Power of Japanese Pop Culture (1035)
Course Description (link to syllabus)
Japanese pop culture has been a cultural icon in Asia for a long time, and currently it is expanding its territory to the global sphere. Many people around the world are enjoying pop music, video games, animation and manga created in Japan. This contributes to the development of the pop culture industry and establishes valuable soft power for Japan to position itself as a leading cultural country in the world. In this course, we will deal with several cultural genres of Japanese pop culture to explore their history and socio-economic influence in Japan and the world. Taught in English. Fulfills MLO 2 and 5.
Japanese pop culture has been a cultural icon in Asia for a long time, and currently it is expanding its territory to the global sphere. Many people around the world are enjoying pop music, video games, animation and manga created in Japan. This contributes to the development of the pop culture industry and establishes valuable soft power for Japan to position itself as a leading cultural country in the world. In this course, we will deal with several cultural genres of Japanese pop culture to explore their history and socio-economic influence in Japan and the world. Taught in English. Fulfills MLO 2 and 5.
Reflective Narrative
The Pop Culture class began with an overview of the historical origins of what evolved into today's pop culture empire, including Ukiyoe, Kabuki, and early Manga. From there the class went over animation, digital technology, J-Pop, cinema, and LGBT related issues and how they are tied into Japanese pop culture. For example, in the class that focused on LGBT social issues the teachers discussed about how LGBT identities are not openly discussed or taken serious in Japanese society like they are in the U.S. Particularly, transgender identities are not taken seriously and have been traditionally associated with the entertainment industry. Similar to American media, Japanese media features mainly stereotypes regarding identities and sexualities that are outside the strictly enforced gender binary. The professor continued to discuss about LGBT celebrities, such as Matsuko Deluxe, a homosexual crossdresser, and various transfemale idols and actresses. This particular session, along with some prior knowledge on the subject, is what sparked my interest in studying further about this subject as apart of my senior capstone project. Our final presentation consisted of a 10 minute presentation on a topic of our choice. I chose to feature my presentation on Japanese mascots, example 1. Japanese pop culture is a dominating socio-economic both in Japan and overseas yet issues are prevalent throughout and in taking this class I have become more aware of what these issues are and how they can be addressed through understanding and open-mindedness.
(EXAMPLE 1) Power of Japanese Pop Culture Final Presentation |