Honors tokyo 2017
A Guide to Getting Lost in Tokyo
Reflection on :
● Jeff Kingston, Japan’s Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the Twenty-First Century (2004), pp. 225-256. ● Watch Spirited Away (2001) ● Andrew Yang, "The Two Japans of 'Spirited Away'," International Journal of Comic Art (2010), pp. 435-452. After reading all the articles assigned thus far, one message has become clear: national identity is fluid and constantly affected in many different aspects. For instance, in Precarious Japan, Anne Allison stresses the impact that familial structures and the current Japanese work ethic has on shaping the identity of people both within the home, and outside with what ‘Japaneseness’ means. In addition to family, Kingston mentions in Japan’s Quiet Transformation that events like the World Cup in 2002 also contributed to changes in Japan’s views on international affairs due to its somewhat controversial collaboration with South Korea. Along with shifting viewpoints, Japan’s unexpected favorable participation in the 2002 World Cup created feelings of “shared exuberance, pride, and community” among the Japanese, which pulled together a more cohesive identity within the nation (Kingston 249). Due to the effect that this type of pop cultural event evidently had on forming identity, I am interested in researching more deeply into how Japan’s usage of media and pop culture influence the creation and changing of ‘national identity’ and what it means to be Japanese as a whole. Specifically, I’m drawn to the effects of Japanese anime and manga due to the ever-expanding anime pop culture. As Andrew Yang states in the beginning of “The Two Japans of ‘Spirited Away’”, anime has even become a global franchise and has the potential to (or maybe has already) altered perceptions of national identity not only regarding what it means to be Japanese, but what ‘Japaneseness’ means to foreigners... Anime and pop culture is also a great pathway into gaining insight on how identity is changing amongst younger Japanese generations. After briefly looking into the history of anime, it can be seen that anime only really gained a foothold in society in the early 20th century. From all the readings and Kristi’s lecture, WWII clearly had an enormous impact on Japan, especially after the U.S. gained control over it in the mid-20th century. It will be interesting to analyze how the U.S. plays a role in Japanese pop culture, and how this fairly new culture filled with fantastical characters of the imagination captivates and influences both younger Japanese, and people outside of Japan.
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