The Visible Invisible:

An Introduction to Contemporary Japanese Society Case Studies

Course Name: Japanese Society and Culture

Year Available: 1st Year

Course Code: SOCI/PART/JPNA110

Subject Area: Performing Arts

Class Style: Lecture

Number of Credits: 3

Term(s) Offered: Spring Semester

Prerequisites: None

Instructor: Darren Ashmore

The Visible Invisible: An Introduction to Japanese Society

COURSE DESCRIPTION This PBL (Project Based Learning)1 course is designed as a survey of important aspects of Japanese culture and society. Through lecture, discussion, debate, group work and presentation it explores the history and society of Japan. We shall examine significant examples of Japanese society, look at the national/global impact of Japanese industry and consider how the Japanese perspective on culture has come to affect the way the whole views this nation.

1 Project-based learning (PBL) is involves a classroom approach which places student participation,

and teaching (AKA the flipped classroom) alongside more normal lecture and discussion elements.

PBL compliments paper-based and teacher-led instruction by ensuring each student has an

opportunity to query or offer alternative viewpoints to the material being examined.

COURSE OBJECTIVES Over the course of the program, student will: Develop an understanding of some of the more important aspects of

modern Japanese Society. Be able differentiate between the important social and cultural aspects

of the country. Define the differences between Japanese and American/European/Asian

(etc.) cultures. Recognize unique and borrowed social forms that are found in Japan. Appreciate Japanese artistic and cultural properties. Understand the nature and purpose of comparative cultural studies.

Students Should: Possess high communication skills in both Japanese and English. Possess Critical, Creative, Independent and Global thinking skills. Possess an inter-cultural understanding and be open-minded towards

other cultures. Student Feedback Note that the course is ever in a state of evolution, and feedback is

essential for its continued growth.

For every semester, this course will be evaluated and reflect upon student course evaluation and feedback.

STUDY MATERIALS: Supplied each week in class – no formal text-book required. Further readings (all the following may be found in the University library – the number is their stack reference code) - Sharon Kinsella. Adult manga : culture and power in contemporary Japanese society. 80003748 - Takeo Doi The anatomy of self : the individual versus society 9014755 - Hendry, Joy. Understanding Japanese Society. 91019739 - Davies, Roger., and Ikeno, Osamu. The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture. 10009969 - Benedict, Ruth. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. 9010146 - Reischauer, Edwin. The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity. 91016870 - Denoon, Donald. Et al. Multicultural Japan.

Attendance and Assessment:

NOTE: Attendance is compulsory. A register will be taken each

session. 1. Each unexcused absence with reduce your overall grade by an incremental amount. 2. If a student misses 30% of the total number of classes without reason (5 classes), they

will automatically lose the ability to submit a final paper or research project. 3. If you are to be absent for a legitimate reason (medical, family, etc.), please be sure to

see me ASAP. Note that part-time work does not constitute a legitimate reason between the hours of 9am and 6pm on a week-day.

4. Pre-study and class preparation: all students in this course should be sure to fully cover any provided study materials and other work before class. Be sure to devote a enough time to this so that both class work and assignments run smoothly.

Also, sleeping in class will be considered an unexcused absence. We are all busy, but dozing is disrespectful to the rest of the class.

Student’s achievement of the stated course objectives will be measured in terms of their performance in the following areas:

1. Group Presentations 25% 2. Final Essay 35% 3. Weekly Tests 25% 4. Class Engagement 15%

The Final paper may be on any topic of interest to the student. However, it should be a topic to which the themes, theories and principles of media studies can be appropriately applied. These written projects should be around 2500 words in length.

iCLA ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY

Acts of Academic Dishonesty: In accord with University policies and good practices in higher education, acts

of academic dishonesty such as plagiarism, cheating, forgery (on a paper, examination, test, or other

assignment) will result in the failure of the course at a minimum. An act of academic dishonesty during the

final examination or assignment in lieu of the final examination will result in failure of all courses registered

in the relevant academic term. Cases of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs

for relevant action.

CLASS FORMAT: Each week will be divided into a Lecture and an open presentation/discussion session. The lecture will present the main views on each subject area and provide the students with a starting point for their own thought. The follow-up discussion will require the students to discuss and/or make presentations on their understanding of the material.

Research Essay Questions You must visit me by the end of week eight to agree your essay question. It may follow one of the questions below, or may be based on independent research. If not agreed by end of week eight, no submission of paper will be permitted. Please be aware of this. 1: Mass culture depends on its market: Are Japan’s traditional cultural properties being slowly eroded by the

sort of mass popularisation which has seen Kabuki in a Opera House and Bunraku in a University?

2: Mother Knows Best: Discuss the role of the Mother figure (working and otherwise) in the modern Japanese

household. How has her position changed in the last twenty years.

3: Dreaming of Samurai, Salarymen and Social Outcastes: Discuss the ongoing importance of this seemingly

feudal concept to Japanese society – especially within business, education and the political field.

4: The Great Wilderness: Discuss the current perception of a rapid population decline in areas like Akita

Prefecture. Are these fears justified and, if so, what causes/consequences can you identify in this population shift?

5: Believe in a sign of Zeta!: Anime, manga and a host of other Japanese pop-culture icons have exploded onto

the world in the last decade or so (Indeed, often the only interlocutor to Japanese culture for some people). What

is it about these – often archly Japanese – cultural properties which makes them so accessible and, indeed, are

they actually a good example of what Japan has become?

6: The Invisibles: What is the role of Japan’s traditionally invisible minorities (Ainu, Buraku, Nisei, Zainichi,

homeless, New Freeter etc.) within this 21st century country? Do the prejudices of the past still cling to these

groups?

7: Women’s World: As the world shrinks and (young) Japanese women become ever more aware of their own

personal power, within a global context who is this affecting the way in which they view their relationship with

Japanese society as a whole (as well as their family, friends, work and men in particular).

SCHEDULE: Week 1 Session One - Orientation

Week 2 Uchi and Soto: Mythconceptions of Japan. Session One - "Studying Japan One: Nihonjinron" Introducing the subject of Japanese Cultural Studies from a comparative point of view and introducing the first important issue of note (nihonjinron) to the class. Main Issue: What do current views on the notion of nihonjinron scholarship say about modern Japanese attitudes to both themselves and others? Readings: As Provided Donald Keene. Appreciations of Culture. Kodansha. Takeo Doi The anatomy of self : the individual versus society 9014755 Hendry, Joy. Understanding Japanese Society. 91019739 Reischauer, Edwin. The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity. 91016870

Session 2 - Discussion Presentation opportunity: Japan as Number One: Nihonjinron Some Questions for Discussion 1: Considering what we know, how can the Japanese still seemingly assume that they constitute a culturally and socially homogeneous racial entity, whose essence is virtually unchanged from prehistoric times down to the present day? 2: How does Nihonjinron as a theory compare to similar Western Social traditions?

Week 3 - Uchi and Soto: Mythconceptions of Japan. Session One - "Studying Japan Two: Through a Glass, Darkly" Examining more foreign perspectives on Japan in both the historical context and in the modern age – both in positive and negative ways. Main Issue: What does European and American views on Japan during and after the Second World War say about the social and political insecurities in the West? Readings: Donald Keene. Appreciations of Culture. Kodansha . Benedict, Ruth. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. 9010146 Denoon, Donald. Et al. Multicultural Japan.

Session Two - Discussion Presentation opportunity: The Personal Perspective: On the Inside, Looking in... Some Questions for Discussion 1: How has Western Scholarship approached Japan? Are those who support it simply lost in the Mysterious East? And are those who oppose it simply seeking to attack the country along the line of least resistance for other reasons (economic, political, cultural etc)? 2: What are your own perceptions?

Week 4: The essential Other - Interesting Aspects of Japanese Studies Anthropology and the Folklore Movements of the 19th Century Lecture: Introducing the subject of Folk and Revival Studies from a comparative point of view and discussing some of the important first cases with the class (Cecil Sharp, the Esperance Movement, American Folk Society, Bavarian Cultural Circle, etc.).

Discussion “Folklore as Internal Colonialism” Example Questions for Discussion: 1: How do societies differ when examining the history of external cultures as compared to internal? 2: Why do societies tend to denigrate the cultural products of their own ‘common’ people? 3: What differences exist, if any between elite and common culture? 4: Who controls culture? We shall return to this question many times in the course.

Week 5 - Discovery of the Self Session One - When the Past is Present This week we are going to go over some of the key moments in Japanese history and consider how these have affected social cohesion, religious matters and – ultimately – cultural development. Main Question: “The Japanese have no sense of self. They steal everything they can, and destroy that which they cannot steal” – Gen. Douglas McArthur. Discuss? Readings: Edwin Reischauer. The Japanese Today. Benedict, Ruth. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. 9010146 Denoon, Donald. Et al. Multicultural Japan.

Weeks 6 and 7: Screening One Tampopo Contemporary Film 2 "Tampopo" - Theme: Juzo Itami was Japan's most impressive social film maker until he committed suicide (or was murdered) in the late 1990s. Of all his films, it is Tampopo which stands as his 'Nationalistic' masterpiece - painting a wonderful image of Japan's obession with all things foreign.

Look kids. It's Ken Watanabe....... (Applaud)

Weeks 8 and 9 - Class and Stratification. Session One - "A Middling Sort of Country" Exploding the myth that Japan has no clear cut class divisions, but is rather defined by a of a group-against-group mentality (drawn from certain readings of tatemae perhaps). This week’s lecture details different perspectives on the social structure of contemporary Japan. Main Issue: How do the Japanese themselves conceptualise the notion of class division? Readings: As provided Edwin Reischauer. The Japanese Today Yoshio Sugimoto An Introduction to Japanese Society

Session Two - Discussion Presentation opportunity: "A matter of real Class" Some Questions for Discussion 1: "Despite decades of democracy and a stated passion for the social philosophy of the West, Japan remains a feudal, if not entirely Confucian society" - Donald Keene? TRUE OR FALSE - and why? 2: Why is the Middle-Class obsession or powerful in Japan - how can it more socially acceptable to be a desk-bound cubicle rat than a land-owning farmer?

Week 10 – Reading Week and Group Presentation Prep

Week 11 – All in the Family Session One - This Woman's Worth The family unit is the subject of this week’s lecture. Specifically we will be dealing with issues of (non)marriage and reproduction, as well as the aging state of the families. Main Question: “A patriarchy which would collapse without female support’. Examine the role of women in a modern Japanese working family. Readings: To be Provided Edwin Reischauer. The Japanese Today (Available from the University Bookshop). Yoshio Sugimoto An Introduction to Japanese Society (Available from the library)

Session Two - Discussion Presentation Group Seven - Half Baked Christmas Cake? Some Questions for Discussion: 1: Do modern Japanese women really have no better a lot than their ancestors? (I especially want to hear from the Japanese students on this) 2: Do Western attitudes to Feminism act positively or negatively on attitudes to empowered women in Japan today?

Week 12 - Screening Two: Yakuza • There will be a special screening of a film as yet undecided.

Week 13 - Screening Two: Yakuza Yak's Got yer Back Session One - Working Class Heroes It is often said that most serious crime in Japan is to be found in the government. This lecture explores this myth and examines the grains of truth which gave light to it – examining the structure of the post-war government and the moneyed interests which still essentially control Japanese politics (much as anywhere else in the world). Main Question: The Yakuza: Mythic heroes or heroic myth? Readings: To be Provided Yoshio Sugimoto An Introduction to Japanese Society (Available from the library)

Session Two - Discussion Presentation Opportunity - Organized Grime Some Questions for Discussion: 1: How do the Yakuza protect themselves from total destruction, even in an age which seems to be increasingly Anti-Mob? 2: Why do the 'Common Folk' seem to support the various families so much? Is it really just a question of the working-class hero syndrome at work?

Weeks 14 and 15 Set aside for Group Presentations

Week 16 for submission of final paper