iyashikei
{{Short description|Genre of manga and anime}}
{{Anime and manga}}
{{italic title}}
{{Nihongo|Iyashikei|癒し系||{{literal translation}} "healing" or "healing-type"{{Cite journal |last=Hairston |first=Marc |date=2008 |title=A Healing, Gentle Apocalypse: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō |journal=Mechademia |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=256–258 |doi=10.1353/mec.0.0036 |s2cid=120440099 |issn=2152-6648}}{{Cite book |last=Nozawa |first=Shunsuke |year=2016 |chapter=On Two-Dimensional Cute Girls: Virtual Idols |editor-last=Galbraith |editor-first=Patrick W. |editor-last2=Karlin |editor-first2=Jason G. |title=Media Convergence in Japan |url=https://archive.org/details/MediaConvergenceInJapan |publisher=Kinema Club |isbn=978-0-692-62995-6 |location=[United States] |pages=156 |oclc=952520172}}{{cite web|last=Orsini|first=Lauren|title=8 Soothing Anime To Help You Relax In Quarantine|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2020/04/27/8-soothing-anime-to-help-you-relax-in-quarantine/|url-access=limited|website=Forbes|access-date=September 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529000745/https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2020/04/27/8-soothing-anime-to-help-you-relax-in-quarantine/#3dd1cb93612c|archive-date=May 29, 2020|date=April 27, 2020|url-status=live}}}} is a genre specific to Japanese works, primarily manga and anime. It is a sub-genre of slice of life, portraying characters living out peaceful lives in calming environments, and is intended to have a healing effect on the audience. Shaenon K Garrity of Otaku USA wrote that in {{Transliteration|ja|iyashikei}} works, "the focus is less on character and plot, more on worldbuilding and creating an immersive visual setting".{{Cite magazine |last=Garrity |first=Shaenon K. |date=October 2021 |title=Rozi in the Labyrinth |magazine=Otaku USA |page=23}}
Origins
{{Transliteration|ja|Iyashikei}} originated in the late 1970s, but it emerged as a distinct subgenre in 1995, in the wake of the Great Hanshin earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin attack. These traumatic events, combined with the economic recession, would lead to what scholar Paul Roquet calls the iyashi trend, or healing boom.{{Cite journal |last=Paul Roquet |date=2009 |title=Ambient Literature and the Aesthetics of Calm: Mood Regulation in Contemporary Japanese Fiction |journal=The Journal of Japanese Studies |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=87–111 |doi=10.1353/jjs.0.0050 |s2cid=143601802|issn=1549-4721}} The trauma suffered by the Japanese public provided "the emotional context for the emergence of calm as a lucrative and marketable feeling."
Examples
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- Adachi and Shimamura{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/22629147/anime-girls-iyashikei-shows |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817210930/https://www.polygon.com/22629147/anime-girls-iyashikei-shows |title=Anime girls can finally chill |last=Crusch |first=Marley |website=Polygon |publisher=Vox Media |date=August 17, 2021 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |access-date=September 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}
- Aria{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/iyashikei-anime-healing-genre-soothe-pandemic-stress/ |title=Iyashikei: Let Anime's 'Healing' Genre Soothe Your Pandemic Stress |date=November 25, 2020 |website=CBR}}
- Azumanga Daioh
- Bartender{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/bartender-vs-love-is-like-a-cocktail-best-alcohol-anime/
|title=Bartender vs. Love is Like a Cocktail: Which Gourmet Anime About Creating Cocktails Is the Best?|website=CBR|date=September 17, 2022}}
- Boku no Natsuyasumi series{{Cite web |url=https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/1008/12/news059.html |title=怖すぎる！ 「ぼくのなつやすみ」幻の"8月32日"を知っていますか？ |website=ITmedia}}
- Flying Witch{{cite web|last=Lum|first=Patrick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/apr/26/in-praise-of-iyashikei-why-we-love-soothing-anime-where-nothing-happens|title=In praise of iyashikei: why we love soothing anime where nothing happens |work=The Guardian |date=April 25, 2022|access-date=April 10, 2024}}
- Girls' Last Tour{{Cite web|url=https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/a/news/what-is-iyashikei-and-why-should-you-care|title=What is Iyashikei and Why Should You Care?|website=Sentai Filmworks|access-date=2020-12-10|archive-date=2021-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331130007/https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/a/news/what-is-iyashikei-and-why-should-you-care|url-status=dead}}
- Hakumei and Mikochi
- The Helpful Fox Senko-san{{Cite web |last=Dennison |first=Kara |date=September 21, 2020 |title=The Anime Genre Dedicated to Relaxation |url=https://otakuusamagazine.com/the-anime-genre-dedicated-to-relaxation/ |website=Otaku USA Magazine |language=en-US |access-date=February 16, 2021}}
- K-On!
- Kiyo in Kyoto{{cite web |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2021/spring/kiyo-in-kyoto-from-the-maiko-house/.170875 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427230742/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2021/spring/kiyo-in-kyoto-from-the-maiko-house/.170875 |title=The Spring 2021 Preview Guide: Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House |website=Anime News Network |last1=Moore |first1=Caitlin |last2=Beckett |first2=James |last3=Silverman |first3=Rebecca |last4=Dupree |first4=Nicholas |last5=Loveridge |first5=Lynzee |date=April 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 27, 2021 |access-date=September 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}
- Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
- Laid-Back Camp
- Magical Emi, the Magic Star
- Mushishi{{cite web|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/mushishi-the-next-chapter/episode-20/.82490|title=Episode 20 - Mushishi: The Next Chapter|date=December 21, 2014|author=Chapman, Jacob|work=Anime News Network|access-date=August 14, 2023|archive-date=January 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112031741/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/mushishi-the-next-chapter/episode-20/.82490|url-status=live}}
- My Neighbor Totoro
- My Roommate Is a Cat{{cite web|last=Bridges|first=Rose|title=Episode 10 - My Roommate is a Cat|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/my-roommate-is-a-cat/episode-10/.144570|website=Anime News Network|date=March 15, 2019|access-date=September 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029012902/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/my-roommate-is-a-cat/episode-10/.144570|archive-date=October 29, 2021|url-status=live|quote=My Roommate is a Cat is classic iyashikei, healing in the way that it explores real life, but through a rosier and cuddlier version of it than reality.}}
- Natsume's Book of Friends
- Non Non Biyori
- Only Yesterday
- Super Cub
- Tamayura
- Wakakozake
- Yokohama Shopping Log
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Reception
Journalist Patrick Lum of The Guardian has written an article on the genre titled "In Praise of Iyashikei: why we love soothing anime where nothing happens" commending the genre. In it, he explained that even if works in this genre can be considered "boring" where not much happens in them in regards to plot, they have an appeal where it's simply cozy. The fact that nothing much in them other than wholesome activity could make a rather comforting watch from their point of view. He even recommended a few anime, such as My Neighbor Totoro.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Animation industry in Japan}}
Category:Anime and manga terminology