🎌Wander and Weave Diaries: A Pop Culture Pitstop in Japan 🇯🇵

 🎌Wander and Weave Diaries: A Pop Culture Pitstop in Japan 🇯🇵✨

When Hello Kitty meets Harajuku and my students become my professors!

Somewhere in the middle of June, inside a buzzing Japanese classroom, I found myself laughing, learning, and secretly taking notes—not as the teacher, but as the student. Our lesson topic that week, as per the ever-so-loyal New Horizon textbook, was Japanese Pop Culture.

Now, I expected a few cute anime mentions, maybe a stray Pikachu or a sushi reference—but nothing could’ve prepared me for the full cultural whirlwind that my students unleashed during their presentations. These kids didn’t just read off slides. No. They performed. They glowed with pride, talked about their favorite pop idols and video games with the energy of international tour guides, and made me feel like I had been living under a rock that didn’t even have Wi-Fi.

One boy started with “Sensei, do you know Attack on Titan?” I nodded with what I hoped looked like cultural confidence. “It’s scary... but sooo cool,” he said. The others agreed, passionately diving into plot twists that I clearly wasn’t emotionally prepared for. Somewhere in the back, a girl was humming a J-Pop tune while editing her PowerPoint. I swear, if there was a fandom club forming right there in class, I would've signed up and asked for a T-shirt.

From anime and manga to oversized lace yukata and matcha-flavored everything, I realized that Japanese pop culture isn’t just entertainment here—it’s a lifestyle. It’s Hello Kitty peeking at you from pencil cases, Pokémon stickers on water bottles, and oversized plushies hanging from backpacks like security guards with glitter. It’s a girl giggling as she explains her obsession with tabis (those cute split-toe socks) and a boy arguing that playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon has improved his Japanese more than any textbook ever could. And honestly? He might be right.

Let’s talk fashion. Or better yet—Harajuku. Imagine if Pinterest boards had feelings and came to life. There’s lace. There’s leather. There’s color. There’s absolutely no shame in pairing five different textures and still managing to look like you’re headed to a Vogue streetwear shoot. I had students presenting their favorite street fashion looks like stylists at Fashion Week, casually mentioning their weekend fits like, “Yeah, I added a detachable sleeve because it felt more dramatic.” Excuse me?! When I was their age, I was just happy if my socks matched.

And don’t get me started on the food. If there’s one thing Japanese pop culture has done brilliantly, it’s made food... fashionable. Have you ever seen a parfait so pretty you question whether to eat it or frame it? Because I have. One slide even showed a cat-shaped cake. A literal. Cat. Cake. I blinked in confusion and admiration.

My favorite part, though, was seeing how their pop culture isn’t some isolated trend. It’s deeply connected to tradition too. One student explained how modern yukata designs now come in lace and pastel, a soft blend of tradition and trend. Another talked about drinking matcha parfaits while wearing kimono at summer festivals. It hit me—Japanese pop culture is not just “new cool things”—it’s old cool things dressed in 2025 aesthetics.

It also reminded me how much of a global force this culture is. From Studio Ghibli films that make grown people cry in five languages, to Hello Kitty who is, let’s be honest, one of the most internationally booked and busy characters of our time—Japan knows how to enchant the world, one cute sticker and catchy beat at a time.

By the end of that lesson week, I wasn’t just entertained. I was educated. Enlightened. Slightly jealous. And definitely planning to watch more anime with subtitles off, just to test my listening skills.

As I walked home that Friday, a 3rd grader waved at me and shouted, “Sensei, Pokémon Go!” I waved back and laughed. That’s when it hit me: Pop culture isn’t just what we consume—it’s how we connect. Through stickers, songs, style, and stories, we’re weaving friendships, crossing language gaps, and realizing we’re not so different after all.

So here I am, writing this blog, not just as a foreign teacher in Japan, but as someone who got front-row access to the magic that is Japanese pop culture—told through the eyes of the very students I came here to teach. And somehow, they taught me more than they’ll ever know.

Until next time, stay curious, stay kind, and if someone offers you a matcha parfait shaped like a bunny... just eat it.

Jez | Wander and Weave