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This article describes my experience as a widely published academic scholar in organizing an exhibit for the public titled “Obama no Obama (Obama’s Obama): One President, Two Countries, A Myriad of Goods.” The exhibit, at a local museum, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i, presented the souvenirs and paraphernalia from Obama, the Japanese beach town in Fukui province, which celebrated Barack Obama, the 44 th president of the United States. Inside the doors of the exhibit hung display after display of goods from Japan and the United States focused on President Obama, particularly during his campaign days of 2008 and 2009 when Obama-mania was at its peak throughout many parts of the world. Obama town garnered headlines throughout Japan and beyond, adopting familiar slogans, “Yes we can!” as banners of support for the candidate and publicity for the town itself. I decided to turn my research interest in the topic into an event that could examine image-making, celebrity, and commodification that surrounds public figures in the United States and Japan – and do so in a very public manner.
Journal of American-East Asian Relations – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 2013
Keywords: museum exhibits; Obama; celebrity; commodification
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