Issues in Post-war Japanese Society 2
- Course Code:
- 155901330
- Unit value:
- 0.5
- Year of study:
- Year 2
- Taught in:
- Term 2
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
At the end of the course, the students will be able to critically think and write about changes occurring in Japanese culture and society during the late 20th/ early 21st century. In addition, they will learn to look critically at media representations of these changes.
Students will prepare and deliver short critical presentations before their peers, and participate actively in classroom discussion, acquiring oral presentation as well as communicative skills. The topics of these presentations will be within the framework of the course, but students are required to add sources of their own, which will familiarise them with bibliographic methods.
The course will familiarise students with, and encourage critical use of, different types of media: books, academic journals, newspapers as well as the World Wide Web.
Workload
One 2-hour lecture per weekScope and syllabus
The course is designed to offer a critical overview of changes occurring in the late 20th century Japanese culture and society to 2nd year undergraduate students. The course will complement and enhance the offerings available in the section, especially in bringing in the contemporary perspective on Japan which is essential for preparing the students for their 3rd year abroad.
Whereas the course 'Issues in post-war Japanese society I' (term 1) focuses more on the political focus at work in post-war Japan, this course is designed to look at post-war Japanese (popular) culture and society. Specific topics to be dealt with thus include:
- changes of gender roles
- challenges of an ageing society
- youth culture
- developments in popular culture
Method of assessment
One 2-hour written examination in May/June (60%); one 3,000 word essay due in Week 1, Term 3 on the day in which the class is taught (40%).Suggested reading
- Iwabuchi Koichi (2002): Recentering Globalisation. Popular culture and Japanese Transnationalism. Durham: Duke University Press.
- Craig, Timothy J. (ed.) (2000): Japan Pop! : Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe.
- Coulmas, Florian (2007): Population Decline and Ageing in Japan. The Social Consequences. New York: Routledge.
- Harootunian, Harry and Yoda Tomiko (eds.) (2006): Japan after Japan. Social and Cultural Life from the Recessionary 1990s to the Present. Durham: Duke University Press.
- Schodt, Frederik L (1996): Dreamland Japan. Writings on Modern Manga. Berkeley CA: Stone Bridge Press.
- Schodt, Frederik L. (1997): Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. With a foreword by Osamu Tezuka. Tokyo, New York : Kodansha International.
- McCarthy, Helen (2002): Hayao Miyazaki. Master of Japanese Animation. Films, Themes, Artistry. Berkeley, Calif. : Stone Bridge Press, 2002
- Penn, Wm. (2003): The Couch Potato Guide to Japan. Inside the World of Japanese TV. Forest River Press.
- Roberson, James E. and Suzuki Nobue (eds.) (2003): Men and Masculinity in Contemporary Japan. Dislocating the Salaryman Doxa. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
- Lebra, Takie Sugiyama (2007): Identity, Gender and Status in Japan. Collected Papers of Takie Lebra. Folkestone/Kent: Global Oriental.
- Macias, Patrick and Machiyama Tomohiro (2004): Cruising the Anime City. An Otaku Guide to neo Tokyo. Berkeley/CA: Stone Bridge Press.
- Rebick, Marcus and Takenaka Ayumi (eds.) (2008): The Changing Japanese Family. London: Routledge.
- Gravett, Paul (2004): Manga. Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. London: Laurence King.
The title listed in bold is not yet in the library, but will need to be purchased for other courses as well. In case this book is no longer available, relevant sections will be provided in a course pack.
