Topics in Japanese Studies

Catalog description

This repeatable course explores target cultures through a thematic or conceptual focus. Students critically analyze authentic documents through, for example, cultural, social, historical, biographical, filmic, artistic, literary, musical, linguistic, and theoretical perspectives, while improving and expanding their language skills. SPRING 2026: The Evolution of Japan's Urban Culture: This course analyzes various aspects of Japan's urban culture, the evolution of which has centered around Tokyo, focusing on a main question: how Japanese culture has reinvented itself, particularly between the first (1964) and second (2021) Tokyo Olympics. With this question in mind, the course also extends to such topics as the post-WWII Americanization of Japanese culture and society, the culture surrounding the Bubble Economy during 1986-1991, and the popular culture and subculture that have continued to thrive on a global scale (e.g., otaku and the aesthetics of superflat), through fictions, non-fictions, films, and multimedia. This course is taught in Japanese. Prerequisite: 82-372 Min. grade C