Japanese Popular Culture

Spring 2003

Grafitti in kanji, Sakuragi-cho, Yokohama, Japan, 2000. (Photo courtesy of Prof. Ian Condry.)

Course Highlights

Lecture notes and all assignments for this course may be downloaded.

Course Description

This course examines Japanese popular culture as a way of understanding the changing character of media, capitalism, fan communities and culture. Topics include manga (comic books), hip-hop and other popular music in Japan, anime (Japanese animated films) and feature films, sports (sumo, soccer, baseball), and online communication. Emphasis will be on contemporary popular culture and theories of gender, sexuality, race, and the workings of power in global culture industries.

Syllabus

Course Description

Examines Japanese popular culture as a way of understanding the changing character of media, capitalism, fan communities and culture. Topics include manga (comic books), hip-hop and other popular music in Japan, anime (Japanese animated films) and feature films, sports (sumo, soccer, baseball), and online communication. Emphasis will be on contemporary popular culture and theories of gender, sexuality, race, and the workings of power in global culture industries. Each student will be expected to present analysis of the course materials during in-class discussions and to develop a final project based on a particular aspect of J-Pop. Several films will be screened outside of regular class meeting times. No prerequisites. Course taught in English.

Course Requirements and Grading Distribution

COURSE REQUIREMENTS	GRADING	DISTRIBUTION
Participation, Microthemes	15%	Throughout the term
Student Presentations	25%	Two or three times each
Essay 1 (5 pages)	15%	Due Week 5
Essay 2 (5 pages)	20%	Due Week 9
Final Paper (7-8 pages)	25%	Due the last day of class

There will be no final exam.

Required Texts

There are three (3) required texts. The texts will also be available on reserve at Hayden Library, so if cost is an issue, please be aware that you can read them there.

Craig, Timothy, ed. Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. M. E . Sharpe, 2000.
Kinsella, Sharon. Adult Manga: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Treat, John Whittier, ed. Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996.

Additional Readings

A few additional articles will be available on reserve at Hayden Library, and possibly online through E-Reserves.

Course Requirements

Writing

There will be three significant writing assignments: two 5-page essays (due in Weeks 5 and 9), and a 7-8 page final project due on the last day of class. You will have a choice of essay topics, or with the approval of the instructor, they may be developed from the issues raised in discussions. I am happy to look at preliminary drafts of papers, but except for unusual circumstances, I do not accept rewrites. I would also encourage people to make use of the Writing Center as it is an excellent resource.

Grading

Papers will be graded according to three criteria:

Argument. Is this thesis clearly stated? Do the steps of the argument make sense and lead logically to the conclusion?
Evidence. How well does the essay use the evidence available from the class materials (readings, lectures, films)? Are there contradictory examples that should be discussed to eliminate doubts? How well are the examples used to support the argument?
Style. How well is the paper written? Has it been carefully proofread? Are there clever turns of phrase, interesting transitions, a catchy opening and conclusion? Does the paper length match the assignment?

Short Weekly Assignments

I will regularly assign "microthemes" to assess your analysis of the readings, lectures, films, and performances. A microtheme is a one--page, double-spaced commentary, which is also designed to promote discussion. Please pick one observation or reaction and develop that in the microthemes, but do not try to display your entire mastery of the material. You may reserve that for the discussion. I grade these microthemes on a range of 1 (failing) to 5 (excellent). I will drop the lowest grade of the microthemes so you may skip one microtheme without penalty, though it is to your advantage to do them all. Microthemes must be handed in during the class when they are due, and, except for extraordinary circumstances, may NOT be made up. Quizzes may occasionally be used to test comprehension of reading assignments. I reserve the right to introduce other minor assignments during the course of the class.

Attendence and Class Participation

Because this class meets only twice a week, your attendence is required every single class period. Barring sickness or unavoidable family emergencies, I expect you in class. If you are going to miss class, I would like an email explanation prior to class. More than one unexcused absence will result in a reduction by 1/3 (e.g., B to a B-) of your final grade. Additional absences will result in additional reductions. I do not give warnings in the event that you are in danger of such a penalty. That said, if emergencies or health situations arise, please let me know, if possible beforehand, and in most situations that will count as an excuse.

Student Presentations

I would also stress that student presentations form a key component of the course. Students will be asked to make short presentations throughout the term as a way of delving into the readings, films, and lectures, while also providing an opportunity to introduce the class as a whole to examples of culture and globalization that may not be directly treated in the reading assignments.

Attend two (2) Harvard University talks on Japanese Popular Culture

We are very fortunate that this semester, Harvard is running a special series of talks related to Japanese popular culture and they have invited some of the leading scholars in the field. I am cancelling two (2) of our regularly scheduled meetings, and requiring that you attend two (2) of the six scheduled
talks at Harvard. A list of talks, speakers, times, and locations appears at the end of this syllabus. You are of course welcome to attend more than two, but you receive credit only for two of them.

You are required to submit a microtheme (one-page, double-spaced) for each of the two talks you attend. Please discuss an interesting or important point made during the talk. You may also use the microtheme as an opportunity to critique some of the readings, based on the talk, or to critique the talk, based on one of the readings.

Calendar

The tables below include the topics covered in each class session as well as the topics of each of the talks students are required to attend.

SES #	TOPICS	KEY DATES
Week 1: Introduction
1	Introduction to the Course
Week 2: Analyzing Japan / Analyzing Popular Culture
2	Film Segment: "The Japanese Version"
3	The History of Popular Music in Japan
Week 3: Racial Boundaries and Representation in Popular Culture
4	Film Segment: "Doubles"
5	Race in Japanese Hip-Hop
Week 4: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture
6	Seminar on "Gender Roles and Anime." If unable to attend the Seminar, then your Assignment is to Write a 2-page Commentary Contrasting Two of the Assigned Readings (Due by Ses #8).
7	Special Event: "Comfort Women of Korea visit MIT." If you cannot attend, an additional assignment can be done instead.
Week 5: Identity, Resistance, and Popular Culture: Borders and Crossings
8	Japanese Identity: Homogeneity or Difference?	Discussion of Essay #1 Assignment
9	Methods and Approaches to the Study of Popular Culture	Essay #1 Due (5 Pages, Double-Spaced)
Week 6: Manga and Cultural Production
10	Harvard Talk
11	A Sociology of Cultural Production of Manga
Week 7: Manga and Power
12	Metropolis: Fritz Lang to Tezuka to Otomo
13	Manga and Social Commentary
Week 8: Manga and Anime
14	Harvard Talk
15	Who are the Otaku?
Week 9: Assessing Manga as Cultural Form
16	In Class Discussion of Manga Issues Re: Essay 2
17		Essay #2 Due (5 Pages, Double Spaced)
Week 10: Re-Imagining Japan
18	Tradition and Transnationalism
19	Flow or Appropriation - Whose Culture is it? (2)
Week 11: Japanese Television
20	Student Presentations 1
21	Japanese Television
Week 12: Japanese Popular Literature
22	Student Presentations 2
23	Japanese Popular Literature
Week 13: Crisis and Restructuring
Week 14: Popular Culture and Japan's Future
24		Final Paper is Due the Last Day of Class. There is no Final Exam

Schedule of Talks

TALK #	SPEAKER	TOPICS
1	Anne Allison, Duke University (special Popular Culture Series: co-sponsored with the Program in U.S.-Japan Relations)	Japanese Monsters in the Era of Pokemon Capitalism
2	Sydney Brown, Emeritus, University of Oklahoma	Jazz in Japan
3	Alisa Freedman, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University	Daily Commutes and Evening Dates: Images of Modern Middle Class Tokyo, 1925-1935
4	Gennifer Weisenfeld (Asian Cultural Studies series) Duke University	From Baby's First Bath: Kao Soap and Japanese Commercial Design
5	Laura Miller (special Popular Culture Series) Loyola University of Chicago	The Naughty Girls of Tokyo: Kogal Fashion, Language and Behavior
6	Theodore Bestor (special Popular Culture Series) Harvard University	The Americanization of Sushi

Readings

Required Texts

There are three (3) required texts. The texts will also be available on reserve at Hayden Library, so if cost is an issue, please be aware that you can read them there.

Craig, Timothy, ed. Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Cultur. M. E. Sharpe, 2000.
Kinsella, Sharon. Adult Manga: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Treat, John Whittier, ed. Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1996.

Background Reading

Ian Condry "Introduction" to Japanese Hip-Hop book manuscript: It proposes thinking about transnational popular culture not in terms of "global/local" dynamics, but rather by analyzing how these forms are a part of cultural economies and cultural politics. (PDF)

Asahi Newspaper (English): Online version of one of Japan's leading newspapers offers articles on current events. Of particular interest to us may be the "culture" section.

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
Week 1: Introduction
1	Introduction to the Course
Week 2: Analyzing Japan / Analyzing Popular Culture
2	Film Segment: "The Japanese Version"	Adorno, Theodor, and Max Horkheimer. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." In The Cultural Studies Reader. 2nd ed. Edited by S. During. London: Routledge, 1999. Pp. 31-41. Treat, John Whittier. "Introduction: Japanese Studies into Cultural Studies." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J. W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996a. Pp. 1-14.
3	The History of Popular Music in Japan	"Can Japanese Sing the Blues? "Japanese Jazz" and the Problem of Authenticity." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 27-59.
Week 3: Racial Boundaries and Representation in Popular Culture
4	Film Segment: "Doubles"	Russell, John G. "Race and Reflexivity: The Black Other in Contemporary Japanese Mass Culture." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J. W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996. Pp. 17-40.
5	Race in Japanese Hip-Hop	Condry, Ian (To be Available Online) "Introduction: Cultural Politics of Japanese Hip-Hop." In Japanese Hip-Hop: Locating the Power of Transnational Popular Culture. Durham, NC: Duke Univerity Press. (Working Draft).
Week 4: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture
6	Seminar on "Gender Roles and Anime." If unable to attend the Seminar, then your Assignment is to Write a 2-page Commentary Contrasting Two of the Assigned Readings (Due by Ses #8).
7	Special Event: "Comfort Women of Korea visit MIT." If you cannot attend, an additional assignment can be done instead.	Allison, Anne. "Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 259-278. Tsurumi, Maia. "Gender Roles and Girls' Comics in Japan: The Girls and Guys of Yûkan Club." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 171-185. Izawa, Eri. "The Romantic, Passionate Japanese in Anime: A Look at the Hidden Japanese Soul." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 138-153.
Week 5: Identity, Resistance, and Popular Culture: Borders and Crossings
8	Japanese Identity: Homogeneity or Difference?	Kelly, William W. "Finding a Place in Metropolitan Japan: Ideologies, Institutions, and Everyday Life." In Postwar Japan as History. Edited by A. Gordon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Pp. 189-216.
9	Methods and Approaches to the Study of Popular Culture	Readings from Kinsella. Adult Manga.
Week 6: Manga and Cultural Production
10	Harvard Talk
11	A Sociology of Cultural Production of Manga	Kinsella. Adult Manga (Selections). Kawada, Yuka. "Beauty Fighter "Sailor Chemist"." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 279-286. "Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen)." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Vol. 8. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 17-31, 154-170.
Week 7: Manga and Power
12	Metropolis: Fritz Lang to Tezuka to Otomo
13	Manga and Social Commentary	Kinsella. Adult Manga. (Selections) MacWilliams, Mark Wheeler. "Japanese Comic Books and Religion: Osamu Tezuka's Story of the Buddha." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 109-137. Mizuki, Shigeru. "Little TV Guy." Translated by Ian Condry. (Manga Short Story) - On Reserve.
Week 8: Manga and Anime
14	Harvard Talk
15	Who are the Otaku?	Napier, Susan. "Panic Sites: The Japanese Imagination of Disaster from Godzilla to Akira." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J. W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000. Pp. 235-262. Lee, William. "From Sazae-san to Crayon Shin-chan: Family Anime, Social Change, and Nostalgia in Japan." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 186-203.
Week 9: Assessing Manga as Cultural Form
16	In Class Discussion of Manga Issues Re: Essay 2
17		Shiraishi, Saya S. "Doraemon Goes Abroad." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 287-308.
Week 10: Re-Imagining Japan
18	Tradition and Transnationalism
19	Flow or Appropriation - Whose Culture is it? (2)	Tansman, Alan M. "Mournful Tears and Sake: The Postwar Myth of Misora Hibari." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J.W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996. Pp. 103-133. Yano, Christine R. "The Marketing of Tears: Consuming Emotions in Japanese Popular Song." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 60-74. Iwabuchi, Koichi. "Localizing Japan in the Booming Asian Media Markets." Chapter 3. (On Reserve). Condry, Ian. [Forthcoming] Selection from Japanese Hip-Hop. (On Reserve).
Week 11: Japanese Television
20	Student Presentations 1
21	Japanese Television	Gossmann, Hilaria M. "New Role Models for Men and Women? Gender in Japanese TV Dramas." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 207-221. Painter, Andrew. "Japanese Daytime Television, Popular Culture and Ideology." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J. W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996. Pp. 197-234. Chun, Jayson. "A New Kind of Royalty: The Imperial Family and the Media in Postwar Japan." In Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Edited by T. Craig. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pp. 222-244. Yoshimoto, Banana. "Dreaming of Kimshee." In The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories. Edited by Theodore Goossen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 432-443. Murakami, Haruki. "The Elephant Vanishes Source." In The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories. Edited by Theodore Goossen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 400 - 416.
Week 12: Japanese Popular Literature
22	Student Presentations 2
23	Japanese Popular Literature	Tamotsu, Aoki. "Murakami Haruki and Japan Today." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J. W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996. Pp. 265-274. Treat, John Whittier. "Yoshimoto Banana Writes Home: The Shôjo in Japanese Popular Culture." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J.W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996b. Pp. 275-308. Murakami, Haruki. "The Elephant Vanishes." (Short Story, On Reserve). Yoshimoto, Banana. "Dreaming of Kimchee." (Short Story, On Reserve).
Week 13: Crisis and Restructuring
		Condry. Selection from Japanese Hip-Hop (Available Online or On Reserve). Iida, Yumiko. "Between the Technique of Living an Endless Routine and the Madness of Absolute Degree Zero: Japanese Identity and the Crisis of Modernity in the 1990s." Positions 8(2): 423-464. (Available Online through MIT library).
Week 14: Popular Culture and Japan's Future
		Ching, Leo. "Imaginings in the Empires of the Sun: Japanese Mass Culture in Asia." In Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture. Edited by J. W. Treat. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1996. Pp. 169-194. Iwabuchi, Koichi. "Localizing Japan in the booming Asian media markets." In Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002. Chapter 3. Pp. 121-157. (E-Reserves or on reserve at Hayden).