Japanese Studies Commons^™

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 20^th 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 Forest, The Trees, The Bark, The Pith: An Intensive Look At The Circulation Rates Of Primary Texts In Ten Major Literature Areas At The University Of Oregon Libraries, Jeff D. Staiger

Charleston Library Conference

This poster looks at the circulation rate for literary primary texts, which constitute a unique area of collecting in academic libraries: while they do not in most cases meet immediate research needs, it is assumed that libraries ought to acquire them, for reasons including future research needs, preservation of the cultural record, and the ability of members of the intellectual community to stay current, those these remain primarily tacit. The circulation trends of contemporary literary works in ten areas of literature (English, American, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin American, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian) over the past twenty years at the …

Marching Through The Floating World: Processions In Ukiyo-E Prints (2020), Theory & History Of Art & Design Department, Elena Varshavskaya (H791 Instructor)

Ukiyo-e Prints Course | Exhibition Catalogs

"Marching through the Floating World is a book that accompanies a student curated virtual exhibition of the same title. This exhibition is dedicated to images of processions in ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

Ukiyo-e or “pictures of the floating world” was a vibrant style of urban art that flourished in Japan in the 17th- 19th century, predominantly in the form of mass-produced woodcuts. Steeped in everyday pleasurable pastimes of townspeople, ukiyo-e prints reflected contemporary culture to its fullest, whether fact or fiction, often the two amalgamated in a witty way.

Processions constituted a noticeable theme in ukiyo-e prints as they were an …

ポスト汎神論から超物質主義へ―鈴木大拙と新仏教―, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

In modern Western thought, pantheism remains a powerful if controversial undercurrent. Recent re-evaluations of the work of Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) point to pantheism’s radical implications for metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics. Pantheism (Jp. hanshinron 汎神論) also has significant valence within Japanese Buddhist modernism, particularly in the work of scholars and lay activists who articulated the outlines of a New Buddhism (shin bukkyō 新仏教) from the 1880s through the 1940s. For these thinkers, pantheism provided a “middle way” between materialism and idealism, as well as between theism and atheism. In the postwar period, lapsed radical turned Buddhist Sano Manabu …

Aatj’S Role In Diversity And Inclusion: An Opportunity To Transform Into A Well-Integrated Organization, Suwako Watanabe

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

According to the survey results, 57% of the survey respondents said no to the question, “Is the Japanese language educator community in North America diverse one?” (Mori, Hasegawa, Park, and Suzuki, this volume). This result suggests that the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) as a professional organization needs to improve diversity within the field. What is a more important question is whether or not our organization and its membership as a whole embrace the value of diversity and put it into practice in every aspect of their profession on a daily basis. The survey results make it clear …

Moonlit Nights And Seasons Of Romance: Yosano Akiko's Use Of The Moon In Tangled Hair, Teppei Fukuda

Dissertations and Theses

Ever since they opened their country to the world in the late nineteenth century, the Japanese experienced drastic changes in many aspects. They rapidly absorbed Western culture with their desperate hope to modernize their country in politics, the sciences, and art. Literature was not an exception. Yosano Akiko (1878-1942), who is well known as a pivotal poet of Japanese Romanticism, absorbed this new modern sense of self and individuality and advocated the poetic expression of one's private and personal emotions.

In premodern Japan, poets had traditionally expressed their feelings through a set, limited range of classical landscapes and natural objects, …

Skeptical Buddhism As Provenance And Project, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

The past century and a half has seen various attempts in both Asia and the West to reform or re-conceptualize Buddhism by adding a simple, often provocative, qualifier. This paper examines some of the links between “secular,” “critical,” “sceptical,” and “radical” Buddhism in order to ascertain possibilities in thinking Buddhism anew as a 21st-century “project” with philosophical, ethical, and political resonance. In particular, I am motivated by the question of whether “sceptical” Buddhism can coexist with Buddhist praxis, conceived as an engaged response to the suffering of sentient beings in a globalized and neoliberal industrial capitalist world order. Let …

Creative Nothingness: Dada As Art, Politics And Religion In Interwar Japan, James Mark Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

The decades immediately following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 saw Japan rapidly develop as a “modern” nation — replete with industrial technology, a powerful and sophisticated military, a burgeoning capitalist economy, a broad based educational system, and, by the early twentieth century, a massive influx of contemporary Western political, philosophical, literary and artistic ideals, including socialism, anarchism, and nearly all variations of avant-garde art and aesthetics. By the end of the Meiji period, however, with the crackdown on leftist activities in the wake of the High Treason Incident (1910–1911) and the slow but steady accretion of Japanese imperialist ideology through …

Izutsu’S Zen Metaphysics Of I-Consciousness Vis-À-Vis Cartesian Cogito, Takaharu Oda, Alessio Bucci

Comparative Philosophy

Chief amongst the issues Toshihiko Izutsu broached is the philosophisation of Zen Buddhism in his book Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism. This article aims to critically compare Izutsu’s reconstruction of Zen metaphysics with another metaphysical tradition rooted in Descartes’ cogito ergo sum. Putting Izutsu’s terminological choices into the context of Zen Buddhism, we review his argument based on the subject-object distinction and establish a comparison with the Cartesian cogito. A critical analysis is conducted on the functional relationship between subject and object in Izutsu’s metaphysics of Zen (meditation). This is examined step by step from the perspective of …

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, …

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.