On Saturday Judy and I were in Ginza, where we happened to see Sakaguchi Kenji and Shinohara Ryoko, two relatively big celebrities in Japan. Although I didn’t see any cameras around, it appeared as though they were preparing to film something, as Sakaguchi was pulling a rickshaw in which Shinohara was seated, and production staff were scurrying about telling passers-by to keep walking.

Strangely enough, it was I who recognized the pair immediately and pointed them out to Judy, rather than the other way around as I would have expected. At that moment, it suddenly dawned on me just how much of Japanese popular culture I have absorbed during my time here.

I remember one time a few months after we first arrived in Japan, Judy and I were walking around Osaka when suddenly a young, hip-looking guy rushed past us followed by a gaggle of screaming teenage girls. Neither of us had any idea who he was. Since then, however, without any conscious effort on my part, I’ve somehow become familiar with most of the talento and their particular schticks, and on the occasions when I have seen celebrities in public (Tokyo isn’t that big a place), I’ve recognized them instantly.

What I find even more interesting, perhaps, is that American pop culture is becoming almost alien to me. Whenever I go back to the States, I find that I just can’t relate to much of what’s going on around me. I find popular music to be over-commercialized and uninspiring, I think reality shows like American Idol and Survivor are incredibly lame, and I seriously couldn’t give two shits about the Olsen twins.

Of course, I feel the same way about things in Japan, too.

Has popular culture always been such a vapid wasteland? Maybe I’m just getting older. . . .