JAPN308: japanese pop-culture
Course Description: This course explores post WWII Japanese music, literature, artistic media, and hi-tech products. Investigates social themes ranging from post-holocaust Japanese hedonism to childhood fantasies by looking at Manga comic books, Animation, and popular music, as well as fashion and style, popular technology, consumerism, and environmental issues. Explores the evolution of pop culture and its impact on society. Taught in English.
course reflective narrative
Japanese Pop-Culture was an eye-opening class mostly surrounding modern Japanese culture including TV shows, film, fashion, video games, and many other trends.
I enjoyed the many niche aspects of Japanese modern culture such as learning about the otaku lifestyle, city mascots (yurukyara), and popular actors. I really feel like knowing these smaller aspects outside of what is usually known in America about Japan (geisha, Nintendo, Godzilla) will help if/when I live and work in Japan. Being able to bond over Japanese bands, TV shows, movies, and more is important in my opinion to youth of any generation and hopefully will help in the future.
In terms of the MLOs, this course meets MLO 2 and MLO 4.
MLO 2: Culture is met nearly every day of this class. We watched many films such as "Kamikaze Girls" and "Princess Mononoke" that were accompanied by books or articles with information to support our analysis in regards to what the films show about Japanese culture. The same format was implemented with popular TV show dramas such as "Yamato Nadeshiko", "Shomuni", and "Long Vacation" which all portrayed a different aspect of Japanese work culture and culture surrounding love and relationships. In addition, some of the shows such as Shomuni subtly pushed a narrative for women's rights in the workplace, whereas some shows like "Yamato Nadeshiko" were facing gender discrimination in real life, hence the change in scriptwriters from the first episode to the very last episode.
Not only did we view Japanese culture through a camera lens, but also read and observed other phenomena such as maid cafes, cosplay, tourism, the term "kawaii" (cute) and more.
For MLO 4:Technology and Research, we did many written responses, exams, and a final research paper based on a pop-culture topic of our choice supported by academic research we find using library resources. I chose to write my paper on Japanese pop-idols and the harsh reality of the jobs they perform. This was not just a final paper, but also an in-class presentation. Please view my presentation slides here and well as my final research paper here.
I enjoyed the many niche aspects of Japanese modern culture such as learning about the otaku lifestyle, city mascots (yurukyara), and popular actors. I really feel like knowing these smaller aspects outside of what is usually known in America about Japan (geisha, Nintendo, Godzilla) will help if/when I live and work in Japan. Being able to bond over Japanese bands, TV shows, movies, and more is important in my opinion to youth of any generation and hopefully will help in the future.
In terms of the MLOs, this course meets MLO 2 and MLO 4.
MLO 2: Culture is met nearly every day of this class. We watched many films such as "Kamikaze Girls" and "Princess Mononoke" that were accompanied by books or articles with information to support our analysis in regards to what the films show about Japanese culture. The same format was implemented with popular TV show dramas such as "Yamato Nadeshiko", "Shomuni", and "Long Vacation" which all portrayed a different aspect of Japanese work culture and culture surrounding love and relationships. In addition, some of the shows such as Shomuni subtly pushed a narrative for women's rights in the workplace, whereas some shows like "Yamato Nadeshiko" were facing gender discrimination in real life, hence the change in scriptwriters from the first episode to the very last episode.
Not only did we view Japanese culture through a camera lens, but also read and observed other phenomena such as maid cafes, cosplay, tourism, the term "kawaii" (cute) and more.
For MLO 4:Technology and Research, we did many written responses, exams, and a final research paper based on a pop-culture topic of our choice supported by academic research we find using library resources. I chose to write my paper on Japanese pop-idols and the harsh reality of the jobs they perform. This was not just a final paper, but also an in-class presentation. Please view my presentation slides here and well as my final research paper here.