＜概要/Course Content Summary＞
This course will guide students through popular discourses of decline and revitalization in Japanese art, politics and consumer culture. From worries about social isolation to concerns about the lessening influence of cultural traditions and even decreased literacy skills, fears of loss are often articulated throughout contemporary Japanese culture. Such fears are supplemented and challenged by emphases on renewal, such as local revitalization projects, multiculturalism initiatives and political rhetoric regarding Japan’s global status.
This course immerses students in cultural texts that directly question, from a wide variety of political positions, what Japanese society might or could become. The first half of the course focuses on prevalent imagery of real and/or imagined spaces, allowing students to gain familiarity with and contextualise widespread cultural associations. The second half of the class addresses political rhetoric that utilises those cultural associations to effect change. Students will gain the ability to critically consider the multiple ways that fears and hopes about the nation’s future shape contemporary Japanese culture.
＜到達目標/Goals,Aims＞
Through this course, students will cultivate the skills necessary to:
・Recognize differing manifestations of political ideas in contemporary Japan
・Contextualise common cultural tropes from historical and political perspectives
・Critically apply academic theories to their everyday experiences
・Present and discuss independent observations of their surroundings
・Develop written work that utilises both existing scholarship and independent analysis
＜授業計画/Schedule＞
（実施回/
Week）
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（内容/
Contents）
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（授業時間外の学習/
Assignments）
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（実施回/ Week）
1
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（内容/ Contents）
Introduction: Images of ruin and renewal in contemporary Japan
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Review syllabus and class handouts
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|
（実施回/ Week）
2
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（内容/ Contents）
Belonging far away: The countryside as home
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment
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（実施回/ Week）
3
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（内容/ Contents）
Missed connections: The city as alienation
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment
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（実施回/ Week）
4
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（内容/ Contents）
Escape: Cultures of healing
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment and find examples to use in class
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（実施回/ Week）
5
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（内容/ Contents）
Displaying the exotic: Images of elsewhere
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment and choose presentation topic
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（実施回/ Week）
6
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（内容/ Contents）
Building elsewhere: Tourism and leisure
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment and find examples to use in class
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（実施回/ Week）
7
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（内容/ Contents）
Constructing renewal: Town revitalization and heritage sites
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignments and find examples to use in class
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（実施回/ Week）
8
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（内容/ Contents）
Student presentations
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Prepare presentation
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（実施回/ Week）
9
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（内容/ Contents）
Keeping Japan: Political discourses of decline
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment
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（実施回/ Week）
10
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（内容/ Contents）
Technologies of fear: New media and moral panics
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment and choose essay topic
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（実施回/ Week）
11
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（内容/ Contents）
Mediating protest: Broadcasting political dissent
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment and find examples to use in class
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（実施回/ Week）
12
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（内容/ Contents）
Student essay discussion
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Prepare to discuss essay topics in class
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（実施回/ Week）
13
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（内容/ Contents）
Rewriting Japan: Minority art
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment
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（実施回/ Week）
14
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（内容/ Contents）
Retweeting Japan: Social media and protest
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Complete reading assignment and find examples to use in class
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（実施回/ Week）
15
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（内容/ Contents）
Conclusions
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（授業時間外の学習/ Assignments）
Final essay due
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＜成績評価基準/Evaluation Criteria＞
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Presentation
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40%
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A short presentation (5–10 minutes) based on travel to a tourism-oriented location of the student’s choice. Students will analyse the promotion and/or cultural positioning of that location. Grades will be based on preparation, usage of class readings, and critical application of course content. Note: Depending on the coronavirus situation, online sources may be used as a ‘location’.
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Final essay
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40%
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An essay (1,000–1,500 words) analyzing an example of a cultural text relevant to the course content. Grades will be based on choice of work, critical analysis of its content, and application of the course content.
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Participation and homework
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20%
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Grades will be based on active and regular participation in class discussions. This includes completing reading assignments and preparing relevant examples to use in class.
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＜テキスト/Textbook＞
There is no textbook. All reading materials will be provided by the instructor.
＜備考/Remarks＞
Classes will be held in a face-to-face classroom environment. Materials will also be posted on Teams after the class period, and students will be able to post materials and engage in discussion using Teams at any time. Please note that the class type of the entire class may change at any point during the semester due to the situation surrounding Covid-19. If there are students who are unable to attend face-to-face classes due to unavoidable reasons caused by Covid-19, the class type for these students may change.
Students will be able to contact the instructor using Teams. Office hours will be held on Monday 3rd period (Kyotanabe campus) and Tuesday 3rd period (Imadegawa campus).
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