1. Class attendance and participation in discussions are mandatory. ....
Mechademia: Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga, ed. Frenchy Lunning, vol. 1
. (Minneapolis: University of ... Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime,
ed.
Course Description: Japanese Media and Culture Chie Matsumoto & Mariko Anno Course Description Media and culture pervade our everyday experiences.
Drawing on visual and
cultural studies as well as media studies, this course will look at contemporary media and culture in Japan from various angles. Special attentions will be given to popular forms of media and culture. Based on the understanding that we stand at the transition of media format from the conventional outlets to the cyberspace presentation, we will discuss not only Japanese media, culture and society but where they stand in relation to the international community and its media. Aims of the Course This course will introduce students to significant issues in the Japanese media and culture. It is hoped that by examining the complexity in which media and culture operate, the students will become equipped to think about how the society can get more involved in information dispatch and how they can help create a better medium as well as to think critically about how culture formulates our lives and values. Course Format This class will combine lectures, discussions, presentations, and screenings. We learn from one another and teach each other by active and thoughtful listening and speaking. It is expected that opinions, personal experiences and views from students will be shared in class. Course Requirements The final grade for the course will be determined by evaluation in the following areas: 1. Class Attendance and Participation
20%
2. 2 x Papers
30%
(15% each)
3. 2 x Presentations (10% each)
20%
4. Final Examination
30%
1. Class attendance and participation in discussions are mandatory.
Students are expected to
read all assigned texts and be prepared to discuss them in class. 2. The papers should be fully attributed and meet appropriate academic standards. 3. Students are required to make two brief presentations, one in a preferred medium and the other about a cultural topic or object. Prerequisite No prior study of Japanese media and culture is required. A strong interest in and commitment to learning them is expected.
All course readings will be in English.
Students with advanced
Japanese-language skills may write papers in Japanese. Class Schedule Classes 1-10 will be taught by Matsumoto-sensei; classes 11-15 will be taught by Anno-sensei 1
Tue. 7th
Introduction
Who consists of media and who consists of
Overview of Japanese media 1
receivers? How media report news/information
2
Wed. 8th
Overview of Japanese media 2
Media slants Kisha club system Cross ownership of media companies
3 4
Thu. 9
th
Fri. 10
th
Japanese media comparative
Comparing overseas and Japanese media
analysis
Comparing reporting within Japan (regional)
Reporting the Great East Japan
Responsibility of media
Earthquake (disaster) 1 5
Sat. 11
th
Reporting the Great East Japan
Affected receivers and affected journalists
Earthquake 2
Access to necessary information
6
Mon. 13th
No class (national holiday)
7
Tue. 14th
Turning point of Japanese media
Rise of cyber information dispatch Shift of society’s response to mainstream media
8
Wed. 15th
What lies ahead (issues and
Training journalists
concerns) 1
Cooperation of mainstream and independent media
9
Thu. 16
th
What lies ahead (issues and
Protecting press freedom
concerns) 2 10
Fri. 17th
Presentation
Interview with Japanese people about their perception of media
11
Mon. 20th
Overview of contemporary
Theoretical framework for Japanese popular
Japanese popular culture
culture (e.g., manga, anime, games) Otaku and Akihabara culture
12
Tue. 21
st
Manga
History and publication of manga Manga genres (e.g., action, shôjo, shônen, mystery, comedy)
13
Anime and Games
Wed. 22nd
Comparison
between
Disney
and
Ghibli
Animation Hands-on animation drawing workshop
14
15
Thu. 23
Fri. 24
rd
th
Paper due
History of J-pop
J-pop
Hatsune Miku and Vocaloids
Globalization
Global market for Japanese products
Group Presentations
Presentations on Japanese cultural topic or object
Media Reading List ★Kisha club @ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/29/worlddispatch.pressandpublishing @ http://www.cpj.org/blog/2010/02/japanese-journalists-under-pressure-kisha-clubs-an.php @ http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=5213 @ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/MA06Dh01.html @ http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/world/asia/21japan.html?_r=0 ★cross-ownership @ http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-globalmediaownership/article_43.jsp @http://www.commsalliance.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/42136/Guide-to-Media-and-Conten t-Regulation-in-Asia-Pacific.pdf (from pages 35-42 Japan section) ★press freedom @http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/press-releases/japans-new-state-secrecy-law-threatens-pub lic-accountability @http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21588140-tough-new-law-secrecy-has-suddenly-become-co ntroversial-secrecy-and-lies @ http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/24/us-japan-secrecy-idUSBRE99N1EC20131024
★rise of indy media @ http://en.rsf.org/japan-freelance-journalists-face-23-05-2012,42669.html# @ http://emergencyjournalism.net/after-tsunami-japanese-media-swept-up-in-wave-of-distrust/ @ http://www.newsmeback.com/blog/personal-opinion/citizen-journalism-of-2011-to-2012/
Culture reading list Timothy J. Craig, “Introduction,” in Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular
Culture, ed. T.J. Craig (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharp, 2000), 3-23. Patrick Galbraith, “Akihabara: Conditioning a Public ‘Otaku’ Image,” Mechademia:
Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga, ed. Frenchy Lunning, vol. 5 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010): 210-230. D.P. Martinez, “Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Cultures,” in The Worlds of
Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Cultures, ed. D.P. Martinez (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 1-18. Wendy Siu Yi Wong, “Globalizing Manga: From Japan to Hong Kong and Beyond,”
Mechademia: Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga, ed. Frenchy Lunning, vol. 1 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006): 23-47. Paul Gravett, “The Father Storyteller,” Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics (New York: Collins Design, 2004), 23-37. Frederik Schodt, “A Thousand Million Manga” and “A Thousand Years of Manga,”
Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics, with a foreword by Osamu Tezuka (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1986), 10-67. Frederik Schodt, “Enter the Id” and “Modern Manga at the End of the Millennium,”
Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1996), 19-59. Thomas Lamarre, “The Multiplanar Image,” The Anime Machine (Minneapolis: University Press, 2009), 3-44. Susan J. Napier, “When the Machines Stop,” in Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams:
Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime, ed. Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., and Takayuki Tatsumi (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006), 101-122. Japan Fad in Global Youth Culture and Millennial Capitalism,” Mechademia: Emerging
Worlds of Anime and Manga, ed. Frenchy Lunning, vol. 1 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006): 11-21. Hiroshi Aoyagi, “Pop Idols and the Asian Identity,” in Japan Pop! Inside the World of
Japanese Popular Culture, ed. T.J. Craig (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharp, 2000), 309-326.
Saya S. Shiraishi, “Doraemon Goes Abroad,” in Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese
Popular Culture, ed. T.J. Craig (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharp, 2000), 287-308.
