kei subculture. Visual kei is able to connect its fans by giving them a common identify that stretches beyond borders.