Week 1
Wednesday, Sept. 6
Introduction to the Course: What’s important about fantasizing Japan?
no reading due
Friday, Sept. 8
Weekly writing due
Week 2
Monday, Sept. 11 - Representing Japan
Clyde Haberman. "Some Japanese (One) Urge Plain Speaking." New York Times, March 27, 1988.
Andrew Pollack. "Rice Farmers Dig In: For Them, The Land Is Sacred." New York Times, February 18, 1993.
Nicholas D. Kristof. "Japan's Feminine Falsetto Falls Right Out of Favor." New York Times, December 13, 1995.
Nicholas D. Kristof. "In Japan, Nice Guys (And Girls) Finish Together." New York Times, April 12, 1998.
Martin Fackler. "Japan, Home of the Cute and Inbred Dog." New York Times, December 28, 2006. Be sure to check out images of the dogs here.
Martin Fackler. "Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place." New York Times, October 20, 2007. And check out images of the outfits here.
Wednesday, Sept. 13 - Othering Japan
Edward Said. 1978. A brief section of the introduction to his Orientalism. New York: Vintage. Pages: 1-4.
Ruth Benedict. 1946. A brief selection from the first chapter of her The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. New York: Mariner Books. Pages: 1-3 only.
Roland Barthes. 1970. “Faraway” from his Empire of Signs. New York: Hill and Wang. Pages: ix-5.
Friday, Sept. 15
Weekly writing due
Week 3
Monday, Sept. 18 - Theorizing Pop Culture
John Storey. 2015. “What is Popular Culture?” In his Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. Oxford: Routledge. Pages 1-17. [pdf will be posted soon]
In class: Writing Workshop #1 - Writing vs. Editing
Wednesday, Sept. 20: Rating Fantasies
This Film Is Not Yet Rated. 2006. Kirby Dick, dir. 98 minutes.
All films for this course can be found on Canvas / Media Gallery OR Canvas / Pages.
Friday, Sept. 22
Weekly writing due
Week 4
Monday, Sept. 25 - Inventing History
Harold Bolitho. 1984. "The Myth of the Samurai." In Japan's Impact on the World. Alan Rix and Ross Mouer, eds. Nathan, Queensland: Japanese Studies Association of Australia. Pages: 2-9.
In class: Writing Workshop #2 - Balancing Old and New Information
Wednesday, Sept. 27 - Fantasizing Honor
The Last Samurai. 2003. Edward Zwick, dir. 154 minutes.
All films for this course can be found on Canvas / Media Gallery OR Canvas / Pages.
Friday, Sept. 29
No writing due, but use this time to watch the film for your first paper.
Week 5
Monday, Oct. 2 - Exotic Japan
Memoirs of a Geisha. 2005. Robert Marshall, dir. 145 minutes.
All films for this course can be found on Canvas / Media Gallery OR Canvas / Pages.
In class: Writing Workshop #3 - Writing Thesis Statements
Wednesday, Oct. 4 - Theorizing Exoticism
Anne Allison. 2001. “Memoirs of the Orient.” Journal of Japanese Studies 27(2): 381-398.
Friday, Oct. 6
Weekly writing due
Week 6
Monday, Oct. 9 - Postwar Japanese Social Norms
Elisabeth Bumiller. The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and her Family. New York: Random House. Read chapters 1 through 6, pages 3-178.
In class: Writing Workshop #4 - The Big Reveal
Wednesday, Oct. 11 - Conflict and Debate
Elisabeth Bumiller. The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and her Family. New York: Random House. Read chapters 7 through 12, pages 178-332.
Friday, Oct. 13
Weekly writing due
Week 7
Monday, Oct. 16 - Fall Break
No class meeting
Wednesday, Oct. 18
No class meeting. Please use this time to work on your rough draft due this week.
Friday, Oct. 20
Rough draft of first paper is due.
Week 8
Monday, Oct. 23 - Masculine Responsibilities
Shall We Dance? Suo Masayuki, dir. 136 minutes.
All films for this course can be found on Canvas / Media Gallery OR Canvas / Pages.
In class: Writing Workshop #5 - Powerful Point Sentences
Wednesday, Oct. 25 - Social Transformations
Allison Alexy. In press. “What Can Be Said?: Communicating Intimacy in Millennial Japan.” In Intimate Japan, edited by Allison Alexy and Emma E. Cook.
OPTIONAL (not required) ** William Kelly and Merry White. “Students, Slackers, Singles, Seniors, and Strangers: Transforming a Family-Nation.” In Japan and Asia: The Dynamics of East Asian Regionalism. Peter Katzenstein and Tadashi Shiraishi, eds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Friday, Oct. 27
First Paper Due
Week 9
Monday, Oct. 30 - New Men
Emma Cook. “Expectations of Failure: Maturity and Masculinity for Freeters in Contemporary Japan.” Social Science Japan Journal 16(1): 29-43.
In class: Writing Workshop #6 - Reflecting on the Writing Process
Wednesday, Nov. 1 - Herbivorous Men
電車男 [Train Man]. 2005. Murakami Shosuke, dir. 101 minutes.
All films for this course can be found on Canvas / Media Gallery OR Canvas / Pages.
Friday, Nov. 4
No writing due
Week 10
Monday, Nov. 6 - Manga Girls
Sharon Kinsella. 1995. “Cuties in Japan.” In Women, Media, and Consumption in Japan, edited by Lise Shov and Brian Moeran. Surrey: Curzon Press. Pages: 220-254.
In class: Writing Workshop #7 - Coming Up with Paper Ideas
Wednesday, Nov. 8 - Manga Boys
Mark McLelland and James Welker. 2015. “An Introduction to “Boys Love” in Japan.” In Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, edited by Mark McLelland, Kzumi Nagaike, Katsuhiko Suganama, and James Welker. University of Mississippi Press. Pages: 3-20.
Sumomo Yumeka. 2006. Same Cell Organism. June Manga. Please take a look at this description of how to read manga that has been translated from Japanese to English.
Friday, Nov. 10
Weekly writing due
Week 11
Monday, Nov. 13 - Fantasy Gay Men
Patrick Galbraith. 2015. “Moe Talk: Affective Communication among Female Fans of Yaoi in Japan.” In Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan. Pages: 153-168.
In class: Writing Workshop #8 - Strong Writing with Strong Verbs
Wednesday, Nov. 15 - Complicating Fantasies
Hitoshi Ishida. 2015. “Representational Appropriation and the Autonomy of Desire in Yaoi / BL.” In Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan. Pages: 210-232.
Friday, Nov. 17
Weekly writing due
Week 12
Monday, Nov. 20 - Fantasy Love
The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. 2006. Jake Clennell, dir. 76 minutes.
All films for this course can be found on Canvas / Media Gallery OR Canvas / Pages.
In class: Writing Workshop #9 - How to Edit Your Own Work
Wednesday, Nov 22
No class meeting. Be sure to discuss settler colonialism with your family members!
Friday, Nov. 24
No writing due
Week 13
Monday, Nov. 27 - The Labor of Fantasy
Akiko Takeyama. 2016. Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pages: ix-38.
Wednesday, Nov. 29 - The Perfect Job?
Akiko Takeyama. 2016. Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pages: 39-102.
Friday, Dec. 1
Weekly writing due
Week 14
Monday, Dec. 4 - Gendered Fantasies
Akiko Takeyama. 2016. Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pages: 103-174.
Wednesday, Dec. 6 - Jazz and Hip hop
E. Taylor Atkins. 2005. “The Japanese Jazz Artist and the Authenticity Complex.” In his Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan. Durham: Duke University Press. Pages: 19-44.
Please watch Remixed in Japan, which I sent out through google drive. Let me know if you have any problems with the film.
Friday, Dec. 9
No writing due
Week 15
Monday, Dec. 11 - Final Reflections and Future Questions
No reading due
Peer comments due
Final papers are due on Wednesday, Dec. 20th at 5pm.
