Readings

Required Texts

[Bumiller] Bumiller, Elizabeth. The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family. Vintage Books, 1996. ISBN: 9780679772620.

[Ito] Ito, Mizuko, ed. Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World. Yale University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780300158649.

[Philip] Philip, Leila. The Road Through Miyama. Vintage Books, 1991. ISBN: 978067972501.

SES # TOPICS READINGS
Part I: What is Japanese Culture? Everyday Life and Contemporary Issues
1 Introduction to the Course: Brief history Japan and the contemporary study of culture [Bumiller] 1-33
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3 Is Japan group-oriented?

[Bumiller] Continue reading. Finish by session 8.

Kelly, William. "Finding a Place in Metropolitan Japan." In Postwar Japan as History. Edited by Andrew Gordon. University of California Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780520074750.

Film: Makiko's New World. Directed by David Plath. Color, 57 min. Media Production Group, 1999. [Preview available on YouTube: docued. "Makiko's New World – PREVIEW." September 10, 2008. Accessed August 28, 2012.]

Film: Hoichi the Earless, excerpt from Kwaidan. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Color, 183 min, 1964.
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5 Culture of Art, Folktakes, and Performance

Hearn, Lafcadio. "Hoichi the Earless." In Kwaidan. CreateSpace, 2012. ISBN: 9781477469804.

McCullough, Helen. Chapters 1 and 9 in The Tale of the Heike. Stanford University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780804718035.
6 Men, Women, and Change

Kelly, William W., and Merry I. White. "Students, Slackers, Singles, Seniors and Strangers: Transforming a Family Nation." (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)

Film: The Pacific Century, Vol. 6: Inside Japan, Inc. 60 mins. 1992.
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8
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Part II: Encounters with Cultural Difference
10 Diversity of Japan

[Philip] All.

Millar, Laura, and Jan Bardsley. Bad Girls of Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. ISBN: 9781403969477.

  • Foreman, Kelly. "Bad Girls Confined: Okuni, Geisha, and the Negotiation of Female Performance Space." pp. 33-48.
  • Miller, Laura. "Bad Girl Photography." pp. 127-142.
  • Kinsella, Sharon. "Black Faces, Witches, and Racism Against Girls." pp. 143-158.

Video Games from Japan

Wezorek, Joe. "Japanese Dominance of the Video Game Industry." In The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture: From Godzilla to Miyazaki. Edited by Mark I. West. Scarecrow Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780810851214.

[Ito] Kijima, Yoshimasa. "The Fighting Gamer Otaku Community: What Are They Fighting About?" Chapter 9.

Popular Culture and Society

Be familiar with:

Azuma, Hiroki. Otaku: Japan's Database Animals. Translated by Jonathan E. Abel and Shion Kono. University of Minnesota Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780816653522.

Otsuka. "Narrative Consumption." (2011)

Miyazaki, Hayao. "My Theories on the Popularity of Manga." In Starting Point: 1979-1996. Translated by Beth Cary and Frederik L. Schodt. VIZ Media, LLC, 2009. ISBN: 9781421505947.
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12
13
14 Hiroshima: Did the Bomb End the War?

Sayle, Murray. "Letter from Hiroshima: Did the Bomb End the War?," New Yorker, July 31, 1995, 40–64.

Dower, John. "Don't Expect Democracy in Iraq." Boston Review, February/March 2003 issue.

Napier, Susan J. "Grave of the Fireflies." In Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. ISBN: 9780312238629.

Film: Grave of the Fireflies. Directed by Isao Takahata. Color, 89 min. Studio Ghibli, 1988.
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16 Contemporary Japan as Global Culture

McGray, Douglas. "Japan's Gross National Cool." Foriegn Policy, May 1, 2012.
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