COURSE DESCRIPTION: How do our stereotypes inform our views of other places and people? Be-yond our images of sushi, samurai, and animé, what and where are Japanese popular cultures? In order to interrogate issues of difference and identity, sensitivity and intoler-ance, power and the individual, this course examines the worlds of subsidized dating, crime syndicates, monsters, sex bazaars, cellphone novels, motorcycle gangs, abortion, goths, subway suicides, yamamba, Ultraman, ultra-nationalism, Gojira, vending machines, convenience stores, organ transplants, Tora-san, Sazae-san, AIDS melodrama, love hotels, otaku and much, much more. Through critical reading, group discussion, and interpretive writing, students will elaborate methods for approaching seemingly foreign modes of cultural production and consumption in Japan.COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES:• Students will learn approaches for interpretation of alien cultural products while reflecting on the sets of assumptions underlying these various methods.

• Students will examine the differences vari-ous disciplinary strategies bring to an object of inquiry and learn to distinguish the pros and cons of combining particular methods with specific materials.• Students will examine the historically con-tingent decisions and choices that have led to cultural difference.• Students will begin to be able to assess the degree to which Japan’s diverse cultures and modes of thought are both reflective of and oppositional to their own.

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Fashion or Faux pas?In a weekday youth culture dominated by uniforms and modifications to uniforms, it may not be surprising that many turn to magazines to decide what to wear on weekends, how to wear it, and where to buy it. But in this context, what consti-tutes cool, unique, and cut-ting edge? Why does cute reign supreme?

JAPN 21512:30-1:20p!Mon.Wed.& Fri.126!Shatzel HallFriday Films in LLC

P o s t w a r a n d C o n t e m p o r a r y

POP CULTURES IN JAPAN

Jonathan E. AbelEmail: jeabel@bgsu.eduOffice Hours: M, W 2-3:30pm " or by appointmentOffice Location: 119 Shatzel Hall

JAPN 21512:30-1:20p Mon.Wed.& Fri.126 Shatzel HallOptional Screening3:30-5:00pm Friday Film in LLC

P o s t w a r a n d C o n t e m p o r a r y

POP CULTURES IN JAPAN

Jonathan E. AbelEmail: jeabel@bgsu.eduOffice Hours: M, F 2-3:30pm or by appointmentOffice Location: 119 Shatzel Hall

Assignment SCHEDULE:All readings will be available in pdf format for download via the “Assignments” section of the Blackboard website unless otherwise stated. You are expected to bring copies of the readings to class.

Week 1

What is pop culture? What is Japanese culture?Monday August 20IntroductionWednesday August 22John Treat, “Japanese Studies into Cultural

Studies” Hidetoshi Kato “Some Thoughts on Japa-

nese Popular Culture”Hidetoshi Kato, “Japanese Popular Culture

Reconsidered”WRITING CENTER visitFriday August 24Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Platonic Sex

Week 2

The Ends of Life in JapanMonday August 27Tiana Norgren, Abortion before Birth Control:

The Politics of Reproduction in Postwar Japan (Intro, Chapter 6)

LIBRARY VISIT 125, the Electronic Reading RoomWednesday August 29Japan Made in USA (Selections 18-19,

105-108)Sheryl WuDunn, “In Japan, a Ritual of

Mourning for Abortions,” NYTPeggy Orenstein, “When the author's

pregnancy ended in Japan, thousands of miles from home, she...” New York Times

Raymond Williams, “Culture” KeywordsClips from Organ and Deep LoveFriday August 31Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm ScandalFIRST SELF-ASSESSMENT DUE

Week 3Occupation and Free PressMonday September 3LABOR DAY NO CLASS!!!Wednesday September 5Clips from No Regrets for our Youth, Ikiru and

Stray Dog.John Dower, “Cultures of Defeat,”121-167

Shunsuke Tsurumi, “Occupation: On the Sense of Justice”

Raymond Williams, “Popular” and “De-mocracy” Keywords

Friday September 7Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Gojira

Week 4Big Atomic MonstersMonday September 10PAPER ONE THESIS DUEWilliam Tsutsui, “The Birth of Gojira”B. Kushner “Gojira as Japan's First Post-

war Media Event”Wednesday September 12A. Gerow, “Wrestling with Godzilla: Inter-

textuality, Childish Spectatorship, and the National Body”

Yoshikuni Igarashi, “Naming the Un-nameable”

Friday September 14Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Ohayo

Week 5Toward ConsumerismMonday September 17Intro and outline dueEzra Vogel, Japan as Number One (Selections)Simon Partner, Assembled in Japan (Selec-

tions) Wednesday September 19Marilyn Ivy, “Formations of a Mass Cul-

ture”Tsutomu Hayama, “Pachinko Lonely Ca-

sino”Clips Dawn of a New Day -the JVC StoryFriday September 21Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Kamikaze Girls

Week 6

Pop Images of/for the SexesMonday September 24PAPER ONE DUEClips from Shomuni, Sazaesan, commercials.Amy Borovoy, The Too Good Wife (Selec-

tions)Sharon Kinsella, “Cuties in Japan”Imamura Tahei, “Sazae-san and Blondie”Fruits (Selections)Wednesday September 26Ikuya Sato, Kamikaze Biker (Selections)Greenfeld, “Tats: The Speed Tribes” Clips from God Speed You Black Emperor and

Crazy Thunder RoadFriday September 28Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Go conSELF-ASSESSMENT DUE

Week 7

Writing WorkshopMonday October 1IN-CLASS WRITING WORKSHOPBring your papers to classWednesday October 3Bring your papers to classIN-CLASS WRITING WORKSHOPFriday October 5FALL BREAK

Week 8

Dating, Love, Marriage, SexMonday October 8PAPER ONE REWRITE DUENobue Suzuki “Of love and the marriage

market”Wednesday October 10David Leheny, Think Global, Fear Local (Se-

lections)CLIPS from Deep LoveFriday October 12Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Bounce Ko Gal

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Week 9Food as Spectator SportMonday October 15Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, “McDonald’s in

Japan”“Eating Out-At Home” Wednesday October 17Lorie Brau, “Oishinbo’s Adventures in Eat-

ing”Clips from OishinboClips from Colonel in Japan and UdonFriday October 19 Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Udon

Week 10Ultranationalism—Identity (1)Monday October 22PAPER TWO THESIS DUEHideichiro Nakano, “The Sociology of Eth-

nocentricism”Yumiko Iida, “Approaching the questions of

Japanese identity and nationalism,” “Back to identity,”

Wednesday October 24Linda Hoaglund, “Stubborn Legacies of

War”Clips from UltramanFriday October 26Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Swallowtail Butterfly

Week 11Racialism and Ethnicity—Iden-tity (2)Monday October 29PAPER TWO OUTLINE AND INTROJohn G. Russell, “Race and Reflexivity”“The Stigma of Ethnic Difference-The

Structure of Prejudice and ‘Discrimina-tion’ toward Japan's New Immigrant Minority”

Wednesday October 31Makiko Hanami, “Minority Dynamics in

Japan”Friday Nov. 2 Optional FILM Screening at LLC SELF-ASSESSMENT DUE

Week 12Highs and Lows of Consum-erismMonday November 5PAPER TWO DUEYumiko Iida, “The Age of Rapid Eco-

nomic Growth and Romantic Resur-gence”

“Consuming the Walkman” Wednesday November 7Brian Moeran, “In Pursuit of Perfection.”Nanette Gottlieb and Mark McLelland,

Japanese Cybercultures (Selections)Friday November 9Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm A

Week 13Post Bubble CulturesMonday November 12VETERANS DAY, NO CLASS !!!Wednesday November 14Yumiko Iida, “Japan in the 1990s and be-

yond: Identity Crises” Haruki Murakami, Underground (Selections)Friday November 16 Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm Train Man

Week 14Otaku Cultures/ Kid CulturesMonday November 19Clips from Mamiya Brothers

Sharon Kinsella, “Japanese Subcul-ture in the 1990s: Otaku and the Amateur Manga Movement” Wednesday November 21Thanksgiving, NO CLASSFriday November 23Thanksgiving, NO-CLASS

Week 15

Out of Japan: Jpop Goes GlobalMonday November 26Koichi Iwabuchi, “Recentering Globaliza-

tion”Wednesday November 28Optional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm 2009 Lost MemoriesFriday November 30PAPER TWO REWRITE DUEOptional FILM Screening at LLC 3:30-5:00pm 2009 Lost MemoriesSELF-ASSESSMENT DUE

Week 16Presentation of Final PapersMonday December 3PRESENTATION OF PAPERSStudents will have 5 minutes each to present their

research to the class.Wednesday December 5PRESENTATION OF PAPERSStudents will have 5 minutes each to present their

research to the class.Friday December 7

Note on the schedule• Any changes to the schedule will be

announced in class or via email (so

make sure your email is up-to-date with blackboard and make sure you check it).

• Any printed version of this syllabus

is likely already out of date. Be sure to download the latest elec-tronic version from the blackboard

site. Also check the date here:• LAST UPDATED Dec 13, 2009

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Course Requirements and Evaluation:

WRITTEN WORKPAPERS 50%Two papers worth 15% each (30%)

and two rewrites worth 10% each (20%). Papers are individual labors. The first research paper will include a close analysis and interpretation (not mere summary) of at least one FILM shown for the class. The paper will discuss how the FILM relates to several of the course read-ings. The paper will include of print sources not used in class. Web sources are permitted but not in lieu of the previous stipulation.

The second research paper should include analysis and interpretation of at least one piece of cultural material from postwar Japan not discussed in class and a discussion of how it relates to several of the course readings.

The finished products should be be-tween five and seven pages (excluding bib-liography). All papers should be in the MLA (Modern Language Association) style format. Students are encouraged to use the JSTOR and Project MUSE databases to find articles in the Monumenta Nipponica, Positions, Journal of Japanese Studies, Journal of Asian Studies and Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies.

5% of your paper grades are determined by paper-related assignments. (Meeting with me dur-ing office hours to approve your paper topic, hand-ing in thesis statements, and handing in outlines.)

For more details on papers please refer to Guidelines for Writing Critical Papers.

PARTICIPATION 50%• Online Discussion 10%

Students are expected to participate in an electronic newsgroup (bulletin board), discussing their thoughts on the readings and class discussions. Topics and the man-ner of the discussion will be decided by

discussion leaders. Each and every student will take a turn being a discussion leader. You will have free rein here to discuss top-ics that do not get raised in class or in the readings. This is a chance to find out what your classmates think about your ideas. It is also a chance for those who are less talkative in class to recover some points for participation.

A given week's discussion leaders must write and send at least two paragraphs (10 sentences) by Friday at midnight. They should be sure to quote from the week’s readings and cite the film.

Discussants (that is, everyone else) must write at least one response by the following Sunday, at midnight. Responses may be any length three sentences or over. They can respond to any one or all of the discussion leaders for a given week.

All students must sign up for a week to be a discussion leader by the third week of class.• Attendance & Preparation 10%

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Students are expected to complete all of the reading for the week in time for class.

If a student has extenuating circum-stances regarding either of these require-ments, that student should contact me im-mediately.

In order to receive credit for atten-dance, you must not only be present in class, but also bring marked copies of the readings to class and be prepared to give your opinions on the reading. You must also bring any written material assigned for that class meeting.

FILMS: Students are expected to view all course films during the week they are assigned. Screenings have been set up on Fridays. Students unable to attend the screenings can find the DVDs on reserve at the LLC for viewing anytime after the Fri-day screening date. Some films are also available at the library.

In order to receive credit for in-class discussion, you must email me a self-assessment report.On the last Friday, of every month students must email me a a self-evaluation report assessing their own in-class performance. The self-assessment should include the words “self-assessment” in the subject header and a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F.• Pop Reading Quizzes 10%

An unspecified number of pop quizzes may be given at anytime throughout the semester on a given week’s readings. Quizzes will be given when only a few stu-dents are participating in discussion or when it appears only a few students have completed the reading assignments for the week.

The quiz for which a student has earned their lowest score will be dropped before the pop quiz average is derived and entered into your final grade.• In-class Presentation 10%

The presentation will consist of a small research project and in-class oral/visual presentation. The purpose of the presentations is to educate the class on some contexts to a given week’s topics which may be confusing or which may have been touched on only tangentially in class lectures or readings. Handouts (con-sisting of visual aids, timelines, definitions of terms, and/or annotated bibliographies) are required. Presentations should not exceed ten minutes in length.

All presenters should plan a meeting with me in office hours to discuss their topic at least one week prior to their pres-entation.

All students must sign up for a week to give a presentation by the third week of class.• WIKIs 10%

Students will create their own wikis based on material culled from their presen-tations. Please see Wiki Guidelines for more information.

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LATE POLICY:Every day an assignment is late will result in the lowering grade for that assignment by one rank (if the paper was to receive an A, it will receive an A- if turned in late within 24 hours of the dead-line or a B+ if within 48 hours, etc.)

ATTENDANCE:Be sure to mark the attendance sheet at each class meeting or LLC screening. Also make sure you sign in at the Language Center if you are watching a FILM.

POLICY ON THEFT:There is zero tolerance for cheat-ing, plagiarizing, and turning in the work of others in this class. DO NOT DO IT!!! When you are caught you will receive a zero for that portion of the work. And you risk disciplinary action by the university.