Japanese Pop Culture

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the major forms and trends of Japanese popular culture from the postwar period to the present. Topics include anime, manga, film, video games, fashion, J-pop, and food culture, examined within their historical, social, and global contexts. The course explores how these cultural forms reflect and shape issues such as identity, technology, gender, consumerism, and the relationship between tradition and modernity, as well as their global influence through transnational circulation and fan communities. The course incorporates critical theories and interdisciplinary methodologies from media studies and cultural studies. Students will develop skills in analyzing visual, textual, and digital materials through close reading, thematic analysis, and critical interpretation. Emphasis is placed on understanding Japanese popular culture as both a cultural product and a social practice shaped by production, distribution, and reception. Through engagement with a range of media and scholarly perspectives, students will deepen their analytical and critical thinking skills. By the end of the course, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of Japanese popular culture as a dynamic and evolving field that provides insight into broader questions of culture, identity, and globalization.