"The Politics of Pop Culture" was the title and theme of an academic conference hosted by Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ), in Tokyo last weekend and featuring an international roster of scholars and authors. Topics included video games, otaku culture, anime and manga — all part of Japanese pop culture's so-called "soft power." In an op-ed, TUJ instructor Roland Kelts argued that Japan's pop culture juggernaut may not be as powerful as it once was, a fact that politicians would be wise to learn.