From the electronics of Play
Station and Tamagocchi to the animation of Pokemon and Sailormoon, Japan's pop
culture is one of the most pervasive in the world today. This course explores explores the importance of popular culture in Japanese history, and trains students to critically analyze culture as a means to understanding a society. Students will approach Japan's popular culture historically, sociologically, psychologically, and artistically in order to examine issues of gender, sexuality, religion, race,
technology, social status, and identity since the seventeenth century. Research materials for this course include woodblock prints, kabuki plays, samurai movies,
literature, animation, music, and much more. Some of the larger questions students tackle are: What is popular culture? What does it mean to be Japanese? What does
popular culture reflect about society and how does it influence society? And
who controls popular culture?
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