Japanese Studies Commons^™

The World’S Greatest Hero: An Examination Of Superhero Tropes In My Hero Academia, Jerry Waller

Master's Projects and Capstones

In this paper the author explores the cross-cultural transmission of genre archetypes in illustrated media. Specifically, the representation of the archetype of American superheroes as represented in the Japanese manga and anime series, My Hero Academia. Through examination of the extant corpus of manga chapters and anime episodes for the franchise, the author draws comparison between characters and situations in the manga series with examples from American comic books by Marvel Comics and DC Comics. By skillfully incorporating foundational themes of American superhero comics into the shonen manga genre, My Hero Academia joins a growing collection of media that draws …

The Darker Sides Of The Isekai Genre: An Examination Of The Power Of Anime And Manga, Curtis Lu

Master's Projects and Capstones

This study illustrates characteristics of the isekai genre, presents connections between this genre and social problems commonly found in Japanese culture and society, and demonstrates the widespread impact of Japanese popular media. By analyzing some of the most popular forms and categories of isekai, this research pinpoints important characteristics – in the form of certain themes, characters, and plots – that contribute to social problems like suicide and shut-ins. Escapism is a central theme in many isekai works, and while escapism is healthy to a certain extent, some take the concept too far, often getting lost in their own …

Acue Effective Teaching Practices: Module Reflections, Makiko Amaya

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

This is a collection of reflection journals assigned by ACUE’s (Association of Colleges and University Educators) online “Course in Effective Teaching Practices.” This course is designed for college educators to gain a foundation in evidence-based teaching practices that increase student motivation, engagement, and learning.

This collection includes eight “Instructional Practice” reflection journals and two “Plan to Implement” reflection journals.

The journals include reflections from the following ACUE modules:

Connecting with Students (Module 2C)

Teaching Powerful Note Taking Skills (Module 4C)

Leading the First Day of Class: (Module 2 A)

Planning and Effective Class Session (Module 1E)

Delivering and Effective …

Bl And Danmei The Similarities And Differences Between Male X Male Content And Its Fans In Japan And China, Emily Williams

Honors Projects

BL and danmei, two terms meaning male x male fiction in Japan and China respectively, are popular genres for young women in East Asia. This paper compares BL and danmei, which are connected by history and definition, but have a few key differences. Namely, differences that are due to Chinese censorship and Japan's relative lack thereof and differences in distribution. These differences leading to China's danmei fandom being more insular and almost entirely online in contrast to Japan's slightly more public BL fandom.

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 …

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 …

Japanese Language And Culture Jpn Xxx, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Poetics Of Acculturation: Early Pure Land Buddhism And The Topography Of The Periphery In Orikuchi Shinobu’S The Book Of The Dead, Ikuho Amano

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures: Faculty Publications

Known as the exponent practitioner of kokubungaku (national literature), modernist ethnologist Orikuchi Shinobu (1887–1953) readily utilized archaic Japanese experiences as viable resources for his literary imagination. As the leading disciple of Yanagita Kunio (1875–1962), who is known as the founding father of modern folkloric ethnology in Japan, Orikuchi is often considered a nativist ethnologist whose works tend to be construed as a probing into the origin of the nation. He considered the essence of national literature as “the origins of art itself,” and such a critical vision arguably linked him to interwar fascism.1 Nevertheless, his nativist effort as a literatus …

Japanese-English Translation: Kitaōji Rosanjin—Character (1953), Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

日英翻訳書：「個性」、北大路魯山人著、サウスワード・クリストファー（南方）訳

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 …

Book Review Of, Japanese Kanji Power: A Workbook For Mastering Japanese Characters, Karen Curtin

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Book review of Japanese Kanji Power: A Workbook for Mastering Japanese Characters, by John Millen

Book Review Of, Beneath The Sleepless Tossing Of The Planets: Selected Poems Of Makoto Ōoka, Jon Holt

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

Book review of Beneath the Sleepless Tossing of the Planets: Selected Poems ofcMakoto Ōoka.

Useful And Effective Worksheets To Enhance Communicative And Reading Skills For Japanese Language Learners, Masako Nunn

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

The purpose of this project is to create useful and effective worksheets to accord with the current textbook (Genki I, published by the Japan Times) in the aim of enhancing Japanese language learners’ communicative and reading skills. Therefore, this project includes the following worksheets in learning Japanese language in accord with the current textbook, Genki I (2^nd edition) to enhance communicative and reading practice. This package includes the following: 1) worksheet; 2) worksheet answers; 3) vocabulary worksheet; 4) three PowerPoints with voice recorded; 5) reading supplement- PowerPoint with vocabulary and sentence practice; 6) reading supplement with auditory aid; 7) …

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 …

Daijosai And The Separation Of Religion And State, Thomas Makoto Naruse

Japanese Society and Culture

Daijosai, which is regarded as an indispensable ceremony for the accession of the throne, is a Shinto ceremony. Therefore, as Japanese Constitution defines separation of church and state, it is not held as a national ceremony (a state act) but held as a ceremony of the imperial house. On the other hand, since it is said to be an indispensable ceremony for the accession of the throne, government finds public significance, and the cost is covered by the national expenses. Criticisms that claim violation of separation of church and state arise, and many lawsuits were filed.

This article reveals …

What Does Corporal Punishment In Schools Mean? : Trend Of Case Law, Hitoshi Miyahara

Japanese Society and Culture

Since the Meiji era, school education statutes have consistently prohibited corporal punishment. However, corporal punishment never disappeared from schools. We have to consider the reasons why teachers are unable to avoid them. The Supreme Court of Japan has ruled that corporal punishment is illegal, but that teachers could adopt certain forms of “physical contact” in the course of instruction. Their conduct becomes illegal only when they abuse their power. Case law indicates that a decision on whether they abused it is made after considering all circumstances, for example the necessity to use force, purpose of instruction, and method of discipline.

The Aesthetic Society And Its Gatekeepers, Aaron Francis Ward

Japanese Society and Culture

The current study draws on Saito’s (2007) application to western context of the Japanese practice of appreciating the aesthetic and ethical aspects of everyday objects, examined through the complexity of aesthetic evaluation. Bourdieu’s (1984a) moderating variable cultural capital is used to advance an understanding of perceptual and linguistic complexity in daily aesthetic consumption. By engaging participants in a quasi-experiment of multi-sensory trials of everyday products (lemon squeezers), an examination was made of how language use reveals embodied knowledge of daily consumption practice. As the participants’ volumes of cultural capital increased, there was a greater tendency to categorize the stimuli according …

Foreword To Brian Victoria, Zen Terror: Portrait Of An Assassin, James Mark Shields

Other Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Gomyō And Kūkai In Early-Heian Intra-Buddhist Conversations, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This paper is about the relationship between the famous Japanese esoteric Buddhist Kūkai and the less-famous Gomyō, who you've probably never heard of but maybe should have. My paper responds to the work of two recent scholars, Fujii Jun, who says that Kūkai was a Sanron (Japanese Mādhyamika) priest, and Matsumoto Gyoyu, who speculates about the origins of and thinking behind certain passages in Kūkai's Jūjūshinron. The paper points to the intellectual significance for Kūkai of his close relationship with Gomyō and other Yogācāra scholars of his day, and how this is reflected in the Jūjūshinron and Kūkai's thought broadly. …

Factors Supporting Turkey’S Policy To Purchase Russian S-400 Anti-Air Strike Defense Units, Chendika Yonanda, Maryam Jamila, Zulkifli Harza, Ilman Syarif Masri

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance since 1952, as a member of NATO, cooperation between Turkey and Russia invites counterparts from other NATO alliance countries. But even with criticism, Turkey continues purchasing S-400 from Russia . Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors that support Turkey's policy on purchasing S-400.This research is a descriptive research through internet-based literature.Turkey's policy in purchasing S-400 analyzed using the concepts of Arms, Alliances and Security Tradeoffs proposed by James D. Morrow. James stated that there are three factors that influence the state to conduct arming; economic & military technological factors, …