Come Write for us: The Pop Pacific Blog Guidelines

About The Pop Pacific

The Pop Pacific explores transnational popular culture across the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on cultural flows between the U.S., Japan, Korea, Philippines, China, Australia, and beyond. The Pacific was once thought of as inaccessible, but is now the new epicenter of the world. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the zone of creation of transnational culture was centered in the Atlantic. But this idea of transatlantic-centered cultural exchange needs updating, as the Pacific is rising.

Three of the top five economies in the world are in Asia or the Pacific (China, Japan, and yes, the U.S., which is a Pacific power). Add in India and you have four of the top five. This economic power has also translated into cultural power. According to a New York Times poll, three of the best ten movies of the 21st century are from Asia: Parasite (South Korea) at number one, In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong) at number four, and Spirited Away (Japan)  at number nine. But the Pop Pacific goes beyond these nations.

What We're Looking For

The blog examines transnational culture in the Asia-Pacific, though we can go beyond this region. From our existing posts, we've covered topics like Dr. Mylene Guzman's exploration of how SB19's use of Korean-style pop shows Korea's influence on the Philippines. In another post, I wrote about how Korean became the "prestige" language of K-pop, while in Japan, the Japanese language remained the karaoke language for "Japanese versions" of K-pop songs. We also have excellent posts on 1930s music in Asia and the rockabilly boom in 1950s Japan.

While many of our posts have detailed K-pop, J-pop, or anime, please feel free to write beyond these subjects. We'd love to read about the transnational identities of Asian food, clothing, toys, or video games. You can even look at Asian popular culture in Europe, Africa, or Latin America, or vice versa. We're looking for accessible, engaging posts that bridge academic insight with public interest.

Show how popular culture moves across Pacific borders through transnational connections. Write about what you know, love, or have discovered through personal engagement with the material. We especially encourage diverse perspectives and voices from throughout the Pacific region.

We especially welcome more stories about transnational popular culture from other parts of the Asia Pacific. Feel free to write about your favorite group or artist, as long as your post explores their transnational connections rather than simply celebrating them as fans. The key is finding something that genuinely fascinates you and connects cultures across the Pacific.

Who Should Write for Us

We welcome contributions from graduate students exploring new ideas, interested undergraduates with fresh perspectives, established academics looking to share their research with a broader audience, authors, and anyone passionate about Pacific popular culture. You don't have to be an academic to write for us.

Writing Style and Approach

Make It Readable and Accessible

All we ask is that you write for curious readers who aren't specialists in your field. Include your own experiences, observations, and first-person statements to give your writing a personal voice. Focus on specific people, events, or cultural phenomena rather than abstract theory, and don't be afraid to include surprising or entertaining facts that bring your topic to life. Remember, much of our readership consists of people who will have no idea about the theories you're discussing.

Importantly, many people in our readership are not native English speakers. Others are undergraduates who want to learn more about popular culture. Some are teachers who want to incorporate popular culture into their teaching but have no idea where to start, or want accessible readings for their students.

So, write so that an ESL undergraduate could follow your ideas with the help of a dictionary. Use simple sentence structures when possible, and break up long sentences into shorter ones. 

Keep your writing jargon-free and avoid frequently referencing theorists without context. Explain any necessary theoretical concepts in plain language. When you do use academic terms, define them clearly. Think of your writing as a bridge between a fan post and an academic article.

Use Your Voice

Share personal anecdotes and discoveries that led you to your topic. Include first-person observations like "I noticed..." or "One day I realized..." Don't aim for academic neutrality—show your enthusiasm for the topic. Your personal connection to the material often makes the best entry point for readers, such as in this post. If you grew up listening to certain music or watching particular shows, that experience can provide valuable insights into how culture travels across borders.

Length and Structure

Posts should be 1,000-2,500 words, typically around 1,500 words. Start with a strong opening hook such as an anecdote, an intriguing question, or a surprising fact. Use headers and short paragraphs for clear organization and readability. Break your writing into short paragraphs, ideally no more than three or four sentences each. Use subheadings to guide readers through your argument. Remember that many people read blogs on their phones, so long blocks of text can be overwhelming. Think about how your post will look on a small screen. White space is your friend because it makes complex ideas easier to follow.

Enhance with Media

Include 2-4 copyright-free images in each post that illustrate your points. Include hyperlinks to videos, songs, and images that enhance your story and take advantage of the multimedia possibilities of digital writing. Link to relevant videos, music, and articles to help readers see and hear what you're writing about. YouTube links, music streaming platforms, and social media posts can bring your arguments to life.

Take advantage of what the digital format can offer—your readers should be able to listen to the song you're analyzing or watch the video you're discussing. It's easier to visualize the transnational K-pop group TWICE when you view their videos.

You can find images in places like Wikipedia. Be sure to double-check and make sure content is really copyright-free. Use Creative Commons (CC) licensed images whenever possible. We can't offer financial compensation (yet), but you will be credited and our worldwide readership will learn about your work. Who knows—it could lead to something. Artwork is always appreciated so we don't have to use AI-generated images.

We have mixed opinions on the use of AI generated images. When AI creates a manga portrayal of a popular K-pop group with Korean, Japanese, and American members alongside Korean and Japanese signage, the result symbolizes the Pop Pacific. Still, we'd much rather feature real artwork from talented artists who understand these cultural connections firsthand. If you're an artist interested in contributing visual content that captures transpacific culture, we'd love to hear from you.

For Graduate Students and Undergraduates

Blog posts offer a way to combat perfectionism. They're less formal than journal articles, allowing you to experiment with ideas without the pressure of creating a perfect scholarly work. For graduate students especially, blog writing offers valuable professional development opportunities.You can reach new audiences by introducing non-academics to your fascinating research in progress. Also, you can develop your writing skills like how to explain complex ideas clearly and engagingly. These posts can also serve as stepping stones toward longer academic pieces, creating an online presence that potential publishers, collaborators, and employers can discover. Blog posts appear quickly online, unlike journal articles that can take years to publish, giving you immediate visibility for your ideas. This kind of public writing also demonstrates your ability to communicate beyond academic circles. This ability to reach the public is a skill increasingly valued in both academic and non-academic careers.

Blog writing can help break through writer’s block and perfectionism because the format is more forgiving and experimental. You can try out ideas, test arguments, and develop your thoughts in a lower-stakes environment. The 1,000-2,500-word range forces you to focus on your most important points, which can actually clarify your thinking for larger projects. Remember, it is better to have written something good and finished than something perfect but unfinished.

If you're having trouble with writing, or if English is not your native language, don't let that stop you from contributing. Submit whatever draft you have—even if it feels rough or incomplete. With your permission, we, the editors, can provide feedback and suggestions to help strengthen your post. We want to support writers at all levels and from all linguistic backgrounds. The goal is to share fascinating ideas about transpacific popular culture, not to demonstrate perfect prose.

Examples of Catchy Hooks

You might begin with a personal discovery: 

• “Okinawa’s kariyushi shirts? Borrowed straight from Hawaii’s aloha shirts in the 1970s and proof that island style knows no borders.”
• “Meet Nezha, one of the most successful animated films ever, and still virtually unknown outside China (for now).”
• “That viral ‘Pikki Pikki’ dance that swept TikTok? Korean cheerleaders made it famous, but the music behind it comes from Indonesia.”
• “Why do the sharpest examples of 1950s Americana like crisp button-down Oxford shirts—turn up not in the U.S., but in Japan?”
• “China's Luckin Coffee has more stores (in China) than Starbucks! How did it achieve this feat?”
• “Today, I learned that the Samoan Devoux brothers of Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. brought an edge to West Coast hip hop, fusing funk, metal, and gangsta rap.”
• "While Louis Armstrong was redefining jazz in New Orleans, Filipino musicians were pioneering its spread across Asia, from the streets of Shanghai to the clubs of Delhi."

Focus on what's small, fascinating, and genuinely interesting to a curious general audience. Our blog is about making connections between cultures, ideas, writers and readers across the world.

Whether you're a graduate student looking to develop your public voice, an undergraduate with fresh insights, or an established researcher wanting to share your passion more broadly, we encourage you to contribute. The Pacific region has always been a space of connection and exchange, and popular culture continues that tradition in new and exciting ways. Help us explore those connections, one blog post at a time.

Don't worry about having all the answers or producing a definitive analysis. The best blog posts often raise new questions and invite readers to think differently about familiar cultural phenomena. Your unique perspective, shaped by your background, location, and interests, is exactly what makes your contribution valuable to our community of readers across the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

Ready to contribute? Contact editors Jayson Chun (jmchun@hawaii.edu) and Patrick Patterson (ppatters@hawaii.edu) to submit your post or artwork, or visit The Pop Pacific to learn more.

Edit 2025/09/17: We frequently include discussion questions with our blog posts since many educators use them as classroom materials. As a writer, you can create your own discussion questions, we can develop them for you, or you can choose not to include them at all. Below are sample discussion questions for this post.

Discussion Questions

1. The Pop Pacific blog focuses on transnational popular culture. What does this term mean, and why is it important in understanding the modern world?
2. The guidelines ask writers to avoid jargon and write in an accessible style. Why is this important when writing for the public instead of just for scholars or academics?
3. Have you ever had a moment where you realized something from your own life, like a food, song, fashion trend, or show, was part of a larger global or cultural trend? How might that experience fit into a Pop Pacific post?
4. The guidelines encourage contributors from diverse backgrounds, including non-native English speakers and undergraduate students. Why might it be valuable to include these voices in writing about popular culture?
5. Why might writing a blog post feel less stressful for graduate students than writing a formal academic paper? What benefits could this bring?
6. If you were to write a blog post for The Pop Pacific, what topic would you choose? What personal story or example would you start with, and how would you connect it to a bigger idea about culture or identity? (And if you do write one, send it in!)