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Arts and Humanities

2020

Japan

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'Seeds Of Happiness': An Oral History Of Members Of Soka Gakkai International-New Orleans, Lorvelis Amelia Madueño Dec 2020

'Seeds Of Happiness': An Oral History Of Members Of Soka Gakkai International-New Orleans, Lorvelis Amelia Madueño

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a Japanese new religious movement present in 192 countries. Despite the substantial amount of academic work that has been produced on SGI’s overseas expansion, many scholars continue to overlook the local context when analyzing the organization’s global presence. This paper is based on oral history interviews and examines the experiences of five members of the SGI-USA New Orleans Buddhist Center, located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. This thesis argues that many SGI practitioners choose to join and remain in the organization because it fills specific spiritual and emotional voids in their lives, creates …


More Than Just Video Games: Analyzing Japanese Game Design 1985 - 1995, Gerald Demattia Dec 2020

More Than Just Video Games: Analyzing Japanese Game Design 1985 - 1995, Gerald Demattia

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis is an exploration of how the Japanese experience in the second half of the 20th century shaped video game design in Japan from 1985-1995 – particularly the formation of the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre. To understand the connection between the Japanese experience and JRPGs, research for this thesis was conducted around specific game developers and their creations, namely: Yuji Horii and Dragon Quest; Shigesato Itoi and Mother 1 & 2; and Tajiri Satoshi and the Pokémon games. The crux of this paper centers on primary source interviews with developers where social commentary was cited …


The Yakuza: Organized Crime In Japan, Darlene N. Moorman Dec 2020

The Yakuza: Organized Crime In Japan, Darlene N. Moorman

The Downtown Review

Examining organized crime groups should not be purely economic; in other words, the culture, social structure, political contexts, and so on, are also critical in an insightful analysis of any organized crime group. For this paper, the Japanese yakuza are considered both in an economic viewpoint, such as how they make money, but also in other areas, such as its syndicates' notable cultural contributions and specific social characteristics. Moreover, this paper explores the dynamic changing of the organization overtime, especially in regards to its shifting relationship with the Japanese government.


Translingual Practices In A ‘Monolingual’ Society: Discourses, Learners’ Subjectivities And Language Choices, Reiko Kato, Yuri Kumagai Aug 2020

Translingual Practices In A ‘Monolingual’ Society: Discourses, Learners’ Subjectivities And Language Choices, Reiko Kato, Yuri Kumagai

East Asian Languages & Cultures: Faculty Publications

This study explores how Japanese EFL students engaged in translingual practices during a telecollaborative project that connected two college classrooms in the US and Japan. The project aimed at encouraging the students’ creative uses of languages, promoting an appreciation for their multiple linguistic resources, and nurturing their sense of ownership of languages informed by translingual practices. Contrary to our expectations, students in Japan exhibited great efforts to write in monolingual English and/or Japanese, which prompted us to investigate the reasons behind their language choices. Based on data analyses drawing on poststructural theory of subjectivities, we argue that the students’ language …


Youth In World War Ii, Alyson Griggs Aug 2020

Youth In World War Ii, Alyson Griggs

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This thesis project consists of two focuses. The first part focuses on the experiences of Japanese American adolescents who were interned with their parents at the Central Utah Relocation Center during World War II. Although these students were born in the United States and therefore U.S. citizens, they were considered "Japanese" by the U.S. government and many of its citizens. When the U.S. government forcibly removed Japanese American youth and their families from the West Coast, this heavily affected Japanese American youth's perceptions of themselves and the country of their birth. This portion of the project includes a digital exhibit, …


“Even If It Means Our Battles To Date Are Meaningless” The Anime Gundam Wing And Postwar History, Memory, And Identity In Japan, Genevieve R. Peterson Aug 2020

“Even If It Means Our Battles To Date Are Meaningless” The Anime Gundam Wing And Postwar History, Memory, And Identity In Japan, Genevieve R. Peterson

Graduate Masters Theses

Since 1945, three narratives have dominated Japan’s postwar memory landscape: the heroic narrative, the victim narrative, and the perpetrator narrative. There are few places in Japanese public discourse demonstrating an engagement with the gray areas between the narratives. What makes a hero? What kinds of visions do victims cast? How evil are perpetrators? While often absent in public discourse, these questions are frequently explored in Japanese popular media, including anime. When the 50th anniversary of the end of the Asia-Pacific War occurred in 1995, Japan’s public figures attempted to lay its memory to rest. In the same year, on April …


Amelia Earhart: Myth And Memory, Amy Lutz Jul 2020

Amelia Earhart: Myth And Memory, Amy Lutz

Theses

There are a range of theories about Amelia Earhart's disappearance. This thesis considers one of the most long-running theories - The Japanese Capture Theory. This theory posits that Earhart was captured and/or executed by the Japanese upon her disappearance in 1937. The Japanese Capture Theory, from its inception in 1942 to its continued existence today, has considerably impacted the historical memory of Amelia Earhart. A woman who was so beloved and celebrated in life is largely more famous for her death. Her story was retold in hindsight, without her voice. The emergence of theories about her disappearance and popular fascination …


Transgender Identity In Pre-Modern Japan, Sam Friedline Jul 2020

Transgender Identity In Pre-Modern Japan, Sam Friedline

Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Projects (SCARP)

This paper examines the documented history of transgender identity in pre-modern Japan. Through literary analysis of the Torikaebaya Monogatari and depictions of Kabuki actors and sex workers in woodblock prints, transgender individuals’s place in Japanese society is deconstructed, societal view of LGBTQIA+ individuals during these periods is interpreted, and where trasngender people were most prevalent in society is determined.


A Rhetoric And Philosophy Of Gifts, Mary Eberhardinger May 2020

A Rhetoric And Philosophy Of Gifts, Mary Eberhardinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project synthesizes a selected scope of rhetorical and philosophical perspectives of the gift. The research question is what the relationship between gifts and rhetoric might be. In order to approach this question, this project offers a review of related literature on the topic of gifts. It then provides analysis and discussion that contextualize the question. The project finally concludes by offering implications. The implications address why the question concerning the relationship between gifts and rhetoric matters for the larger landscape of international relations.


Savoring The Moon: Japanese Prints Of The Floating World, Madison B. Dalton May 2020

Savoring The Moon: Japanese Prints Of The Floating World, Madison B. Dalton

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Guided by the Director of the Madison Art Collection and Lisanby Museum, Virginia Soenksen,I served as the Curatorial Assistant for the Lisanby Museum’s forthcoming exhibition Savoring the Moon: Japanese Prints of the Floating World. The exhibition will highlight the Madison ArtCollection’s impressive Japanese woodblock prints in the ukiyo-e style. Ukiyo-e translates to“pictures of the floating world.” This style proliferated in Japan during the Edo period (1603 - 1868) and Meiji period (1868 - 1912), with visual themes that ranged from flora and fauna, Japanese ceremonies, kabuki actors, mythology, courtesans, and cultural pastimes. The estate of Charles Alvin Lisanby gifted over …


Mice Meet World: How Disney And Nintendo Allowed Consumers To Escape From, Re-Enter, And Later Re-Envision A War Torn World, Samantha Constantine May 2020

Mice Meet World: How Disney And Nintendo Allowed Consumers To Escape From, Re-Enter, And Later Re-Envision A War Torn World, Samantha Constantine

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis examines how Disney and Nintendo appealed to consumers in both the United States and Japan by celebrating ideals that spoke to consumer’s existing perceptions of national identity and national exceptionalism, particularly the dream of upward mobility. This thesis highlights four character traits that both the Japanese and Americans found heroic and that comprised the wider dream of upward mobility: hard work, perseverance, tenacity, and kindness. Through the immersive experiences that Disney and Nintendo provided, consumers became the heroes of their own journeys and brought these characteristics to life both in the fantasy worlds each company created and in …


The Transition Of Guanyin: Reinterpreting Queerness And Buddha Nature In Medieval East Asia, Robert Wilf May 2020

The Transition Of Guanyin: Reinterpreting Queerness And Buddha Nature In Medieval East Asia, Robert Wilf

Religious Studies Honors Papers

Avalokitesvara, better known by the Chinese name of Guanyin, is perhaps the second most pervasive figure in all of Buddhism after the historical Buddha himself. Part of this popularity comes from his adaptability and willingness to change to order to save everyone, no matter what part of society they might be from. It is thanks to this adaptability that Guanyin’s iconography varies wildly by region, with much of Theravada and tantric Buddhism depicting him as a man, while Mahayana Buddhism tends to revere her as the patron of women. From their earliest description, Guanyin was known to transcend boundaries to …


Suspicious Minds: A Study Of The Attitudes That African Americans Held Regarding The Japanese During World War Ii, Timothy E. Buchanan May 2020

Suspicious Minds: A Study Of The Attitudes That African Americans Held Regarding The Japanese During World War Ii, Timothy E. Buchanan

Honors Theses

This thesis explores African American viewpoints about the Japanese, from just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor up to Allied occupation of Japan after the Second World War. The primary sources for this thesis include Black newspapers, the papers of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as oral histories from African American veterans. The goal of this research is to provide a historical view of the African American perspective, both in the United States and abroad. This thesis also aims to fill the gap in the scholarship on this topic by bringing different groups …


Guerrilla Warfare In The Philippines: Dispersion, Cooperation, And Desperation, Alexander William Decker May 2020

Guerrilla Warfare In The Philippines: Dispersion, Cooperation, And Desperation, Alexander William Decker

MSU Graduate Theses

Guerrilla warfare in Central Luzon from 1942 to 1945 was extremely limited by available resources and manpower, especially following the mass surrender of U.S. troops in the Philippines to Imperial Japan during the surrender at Bataan on April 9th, 1942. By closely analyzing the primary accounts of Luzon guerrillas Doyle Decker and Robert Mailheau, I seek to confirm, confront, and consider many established expectations of guerrilla warfare, especially since much of the established literature espouses a loose set of guidelines for irregular warfare. In this paper, I analyze the pre-war Philippines in order to establish the decisive disadvantages that American …


Contextualized Songwriting In The Japanese Church, Katie Ann Mcwilliams May 2020

Contextualized Songwriting In The Japanese Church, Katie Ann Mcwilliams

Masters Theses

The Christian Church of Japan has very few songs written in their own language and style. Most songs are translated from English or another language. While Japan is a very westernized country, this is a problem because things can get lost in translation and these songs are not always representative of their musical style. Furthermore, they have a unique voice of worship that is currently missing from the global Church. My research project was intended to identify songwriters and encourage songwriting for the local church with the intention of expanding the Japanese voice in the global context and raising awareness …


The Atomic Bomb And The Birth Of Manga: Collective Memory In Post-Wwii Japan, Bethany Harris May 2020

The Atomic Bomb And The Birth Of Manga: Collective Memory In Post-Wwii Japan, Bethany Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the ashes of post-World War II Japan and among the widespread poverty and devastation, cheap entertainment in the form of manga flourished on an unprecedented level. Manga was used not only to reenact and process war trauma, but also as a tool that helped usher in a new era of pro-American democracy and science. Manga in support of Japan’s new image quickly became popularized and embraced by the public, such as Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, but this was only one lens that captured Japanese memory of WWII. Keiji Nakazawa published the first documentary form of manga in his …


In The Name Of The Moon: Female Mangaka And The Manga Industry, Sarah G. Daugherty May 2020

In The Name Of The Moon: Female Mangaka And The Manga Industry, Sarah G. Daugherty

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.


Is A Sign A Sign: The Iconicity Of Road Signage, Alisa Lim May 2020

Is A Sign A Sign: The Iconicity Of Road Signage, Alisa Lim

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.


The Emergence Of Anti-Hate Speech Activism In Japan: The Relevance Of Critical Race Theory’S Sociological Implications, Bachtiar Alam Apr 2020

The Emergence Of Anti-Hate Speech Activism In Japan: The Relevance Of Critical Race Theory’S Sociological Implications, Bachtiar Alam

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

As concern over hate speech grows into a global issue (Haraszti 2012), a recurring question confronting every democratic society is how it should restrict discriminatory speech without infringing upon the universally accepted principle of free speech. Japan’s recent experience in coping with growing hate speech presents a valuable case study. The country had staunchly protected the free speech principle enshrined in the post-World War II constitution and consistently been disinclined to pass any law that regulates hate speech. This, however, has changed dramatically in the last few years. The incidence of hate speech targeting ethnic Koreans exploded around 2012, which …


The Russo-Japanese War: Origins And Implications, Benjamin E. Mainardi Apr 2020

The Russo-Japanese War: Origins And Implications, Benjamin E. Mainardi

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

The 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War was the first major conflict of the twentieth century and a turning point in the balance of power in East Asia. In the short term, Russia’s defeat helped precipitate the 1905 Russian Revolution and the 1917 October Revolution. More broadly, the aftermath of the war informed Japan’s imperial ambitions in Manchuria—the early stages of World War II in Asia during the 1930s—and continuing Russo-Japanese enmity over Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Island chain. Studying this historical conflict in terms of international relations provides valuable insights into the nature of the conflict and how the past continues …


Wafuku: An Exploration Of Historic Japanese Apparel And The Future Of The Kimono Form, Elaina M. Reck Apr 2020

Wafuku: An Exploration Of Historic Japanese Apparel And The Future Of The Kimono Form, Elaina M. Reck

Senior Theses

This thesis is an exploration of historical Japanese dress for women, especially focusing on the kimono. It will delve into the comparisons between Western and Japanese dress (respectively yōfuku and wafuku), especially focusing on form and silhouette. It will conclude with an examination of the current status of the kimono, what led to its demise, but also what recent revitalization efforts have been made in Japan. The companion creative portion is a collection of modern clothing that is inspired by elements of these historic garments, showing that these design elements are timeless. I desire for this project to be …


Japan’S 2d Trauma Culture: Defining Crisis Cinema In Post-3/11 Japan, Matthew C. Hill Apr 2020

Japan’S 2d Trauma Culture: Defining Crisis Cinema In Post-3/11 Japan, Matthew C. Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This paper labors to expound the link between the socially mediated “trauma process,” or the creation of collective trauma through social discourse, and the proposed moniker of “crisis cinema” that has often been deployed by media scholars with no clear parameters. This paper, then, endeavors to evince the trauma process’ relevance to crises and disasters, explicitly define a paradigm by which crisis cinema can be understood, and subsequently utilized by a larger patronage, and showcase the pair’s reliance on one another. This is approached through the locus of the March 11, 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and a selection of …


Uniquely Okinawan: Determining Identity During The U.S. Wartime Occupation, Courtney A. Short Mar 2020

Uniquely Okinawan: Determining Identity During The U.S. Wartime Occupation, Courtney A. Short

History

When the U.S. military landed on the shores of Okinawa in 1945, they faced not only a fierce and battle-tested Japanese force, but also 463,000 Okinawan inhabitants. Larger than any other civilian population encountered by the Americans during previous campaigns throughout the Pacific islands, the people of Okinawa also had a unique and complex historical and political relationship with Japan. Okinawa never experienced subjugation as a colony, yet its acceptance as a prefecture did not yield equal treatment for the people because of their Ryukyuan heritage. As the U.S. military prepared for the Battle of Okinawa, they faced dangerous uncertainty …


A Reexamination Of Emperor Hirohito's Military And Political Role In Wartime Japan, 1926-1945, Kazuaki Suhama Mar 2020

A Reexamination Of Emperor Hirohito's Military And Political Role In Wartime Japan, 1926-1945, Kazuaki Suhama

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper discusses and reexamines Emperor Hirohito’s degree of responsibility in Japan’s military aggression in China during the late 1920s and 1930s to the attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States during World War II. Scholars have long debated the extent of Hirohito’s role as a warmonger due to his ambiguous position as a head of state and the lack of primary evidence displaying his actions and thoughts on the war. This paper will utilize the Constitution of the Empire of Japan of 1889 (informally known as the Meiji Constitution) which delineated the emperor’s supreme position in the government …


Why The Territorial Dispute Between Japan And China Cannot Be Resolved, Hiroshi Saito Feb 2020

Why The Territorial Dispute Between Japan And China Cannot Be Resolved, Hiroshi Saito

Japanese Society and Culture

This essay aims to suggest that the different idea of war would be a legal ground of each one on the territorial dispute between two States. There are three different time stages for the idea about war. The first stage is “the present time” which the developed states including Japan belong to and armed forces cannot be used to resolve international problems. The second is” the past time” especially time before the World War Two in which some developing states including China use armed forces to international conflicts. The third is “the ancient time” in which dictatorial or collapsed states …


Japan's War On Three Fronts Prior To 1941, Shaohai Guo Jan 2020

Japan's War On Three Fronts Prior To 1941, Shaohai Guo

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper argues that Japan fought a three-front war prior to 1941. Japan not only fought China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, but conducted military operations against the Soviet Union. The third front occurred within Japan, as military factionalism prevented Japan from focusing on either China or the Soviet Union. By 1941, weakened through years of war, Japan focused their attention on French Indochina. This ultimately led to U.S entry into World War II.


Can Whaling In Japan Be Justified By Culture?, Lily Harris Jan 2020

Can Whaling In Japan Be Justified By Culture?, Lily Harris

Modern Languages: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

"Can Whaling in Japan be Justified by Culture?" divulges on the current, tension-driven debate between pro-whalers and anti-whalers. In the process, the paper uncovers the reasoning behind the hostility towards Japan's whaling practices and, in turn, posits a solution in which Japan should still be able to do so.


A Failure Of Policy: How U.S. Leaders Neglected To Shape, Lead, And Leverage Intelligence Concerning Japan During The Interwar Period, 1918-1941, Sean-Patrick Lane Jan 2020

A Failure Of Policy: How U.S. Leaders Neglected To Shape, Lead, And Leverage Intelligence Concerning Japan During The Interwar Period, 1918-1941, Sean-Patrick Lane

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores the perspective and performance of U.S. intelligence professionals and the intelligence organizations in which they served concerning Japan during the interwar period, the timespan ranging approximately from the conclusion of World War I in November 1918 through the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941. Research for this dissertation focused predominantly on official and other primary documents, including U.S. intelligence reports and memoranda; intercepted, decrypted, and translated Japanese cablegrams; personal letters by and concerning U.S. intelligence professionals; and other primary source materials related to intelligence professionals and services available via the U.S. …


Beyond Their Homeland: Understanding The Experiences Of Black Women In Japan, Bernadette Tisha Benjamin Jan 2020

Beyond Their Homeland: Understanding The Experiences Of Black Women In Japan, Bernadette Tisha Benjamin

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Understanding how Black women conceptualize the role their racial and gender identities play within their experience in Japan.


Review Of Magic Ramen: The Story Of Momofuku Ando By Andrea Wang, Jacy A. Stahlhut Jan 2020

Review Of Magic Ramen: The Story Of Momofuku Ando By Andrea Wang, Jacy A. Stahlhut

Library Intern Book Reviews

No abstract provided.