History Commons^™

Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: Veiled Criticism Through Extreme Entertainment, Thoby Jeanty

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis examines the writings of Meiji novelists living during a time of transition. Their writings became known as part of a genre called Erotic Grotesque Nonsense. The genre became defined as engaging in extremes to entertain an audience captivated by the eroticism, grotesque, or even the nonsensical nature of the stories being told. The thesis discovers there is a pressing social commentary on the tumultuous transition to modernity hidden within these works. The traditions established during the Tokugawa era starting from 1603 and lasting until 1867 came under pressure with the start of the Meiji era in 1868. Each …

A Phoenix From The Ashes: Jackson Park’S Japanese Garden, Cultural Exchange, And The Endurance Of Japanese Sites After Pearl Harbor, Brittany Murphy

Asian Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Japanese gardens in the United States have a history that dates back to the World’s Fairs of the late 19th century, when Japan used the World’s Stage to project an image of itself as a powerful nation founded on both modern industrial techniques and traditional culture to compete with dominating Euro-American powers. The history of the Japanese garden in Chicago’s Jackson Park, gifted to Chicago by the Japanese government for the 1893 Columbian Exposition, tells the story of Midwesterners’ love and appreciation for the gardens while also demonstrating the implicit legacies of Executive Order 9066. The garden remained a crucial …

Creative Citizen Peacebuilding: Japanese Artists And Audiences Respond To The Vietnam-American War, Long T. Bui, Ayako Sahara

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article explores two case studies related to South Vietnam and Japan, relating them to the controversial history and legacy of the Second Indochina War. The first is the Japanese adoption and adaptation of South Vietnamese antiwar music. The second is a Japanese film, uncovered decades later after the war, exposing the role of Japan in South Vietnam. Cultural productions, from nations allied with the United States, sought to expose the popular struggle for peace against the rising tide of Cold War military violence and corporate capitalist exploitation. Through interviews, archival research, and textual analysis, the article argues for a …

A Comparison Of The Canadian And Japanese Unesco Cultural World Heritage Sites, Tessa L. V. O'Connor

The Confluence

The purpose of this comparative study was to explore the similarities and differences between Canadian and Japanese cultures through a comparison of their respective UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Sites. Specifically, the historical, religious and spiritual, and geographical factors that led to the designation of said World Heritage sites in each country are compared. Analysis of these factors reveals that Canadian Cultural World Heritage Sites, as well as modern Canadian culture, have been molded by a combination of foreign and domestic influences. In contrast, Japanese Cultural World Heritage Sites and modern culture are primarily a result of domestic influences. The cumulative …

Of Spies And Assassins, Haddon Smead

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the possibility of a connection between the Shinobi of Japan and the Order of Assassins from the Middle East. There is evidence that these two secret societies of antiquity are related and that there might have been some level of interaction and/or connection between them. The aligning methodologies, the geopolitical circumstances, the transmission of culture, and the other organizations resembling these two groups establish a frightening level of similarity between them and support the existence of a historical connection. It is hoped that additional study will be undertaken with regards to this subject, and the author of …

Aesthetics & Politics: A Brief History Of Japan & The Us’S 20th Century, Ricky Brown

Theatre Thesis - Written Thesis

This paper is a look at the combination of aesthetics and politics and how that combination effected the lives of black Americans, Japanese women and the people of Korea under Japanese occupation during the early 1900s.

The Influence Of The Thirty-Six Stratagems On Chinese Strategy In The Diaoyu Islands, Brent Schuliger

Senior Honors Theses

The Diaoyu Islands are a small, uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea which has begun increasing in strategic significance due to its advantageous location near Taiwan and along the First Island Chain. The islands are currently under Japanese administration, but the People’s Republic of China considers them historically Chinese and contests Japan’s claim to the islands. A careful examination of China’s actions in challenging Japan’s rule over the Diaoyus reveals the influence of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a tome of ancient Chinese military wisdom which provides a framework onto which China’s current strategy corresponds. This thesis examines the historical …

Imagined Realities: The Rise Of New Wave Cinema In Post-War Japan, Asia Miro Smudde Tom

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Project Submitted to the Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

My thesis explores cinematic representation in post-war Japan leading up the the New Wave movement. I examine the work of Yasujiro Ozu and Sun Tribe youth films and their relationship with conventions of cinema to bring awareness to narrative constructions of historical periods.

Kokoro: Hints And Echoes Of Japanese Inner Life, Lafcadio Hearn, Koizumi Yakumo

Zea E-Books Collection

The works of Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) played a critical role in introducing his adopted Japan to a worldwide audience. In Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life, he writes, “The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, — for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). This word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning, — just as we say in English, ‘the heart of things.’” After centuries of isolation Meiji-era Japan was forced to adjust …