Shōwa nostalgia[1] (Japanese: 昭和ノスタルジア)[2] includes nostalgia for certain aspects of the postwarShōwa era.[1][3][4][5]Shōwa retro (昭和レトロ) is retro related to the Shōwa era. The Shōwa retro boom (昭和レトロブーム) includes increased popularity and sales of Shōwa retro goods and services.[6] The expression also loosely includes increased popularity of some things from the early part of the Heisei era.[7] The beginnings of periods of increased nostalgia have been dated to 1974,[7] 1986,[8] 2005,[7] 2012[9] and 2017.[7]
As of 2017, three quarters of the Japanese population were born in the Shōwa era.[10] By 2004, the expression "the good old Shōwa days" (古き良き昭和, furuki yoki Shōwa) was in use.[11]
Neo Shōwa (ネオ昭和) is a fusion of the culture of the past Shōwa and current Reiwa eras.[12]
Enthusiasm for Shōwa retro is not just confined to people who remember the Shōwa era. It has been said that Shōwa retro is popular among Generation Y (Millennials)[13][14] and Generation Z, the latter of whom were born after the Shōwa era ended.[15][16] Enthusiasm for Shōwa retro is not confined to Japan or to Japanese people either.[17][18] As of 2024, there is a Shōwa retro boom in Thailand, where people are enthusiastic about Japanese popular culture produced during the Shōwa era.[19] Shōwa nostalgia includes anemoia.[20]
The Shōwa nostalgia boom was preceded by Meiji and Taishō nostalgia,[21] which existed circa 1950.[22]
Nostalgia for the Shōwa 30s was said to have existed as early as 1971.[23] In 2011, Thompson said that nostalgia seemed to be centred on the Shōwa 30s (1955 to 1964).[24] There was said to be a Shōwa 30s boom (Japanese: 昭和30年代ブーム).[25] In 2016, Hidaka said that nostalgia seemed to be centred on 1968 and the rest of the Shōwa 40s (1965 to 1974).[26] In 2024, Kohei Takano said the retro boom that began in 2017 is centred on the 1980s, the end of the Shōwa era, and the start of the Heisei era.[7]
Shōwa nostalgia has been followed by, and exists alongside, Heisei retro (Japanese: 平成レトロ) which is nostalgia for certain aspects of, and retro related to, the Heisei era. Heisei retro includes, in particular, nostalgia for the later part of the 1990s, of which the music of Nanase Aikawa, for example, is said to be particularly representative.[27]
Oshin (1983 to 1984) was a nostalgia television programme that covered the Shōwa era.[8]
Television programmes produced during the Shōwa era, before self-imposed restrictions by the industry, are popular with young people.[7]Extremely Inappropriate! (2024) satirizes the excessive safety of Reiwa era television by contrasting it with Shōwa era television.[38][39] As of 2023, Takeshi's Castle (1986 to 1990) is popular with young people and received a new season on Amazon Prime Video.[40][41][42] In South Korea, there is nostalgia for Choudenshi Bioman (1984 to 1985).[43]
There is a Shōwa 100th anniversary film festival (Japanese:昭和100年映画祭).[44][45]
It has been said that the resurgence of city pop began with nostalgic crate digging by Japanese DJs at the end of the 20th century.[46][47] It has been said that the city pop boom was the beginning of a period of increased interest in Shōwa retro.[15] Older people are nostalgic about the songs "Mayonaka no Door" (1979) and "Plastic Love" (1984).[48]
The interest of Shōwa retro among young people was said to have come to public attention around 2017 when, amongst other things, a dance[7] that uses the song "Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)" (1985)[49] became popular.[7] As of 2024, there is nostalgia for the artists Meiko Nakahara and Saki Kubota, who created songs in the new music genre in the 1980s.[48][50] It has been said there is a "Shōwa song boom" (昭和歌謡ブーム)[51] and that Shōwa era kayōkyoku songs have become popular among young people.[52][53][54]
As of 2022, the song "Friends [ja]" (1985) by Rebecca, and the song "Roman Hikō" (from a 1987 album), were popular on Spotify.[72] There have been karaoke rankings[73] and opinion polls on people's favourite Shōwa era songs.[74][75] It has been said that the popularity of 1980s female idols with young people is partly attributable to the appearance of Kyoko Koizumi and Hiroko Yakushimaru in Amachan (2013).[76]
Examples of Shōwa retro in computer and video games include handheld versions of arcade games such as Pac-Man (1980) and Galaga (1981),[84][85] the revived popularity of Famicom,[86][87] and the release of new consoles capable of playing Famicom games.[88]
Adults express nostalgia for the Shōwa era by collecting capsule toys.[66] There is nostalgia for other Shōwa era toys as well, and the Shibamata Toy Museum (Japanese: 柴又のおもちゃ博物館) in Shibamata has a collection of them.[89] As of 1988, there were displays of celluloid dolls (Japanese: セルロイド人形) that had been popular before 1956.[8][90] The Rubik's Cube saw a revival in 2024, and there has been a trend for updated versions of Shōwa and Heisei era toys.[91][92]
There are Shōwa retro miniatures that exist, such as the Shōwa series (Japanese: ザ・昭和シリーズ), miniature replicas of Shōwa era electrical appliances.[93][94][95]
Shōwa retro includes the revival of Shōwa era fashions and trends such as the taiyozoku clothing style.[98][99] There are Shōwa retro sneakers,[100] and there are shops specialising in vintage and second-hand clothing produced during the Shōwa era.[101] The wearing of shoulder pads is a manifestation of nostalgia for the bubble era of the 1980s.[102]
Akina Nakamori's Shōwa era makeup is being imitated by teenage girls in China.[103] Her Shōwa era hairstyle is also imitated and popular.[104][105] There is nostalgia for the Seiko-chan cut[106][107] and there are Shōwa retro barber shops.[108]
As of 2023, the value of some vintage and second-hand goods produced during the Shōwa era had doubled.[134] Shōwa era retro goods have also become popular as Christmas gifts.[135]