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ASIAN STUDIES 2215
Japan Through Popular Culture
Langara College
Fall 2011
Tuesday and Thursday: 10:30-12:20
Room: B154
Instructor: Dr. Nariko Takayanagi-Heine
Office: B 247-o
Office Hour: Thursday 14:00-15:00
E-mail: ntakayanagi@langara.bc.ca
Course Description:
This course seeks to develop an historical, theoretical and thematic understanding of
contemporary Japanese popular culture and mass media. The topics will include media
such as manga, anime, TV dramas, cinema, consumption, traditional theatrical
performances, popular literature, music, fashion, and magazines. The themes focus on
the representation of gender, the importance of fan cultures, cultural/national identity and
the impact of globalization.
Learning Outcomes:
Studnets who succesfully complete the course will be able to:
1
Identify the fundamental social structures, cultural and religious values,
and themes in major works of contemporary Japanese popular culture
2
Recognize the influence of traditional culture and history on
contemporary Japanese popular culture
3
Develop critical thinking and analytical skills to examine the ways
gender differences, stereotypes, national and cultural identities are
represented and constructed through the mass media
4
Recognize the implications of the globalization of Japanese popular
culture
5
Enhance their skills in leading group discussions and expressing their opinions in
a group environment
Course Policies and Expectations:
1
Attendance and participation in all classes is essential. Students who miss exams
and presentations will not have the opportunity to do them again without medical
notes and official documents, and their grade will be adjusted accordingly.
2
Academic dishonesty, such as cheating and plagiarism, will not be tolerated. It is
the student’s responsibility to read and understand the students’ disciplinary
policies in Langara.
3.
Students must fulfill all the required assignments in order to pass this course.
4.
All handout materials distributed in class are also required reading. It is essential
that students attend all classes.
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Course Format
This course is open to all students although some previous knowledge of Japanese studies
is highly desirable. Class meetings are scheduled for four hours each week. The general
pattern will be lectures, discussions, and film/video/library research, but the emphasis is
given to classroom and small group discussions. Therefore, this class requires the active
participation and contribution of each student.
Required Readings:
MacWilliams, Mark. Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and
Anime. New York: East Gate Book, 2008.
All handout materials and articles distributed in class
Assessment and Grading
Attendance and Participation
Summary & Presentation
Reflection paper
Mid-Term
Final Exam
Total
A+: 90-100
C+: 66-69
A: 85-89
C: 60-65
15%
15%
15%
25%
30%
100%
A-: 80-84
C-: 55-59
B+: 77-79
D: 50-54
B: 74-76
F: 0-49
B-: 70-73
Course Content
Week 1-2:
Course Introduction, Theoretical Perspectives of Popular Culture,
Historical Development of Japanese Popular Culture
1)
Storey, “What is Popular Culture?”
2)
Tsutsui, “Forms and Themes in Japanese Popular Culture”
3)
Tobin, “Introduction” from Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese
Popular Culture
Week3:
Representation of Reality
1)
Tanaka, “Japanese Women’s Magazines: The Language of Aspiration”
2)
Allison, “Japanese Mothers and Obentos”
3)
Painter, “The Telerepresentation of Gender In Japan”
Week 4
1)
2)
3)
Popular Music
Aoyagi, “Pop Idols and Gender Contestation”
Darling-Wolf, “SMAP, Sex and Masculinity: Constructing the Perfect
Female Fantasy in Japanese Popular Music
Condry, “Japanese Hip-Pop and the Globalization of Popular Culture”
What and Why of Anime and Manga
Ito, “Manga in Japanese History” (Chp1)
Poitrasm, “Contemporary Anime in Japanese Popular Culture”(Chp 2)
Napier, S. “Why Anime” and “Anime and Local/Global Identity” (from
Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle” e-book in Langara Library)
Week 6
1)
Varietios of Anime and Manga
Brau, “Oishinbo’s Adventures in Eating: Food, Communication, and
Culture in Japanee Comics”
Phillipps, “Characters, Themes, and Narrative Patterns in the Manga of
Osamu Tezuka”, (Chp3)
Pandey, “Medieval Genealogies of Manga and Anime Horror” (Chp10)
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Week 5
1)
2)
3)
2)
3)
Week 7:
1)
2)
3)
Week 8:
1)
2)
3)
Week 9:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Week 10:
1)
2)
Manga for Boys and Girls
Takahashi, “Openeing the closed world of Shojo Manga” (Chp5)
Shamoon, “Situating the Shojo in Shojo Manga: Teenage Girls, Romance
Comics and Contemporary Japanes Culture” (Chp6)
Drummond-Mathews, “What Boys will be: Case Study of Shonen
Manga”.
MIDTERM
Ambuguity of Gender and Sexuality in Japanese Popular Culture
McLelland, “The “Beautiful Boys” in Japanese Girls’ Manga
Thorn, “Girls and Women Getting Out of Hand: The Pleasure and Politics
of Japan’s Amateur Comics Commmunity”
Robertson, “Doing an Undoing Female” and “Male in Japan: The
Takarazuka Revue
Fun Culture and Identity
Galbraith, “Akihabara: Conditioning a Public “Otaku: Image”
Winge, “Costuming the Imagination: Origins of Anime and Manga
Cosplay”
Winge, “Undressing and Dressing Loli: A Search for the identity of the
Japaese Lolita”
Miller, “Those Naughty Teenage Girls: Japanese Kogals, Slang, and
Media Assessments”
Nostalgia and Utopia
Yoshioka, “Heart of Japaneseness: History and Nostalgia of Miyazaki ‘s
Spirited Away” (Chp 12)
Yamanaka, The Utopian “Power to Live: The Significance of the
Miyazaki Phenomenon”(Chp11)
Mecha, Robot and Apocalypse
Makela, From Metoropolis to Metoroporisu: The Changing Role of the
Robot in Japanes and Western Cinema (Chp4)
Gill, “Transformational Magic: Some Japanese super heroes and
monsters”
Napier, “Panic Sites: The Japanese Imagination of Disaster from Godzilla
to Akira.”
Gardner, “Aum Shinrikyo and a Panic About Manga and Anime” (Chp9)
Thouny, “Waiting for the Messiah: The Becoming-Myth of Evangelion
and Densha Otoko.”
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Week 11:
1)
2)
2)
3)
4)
Week 12:
1)
2)
3)
Week 13:
1)
2)
3)
4)
War Memories, Anti-War and Recent Nationalism
Nakar, “Framing Manga: On Narratives of the Second World War in
Japanese Manga 1957-1977”(Chp8)
Mizuno, “When Pacifist Japan Fights: Historicizing Desires in Anime”
Sakamoto, “Will you go to war? Or will you stop being Japanese?”
Nationalism and History in Kobayashi Yoshinori’s Sensoron
Japanese Popular Culture in Asia and North America
Iwabuchi, “Japanese Popular Culture and Postcolonial Desire for ‘Asia’”
Aoyagi, “What does the popularity of Japanese trends across Asia
mean to the Japanese?”
Yano, “Wink on Pink: Interpreting Japanese Cute as It Grabs the
Global Headlines.”
Allison, “The Japan Fad in Global Youth Culture and Millennial
Capitalism”
PRESENTATION: SUMMARY & QUESTION (2 pages)
In each class one student will offer a 15-minute-long presentation based on a summary of an
assigned reading and facilitate classroom discussion. The presentation should summarize what
are the main arguments of the article (chapter) as well as any supplementary information
regarding the cultural object or practices that the article discusses. It is highly encouraged that
the assigned students will bring (include) any cultural objects of the discussion topic to share with
the classmates (e.g., a copy of the product, photo, Youtube video clips). Powerpoint presentation
is highly recommended. Three days before the class, the assigned student should submit a report
which includes a summary of the assigned article and two discussion questions based on the
article. Failure to submit on time will lead to a loss of marks.
REFLECTION PAPER (3-5pages)
Within a week after your presentation, a 3-5-page-long reflection paper should be submitted.
This reflection paper should deal with the weekly theme (not just your topic) and discuss what
you’ve learned from the articles, presentations and the classroom discussion. What did you find
interesting and why? Do you agree with the authors’ point? You could discuss the weekly theme
in general (by touching on each topic) or you may chose two topics/articles and compare and
contrast with each other. You can include other people’s opinions that are expressed in the class
discussion, but the paper should not be a summary of the class discussion or the articles. The
paper should contain your analysis and a reflection of the topic and the theme. Failure to submit
on time will lead to a loss of marks.