JAPN311: social issues in japan
Course Description:
As the drive to rebuild modern Japan after WWII slowed, latent and new social problems have become visible. This course offers interdisciplinary perspectives on issues such as care of the elderly and homeless, equal treatment of minorities, gender and labor issues, domestic and world ecological concerns, and relevant institutions that promote or attack prejudice towards heterogeneous social groups. Taught in English.
As the drive to rebuild modern Japan after WWII slowed, latent and new social problems have become visible. This course offers interdisciplinary perspectives on issues such as care of the elderly and homeless, equal treatment of minorities, gender and labor issues, domestic and world ecological concerns, and relevant institutions that promote or attack prejudice towards heterogeneous social groups. Taught in English.
Reflective narrative
This course was probably one of the most eye-opening courses I took at CSUMB, as it completely broadened my horizons on what Japan really is: it is a country with it's own issues, and many very similar to the United States and other countries. The importance of this class to me was recognizing issues I may be faced with when living abroad in Japan, such as gender discrimination and labor issues. I am not only aware of these issues in Japan now, but am even more aware of these same issues in the United States. This class prompted me to become an advocate for myself and others, especially within Japan Club where I helped create and facilitate events in collaboration with Undocuotters and Spanish Club, for example.
Within the class, we watched films and documentaries, read articles and did article reviews, and participated in weekly discussion forums based on assigned readings. As this is a GWAR course, the course focused heavily on writing, which was supplemented with multiple peer-review workshops throughout the semester which really helped with seeing your work from an outside perspective.
The article review itself was incredibly helpful for our final paper and final project, as we could choose any peer-reviewed article on a topic of our choice and write a five page essay on said article. I wrote my review on an article concerning host clubs in Japan and what issues arise from the line of work, which can be seen here.
For our final research project and our final research paper, I decided to take up the theme of the migrant worker experience within the host club industry, which I was inspired by through a documentary that was optionally linked in the class titled "The Great Happiness Space: Tale of An Osaka Love Thief" as well as the article review I previously wrote. I am so glad I took the opportunity to watch the film, as it further opened my perspective on Japan and exposed me to raw and realistic portrayals of Japanese people outside of the typical white and blue collar jobs we typically see in Japanese media.
Within the class, we watched films and documentaries, read articles and did article reviews, and participated in weekly discussion forums based on assigned readings. As this is a GWAR course, the course focused heavily on writing, which was supplemented with multiple peer-review workshops throughout the semester which really helped with seeing your work from an outside perspective.
The article review itself was incredibly helpful for our final paper and final project, as we could choose any peer-reviewed article on a topic of our choice and write a five page essay on said article. I wrote my review on an article concerning host clubs in Japan and what issues arise from the line of work, which can be seen here.
For our final research project and our final research paper, I decided to take up the theme of the migrant worker experience within the host club industry, which I was inspired by through a documentary that was optionally linked in the class titled "The Great Happiness Space: Tale of An Osaka Love Thief" as well as the article review I previously wrote. I am so glad I took the opportunity to watch the film, as it further opened my perspective on Japan and exposed me to raw and realistic portrayals of Japanese people outside of the typical white and blue collar jobs we typically see in Japanese media.