The paper discusses the significance of the kimono, the tanka poetry, and traditional Japanese da... more The paper discusses the significance of the kimono, the tanka poetry, and traditional Japanese dance to the life and philosophy of sociologist Tsurumi Kazuko (1918-2006), with a special focus on her Australian tour in 1937 with her politician father Tsurumi Yusuke. In each of the capital cities where the father gave public lectures and seminars, the young Kazuko contributed to the cultural exchange through her traditional dance performance in kimono and interviews. She also kept poetic record of the tour. This working paper, written in Japanese, is included in a Research Report of a Kakenhi Project (17H02305) led by Professor Yoshiko Inui (2017-2019).
Keizai Shinbun and the Australian Financial Review. The symposium brought together a distinguishe... more Keizai Shinbun and the Australian Financial Review. The symposium brought together a distinguished group of academics, journalists, bureaucrats and business leaders from the throughout the Asia Pacific. Senator Gareth Evans, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia, ...
Asia Examined: Proceedings of the 15th Biennial Conference of the ASAA, 2004, 2004
Shōjo (girl) is, according to Sharalyn Orbaugh (2002: 458-59), a "cultural construct," which bega... more Shōjo (girl) is, according to Sharalyn Orbaugh (2002: 458-59), a "cultural construct," which began to be circulated from about 1920 to recognise "a period in life when a female was neither naïve child nor sexually active woman," and which in contemporary society symbolises "a state of being that is socially unanchored, free of responsibility and self-absorbed-the opposite of the ideal Japanese adult," and hence can be used "as a tool for the critique of contemporary society." Thanks to a series of recent studies, the Japanese shōjo culture and its favourite themes such as bishōnen (beautiful boys), androgyny, transgender, transsexuality, and male homosexuality have gained some recognition within Japanese cultural studies. Nevertheless there still seems to be a strong general tendency to regard the shōjo as a passive, frivolous, and vulnerable being who is easily manipulated by consumer culture. This paper seeks to rescue the shōjo out of such lingering confinements and to recognise her critical and creative power, or to borrow Takahara Eiri’s (1999) key words, her “freedom and arrogance,” in reference to two novels: Hashimoto Osamu’s Momojiri musume (Peach-Bottomed Girl, 1978) and Kanai Mieko’s Indian Summer (1988). Neither of these novels is specifically targeted at the shōjo audience but each, told by a young female first-person narrator, presents a parody of the shōjo shōsetsu and shōjo manga. There are two major issues here: intertextuality and gender criticism.
... reading practices of girls (about other girls) through various media in Japanthe activity ..... more ... reading practices of girls (about other girls) through various media in Japanthe activity ... shōjo-nessgaudy decoration with ribbons and frillsperformed by the Lolita girl is ... community, whether it is based upon homosocial or homosexual attraction, through reading, (re)writing ...
In an essay entitled "On Narcissism" Mishima Yukio outlines his forthright views on the... more In an essay entitled "On Narcissism" Mishima Yukio outlines his forthright views on the difference between men and women. Mishima, who had a complex and highly insightful view of sex, points to the existence of men and women as a biological given, a natural phenomenon. It is for this reason, he argues, that we use terms such as "the opposite sex". In the essay Mishima explains his position on narcissism and consciousness of self while also theorizing the "natural" difference between men and women. Narcissus, the mythological character who drowned after being captivated by the reflection of his own beauty, was a man. He was not a woman. Noting that the concept of narcissism derives from the fact that Narcissus was a man, Mishima reasons that narcissism cannot therefore exist in a woman. Mishima maintains that while Narcissus was able to view the image of his own face, a woman is incapable of confronting her own natural image.
The paper discusses the significance of the kimono, the tanka poetry, and traditional Japanese da... more The paper discusses the significance of the kimono, the tanka poetry, and traditional Japanese dance to the life and philosophy of sociologist Tsurumi Kazuko (1918-2006), with a special focus on her Australian tour in 1937 with her politician father Tsurumi Yusuke. In each of the capital cities where the father gave public lectures and seminars, the young Kazuko contributed to the cultural exchange through her traditional dance performance in kimono and interviews. She also kept poetic record of the tour. This working paper, written in Japanese, is included in a Research Report of a Kakenhi Project (17H02305) led by Professor Yoshiko Inui (2017-2019).
Keizai Shinbun and the Australian Financial Review. The symposium brought together a distinguishe... more Keizai Shinbun and the Australian Financial Review. The symposium brought together a distinguished group of academics, journalists, bureaucrats and business leaders from the throughout the Asia Pacific. Senator Gareth Evans, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia, ...
Asia Examined: Proceedings of the 15th Biennial Conference of the ASAA, 2004, 2004
Shōjo (girl) is, according to Sharalyn Orbaugh (2002: 458-59), a "cultural construct," which bega... more Shōjo (girl) is, according to Sharalyn Orbaugh (2002: 458-59), a "cultural construct," which began to be circulated from about 1920 to recognise "a period in life when a female was neither naïve child nor sexually active woman," and which in contemporary society symbolises "a state of being that is socially unanchored, free of responsibility and self-absorbed-the opposite of the ideal Japanese adult," and hence can be used "as a tool for the critique of contemporary society." Thanks to a series of recent studies, the Japanese shōjo culture and its favourite themes such as bishōnen (beautiful boys), androgyny, transgender, transsexuality, and male homosexuality have gained some recognition within Japanese cultural studies. Nevertheless there still seems to be a strong general tendency to regard the shōjo as a passive, frivolous, and vulnerable being who is easily manipulated by consumer culture. This paper seeks to rescue the shōjo out of such lingering confinements and to recognise her critical and creative power, or to borrow Takahara Eiri’s (1999) key words, her “freedom and arrogance,” in reference to two novels: Hashimoto Osamu’s Momojiri musume (Peach-Bottomed Girl, 1978) and Kanai Mieko’s Indian Summer (1988). Neither of these novels is specifically targeted at the shōjo audience but each, told by a young female first-person narrator, presents a parody of the shōjo shōsetsu and shōjo manga. There are two major issues here: intertextuality and gender criticism.
... reading practices of girls (about other girls) through various media in Japanthe activity ..... more ... reading practices of girls (about other girls) through various media in Japanthe activity ... shōjo-nessgaudy decoration with ribbons and frillsperformed by the Lolita girl is ... community, whether it is based upon homosocial or homosexual attraction, through reading, (re)writing ...
In an essay entitled "On Narcissism" Mishima Yukio outlines his forthright views on the... more In an essay entitled "On Narcissism" Mishima Yukio outlines his forthright views on the difference between men and women. Mishima, who had a complex and highly insightful view of sex, points to the existence of men and women as a biological given, a natural phenomenon. It is for this reason, he argues, that we use terms such as "the opposite sex". In the essay Mishima explains his position on narcissism and consciousness of self while also theorizing the "natural" difference between men and women. Narcissus, the mythological character who drowned after being captivated by the reflection of his own beauty, was a man. He was not a woman. Noting that the concept of narcissism derives from the fact that Narcissus was a man, Mishima reasons that narcissism cannot therefore exist in a woman. Mishima maintains that while Narcissus was able to view the image of his own face, a woman is incapable of confronting her own natural image.
The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there... more The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of family and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of "family" in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology. While the primary focus is the "Japanese" family, it also examines the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali. The chapters explore key issues such as ageing, single households, non-heterosexual living arrangements and parenting. Moreover, many of the issues addressed, such as the growing diversity of family, the increase in single-person households, and the implications of an ageing society, are applicable to other mature, late-industrial societies. Employing both multi-and inter-disciplinary approaches, this book combines textual analysis of contemporary television, film, literature, manga, anime and other media with empirical and ethnographic studies of families in Japan and in transnational spaces. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, and gerontology.
Page 1. READING FOOD IN MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE IK KJ i f » ■ tf^*.«S ^\# » Tomoko Aoyama Lite... more Page 1. READING FOOD IN MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE IK KJ i f » ■ tf^*.«S ^\# » Tomoko Aoyama Literature, lik Eag and obj So rea in l thi and cen Ao wri and suc nat hav foo oth fro tex (su Fum Tak we (M Sum Page 2. Reading Food in Modern Japanese Literature ...
This volume brings together research by scholars from history, literature, gender studies, cultur... more This volume brings together research by scholars from history, literature, gender studies, cultural studies, and sociology/anthropology on the meanings and practices of "family", both within the nation-state of "Japan" and in transnational spaces. While the majority of the chapters focus on contemporary society, others look at family in the late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century and the immediate post-World War II years, and its significance to the ensuing periods. Again, while the book’s main focus is the "Japanese" family, some chapters discuss the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali.
The contributors draw on a broad range of methodological approaches, including oral history, interview-based and ethnographic research, official discourse analysis, literary analysis, and analysis of visual culture. Such an interdisciplinary approach means that this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, Japanese/Asian studies and gerontology.
(edited collection)
The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on famil... more (edited collection)
The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of family and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of "family" in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology. While the primary focus is the "Japanese" family, it also examines the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali. The chapters explore key issues such as ageing, single households, non-heterosexual living arrangements and parenting. Moreover, many of the issues addressed, such as the growing diversity of family, the increase in single-person households, and the implications of an ageing society, are applicable to other mature, late-industrial societies.
Employing both multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches, this book combines textual analysis of contemporary television, film, literature, manga, anime and other media with empirical and ethnographic studies of families in Japan and in transnational spaces. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, and gerontology
Oh, Tama! takes the reader deep into the haphazard lives of Natsuyuki, the protagonist, and his l... more Oh, Tama! takes the reader deep into the haphazard lives of Natsuyuki, the protagonist, and his loosely connected circle of dysfunctional acquaintances and family. Trying to keep some semblance of order and decency in his life, working as an occasional freelance photographer, Natsuyuki is visited by his delinquent friend Alexandre, who unexpectedly entrusts him with his sister's pregnant cat, Tama. Despite his initial protests, Natsuyuki accepts his new responsibility and cares compassionately for Tama and her kittens.
Half-sister Tsuneko, meanwhile, is herself pregnant by one of several lovers, all patrons of the bar she runs. She contacts three of them, claiming each to be the father, and demands money. One of these is Fuyuhiko, the older half-brother of Natsuyuki, although he is not aware of this fact. When Fuyuhiko comes to Tokyo in search of Tsuneko, he gravitates to Natsuyuki's apartment, where he and Alexandre move in with the weak-willed Natsuyuki.
Awarded the Women's Literature Prize in Japan, Oh, Tama! is the second book in the Mejiro Series, named after the area of Tokyo between the mega-towns of Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. The main characters (not to mention the author and her artist sister Kanai Kumiko) all live in this area. Most of the main characters in one book appear as side characters in the others. Natsuyuki and Alexandre, for example, appear in the third work in the series, Indian Summer. The protagonists of that book—Momoko, Hanako and Momoko's writer-aunt—all appear first in Oh, Tama!.
These Mejiro texts are full of humor and irony. While earlier works of Kanai are noted for their surrealistic, sensuous and poetic style and arresting, at times violent themes, the Mejiro novels focus on the human comedy in the seemingly mundane, actual world. The protagonists of the series are, however, in one way or another engaged in creative or intellectual activities, even though they are often unemployed or at loose ends.
While a few of the author's short stories, poems, and excerpts from her longer works were translated into English beginning in the late 1970s, and attracted some attention among feminist literary scholars, this is only the third book-length English translation of her work, following The Word Book and Indian Summer.
Indian Summer (Koharu biyori) is the title of a relatively short novel by Kanai Mieko (b. 1947), ... more Indian Summer (Koharu biyori) is the title of a relatively short novel by Kanai Mieko (b. 1947), recognized by critics both inside and outside Japan as one of the most important Japanese writers of recent decades. The work brilliantly demonstrates Kanai’s light-hearted wit in addition to her penchant for biting commentary on conservative elements in Japanese society.
Girl Reading Girl provides the first overview of the cultural significance of girls and reading i... more Girl Reading Girl provides the first overview of the cultural significance of girls and reading in modern and contemporary Japan with emphasis on the processes involved when girls read about other girls.
The collection examines the reading practices of real life girls from differing social backgrounds throughout the twentieth century while a number of chapters also consider how fictional girls read attention is given to the diverse cultural representations of the girl, or shôjo, who are the objects of the reading desires of Japan’s real life and fictional girls. These representations appear in various genres, including prose fiction, such as Yoshiya Nobuko’s Flower Stories and Takemoto Nobara’s Kamikaze Girls, and manga, such as Yoshida Akimi’s The Cherry Orchard. This volume presents the work of pioneering women scholars in the field of girl studies including translations of a ground-breaking essay by Honda Masuko on reading girls and Kawasaki Kenko’s response to prejudicial masculine critiques of best-selling novelist, Yoshimoto Banana. Other topics range from the reception of Anne of Green Gables in Japan to girls who write and read male homoerotic narratives.
Literature, like food, is, in Terry Eagleton’s words, "endlessly interpretable," and food, like l... more Literature, like food, is, in Terry Eagleton’s words, "endlessly interpretable," and food, like literature, "looks like an object but is actually a relationship." So how much do we, and should we, read into the way food is represented in literature? Reading Food explores this and other questions in an unusual and fascinating tour of twentieth-century Japanese literature. Tomoko Aoyama analyzes a wide range of diverse writings that focus on food, eating, and cooking and considers how factors such as industrialization, urbanization, nationalism, and gender construction have affected people’s relationships to food, nature, and culture, and to each other. The examples she offers are taken from novels (shosetsu) and other literary texts and include well known writers (such as Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, Hayashi Fumiko, Okamoto Kanoko, Kaiko Takeshi, and Yoshimoto Banana) as well as those who are less widely known (Murai Gensai, Nagatsuka Takashi, Sumii Sue, and Numa Shozo).
Food is everywhere in Japanese literature, and early chapters illustrate historical changes and variations in the treatment of food and eating. Examples are drawn from Meiji literary diaries, children’s stories, peasant and proletarian literature, and women’s writing before and after World War II. The author then turns to the theme of cannibalism in serious and popular novels. Key issues include ethical questions about survival, colonization, and cultural identity. The quest for gastronomic gratification is a dominant theme in "gourmet novels." Like cannibalism, the gastronomic journey as a literary theme is deeply implicated with cultural identity. The final chapter deals specifically with contemporary novels by women, some of which celebrate the inclusiveness of eating (and writing), while others grapple with the fear of eating. Such dread or disgust can be seen as a warning against what the complacent "gourmet boom" of the 1980s and 1990s concealed: the dangers of a market economy, environmental destruction, and continuing gender biases.
Reading Food in Modern Japanese Literature will tempt any reader with an interest in food, literature, and culture. Moreover, it provides appetizing hints for further savoring, digesting, and incorporating textual food.
Ame no Uzume no Mikoto is widely regarded as Japan’s first comic-erotic diva. She is a shamanisti... more Ame no Uzume no Mikoto is widely regarded as Japan’s first comic-erotic diva. She is a shamanistic trickster goddess who appears in the eighth-century texts Kojiki and Nihon shoki. Uzume uses her body and performance effectively to establish communication and overcome actual and potential crises. In one of the most celebrated episodes of the mythology, Uzume’s comic-erotic dance successfully invites the sun goddess Amaterasu out of the Heavenly Cave. This chapter first outlines the portrayal of this goddess in the classical texts. Then, using Tsurumi Shunsuke’s theory, the discussion focuses on Uzume’s ability to cross various boundaries and find ways to communicate even in the most dangerous and challenging situations and with potential opponents. Applying the theory to the contemporary “vagina artist” Rokudenashiko, the final section of the chapter demonstrates the significance and validity of the Uzume model of comic subversion and revitalization in our misogynistic society.
This chapter examines cultural representations of the family and pseudo-family or post-family rel... more This chapter examines cultural representations of the family and pseudo-family or post-family relations between elderly women and young girls. The main texts analysed here are contemporary Japanese picture storybooks. The topic relates to a number of issues and genres that have been marginalised in literary studies. My aim is not simply to fill this gap and connect those that are regarded as disparate – such as the young girl and the elderly woman - but also to foreground the rich and complex, in fact, even intriguing, socio-political, textual and artistic issues in these texts mainly targeted at children. The discussion will demonstrate that literature is not merely a mirror or an epitome of society but it contains elements that enlighten, educate, entertain, and criticise, directly and indirectly, pragmatically and symbolically. Or to quote Takemura Kazuko, literature has “evocative power created by the dynamism of the (re)productive function (i.e. to confirm what is narrated) and the subversive function (to make the reader doubt what is narrated) of the narrative” (2004, p. 5).
Chapter 1 of this volume saw a coterie of critics active in the nascent modern literary community... more Chapter 1 of this volume saw a coterie of critics active in the nascent modern literary community accuse women who wrote of a "lack of womanliness." So outraged were these critics by this alleged lack that they refused to read the work of women writers of the time. Members of this coterie would undoubtedly have been shocked had they read Setouchi Harumi's later declaration, featured in chapter 2, that the writing woman must be manly and immodest. The position taken by these male commentators confirms Yukiko Tanaka's belief that the woman who writes performs "an act of self-assertion" that marks her as the "antithesis of the selfless submission prescribed [for women] by Japanese culture.
Chapter 1 of this volume saw a coterie of critics active in the nascent modern literary community... more Chapter 1 of this volume saw a coterie of critics active in the nascent modern literary community accuse women who wrote of a "lack of womanliness." So outraged were these critics by this alleged lack that they refused to read the work of women writers of the time. Members of this coterie would undoubtedly have been shocked had they read Setouchi Harumi's later declaration, featured in chapter 2, that the writing woman must be manly and immodest. The position taken by these male commentators confirms Yukiko Tanaka's belief that the woman who writes performs "an act of self-assertion" that marks her as the "antithesis of the selfless submission prescribed [for women] by Japanese culture.
Japan in Australia: culture, context and connection, 2020
In 1937, a member of the Diet, Tsurumi Yūsuke, visited Australia to attend a series of events as ... more In 1937, a member of the Diet, Tsurumi Yūsuke, visited Australia to attend a series of events as a Japanese representative for the international congress on education. This gave his children, Kazuko, 19, and Shunsuke, 15, an opportunity to experience their first overseas travel. This chapter examines the significance of the visit upon the siblings, who became important intellectuals in their adulthood, Kazuko a sociologist and Shunsuke a philosopher, focusing on how the exchange of ideas with people from Australia and other countries was expressed in their work. Kazuko’s experience found expression in her first tanka collection, published in 1939, and Shunsuke’s experience in Adelaide inspired him to write his seminal work, Ame no Uzume den (The Life of Ame no Uzume 1991) half a century later.
From Fukushima to Hiroshima: Teaching Social Engagement through Manga, 2020
This chapter discusses manga and other texts that deal with nuclear disasters, namely the 1945 at... more This chapter discusses manga and other texts that deal with nuclear disasters, namely the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station meltdown triggered by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 in North-Eastern Japan. We identify the “post-Fukushima framework”; that is, the ways in which the 3.11 triple disasters affect not only the interpretation of Fukushima-themed texts, but also audience engagement with prior historical events such as the Second World War, as well as possible futures. We particularly argue for the importance of adopting a “post-Fukushima framework” in the classroom in the face of widespread “forgetting” of 3.11 in Japan, and we model a reading of manga and other texts centred on a sense of post-3.11 “hope”. We suggest two approaches to teaching nuclear disaster and post-3.11 “hope”, directed at Japanese studies and popular culture courses, using translated materials. The first is the “thematic” approach, which is exemplified here through an examination of food, cooking, and eating themes in manga about nuclear disasters. The second approach is one of comparison and contextualization, which we model through cross-generic and cross-media comparisons of a pre-3.11 manga, set during the Second World War, and three hit Japanese films from 2016 related to war and nuclear disaster. We argue that these two approaches are appealing and particularly well suited for developing the critical capacity of university students, who are already equipped with intertextual reading abilities and are often familiar with the practices of the Japanese “media mix”.
Food in Osaki's texts functions to estrange and subvert social, literary, and gender norms and co... more Food in Osaki's texts functions to estrange and subvert social, literary, and gender norms and conventions. It also fuses past with future, nostalgia with science, and urban with rural. Seemingly ordinary food, such as cucumbers, persimmons, and bread, is juxtaposed with, and likened to, something incongruous, inedible, and/or sensuous, creating "a subdued but mordant irony and humor" (Monnet). In "Wandering in the Realm of the Seventh Sense" the heroine's brother "cooks" human excrement (unko) in a pot for an agricultural experiment on "Changes in the erotic behavior of plants in response to fertilizer temperatures." Despite the stench it creates throughout the house, the sound of the fertilizer boiling brings back for Machiko memories of her childhood, when her grandmother was cooking sweet bean paste (anko). If this is not quite a parody of Proust, Osaki uses intriguing intertextuality, involving both Japanese and European films and literature, such as the works of Chekhov, William Sharp/Fiona Macleod, Satō Haruo, and Charlie Chaplin. The chapter offers multiple readings of Osaki's "written food," in the light of relevant theories concerning intertextuality, humor, and girl (shōjo) studies.
Diva nation: female icons from Japanese cultural history, 2018
Ame no Uzume no Mikoto is widely regarded as Japan’s first comic erotic diva. She is the shamanis... more Ame no Uzume no Mikoto is widely regarded as Japan’s first comic erotic diva. She is the shamanistic trickster goddess who appears in the eighth century texts, Kojiki and Nihon shoki. Uzume uses her body and performance effectively to establish communication and overcome actual and potential crises. In one of the most celebrated episodes of the mythology, Uzume’s comic-erotic dance successfully invites the Sun Goddess Amaterasu out of the Heavenly Cave. This chapter first outlines the portrayal of this goddess in the classical texts. Using Tsurumi Shunsuke’s theory, the discussion then focuses on Uzume’s ability to cross various boundaries and find ways to communicate even in the most dangerous and challenging situations and with potential opponents. Applying the theory to the contemporary “vagina artist” Rokudenashiko, the final section of the chapter demonstrates the significance and validity of the Uzume model of comic subversion and revitalization in our misogynistic society.
Civil society and postwar pacific basin reconciliation: wounds, scars and healing, 2018
The girl protagonist–narrator of Hisao Jūran’s novel Daikon (serialised in Modern Nippon 1947–194... more The girl protagonist–narrator of Hisao Jūran’s novel Daikon (serialised in Modern Nippon 1947–1948) is a diplomat’s daughter who returns from Paris to Japan in 1943. The novel takes the form of Daikon’s first-person narrative covering the three-week period between 10 August and 2 September 1945. This paper examines the significance of the amusing, up-beat, and well-balanced personality of this girl protagonist and her thoughts on Japan’s defeat and on the Constitution – the significance of these thoughts as applying not only at that time but also to post-3.11 Japan.
Kaori Okano and Yoshio Sugimoto eds., Rethinking Japanese studies: Eurocentrism and the Asia-Pacific region Abbingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2017
This chapter offers a genealogy of Japanese literary studies, with a special focus on the two ter... more This chapter offers a genealogy of Japanese literary studies, with a special focus on the two terms that have been most commonly used to denote Japanese literature and literary studies in Japan since the early twentieth century: kokubungaku (national literature and its study) and nihon bungaku (Japanese literature). The genealogy concerns questions such as what constitutes bungaku, whose definition is neither stable nor static, corresponding to the changing notion and practice of literature not only within Japan but also in the rest of the world. The discussion also involves comparison of these terms with others such as kokugaku (national study), bungeigaku (study of literary art) and nihongo bungaku (literature in Japanese language and its study). By examining the historical usage of these terms, we can better understand the various issues surrounding the study of Japanese literature, and foreground conscious and unconscious assumptions, omissions, discrimination and marginalisation. After clarifying the socio-historical context and the construct of these terms, the chapter looks at some examples of new initiatives in Japanese literary studies in contemporary Japan and beyond. This final discussion will include an examination of how the scholarship within Japan has been received by those studying Japanese literature outside Japan.
Manga vision: cultural and communicative perspectives, 2016
In Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou and Cathy Sell (Ed.), Manga Vision: Cultural and Communicative Perspec... more In Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou and Cathy Sell (Ed.), Manga Vision: Cultural and Communicative Perspectives (pp. 146-160) Melbourne: Monash University Publishing.
Nodame Cantabile depicts the story of Noda Megumi, portrayed as an eccentric, weak student, despite her special gift for music. She neither fits in the world of institutionalised music education nor follows socio-cultural norms in daily life. Although the main themes are Nodame’s development as a musician, and her relationships with others, especially love interest, Shin’ichi, there are three interesting episodes of language learning. First, Nodame has to pass a German examination. What can she, or Shin’ichi, as reluctant tutor, do in just one night? The second and third examples occur in Paris, where she is to study piano. After a failed attempt to learn everyday French expressions via a book, Nodame discovers a perfect method. This chapter considers what insights Nodame’s language learning offers teachers and learners. The overall experience certainly reflects the gender and socio-economic differences between the two characters. Shin’ichi, with his privileged background, seems able - always and already – to speak and perform fluently. Nodame, rather, must learn, in accordance with the shōjo convention of finding one’s position (ibasho). Finally, we argue that the meta-learning and intertextuality of Nodame take us beyond stereotypes, even though the film/anime versions may not necessarily have the same effect.
Exchanges: Journal of Literary Translation, Oct 1, 2020
Internationally acclaimed poet Itō Hiromi has dealt with the themes of food, eating and cooking b... more Internationally acclaimed poet Itō Hiromi has dealt with the themes of food, eating and cooking both in her poetry and essays. This work includes translation of four essays selected from her book Umashi (Delicious!, 2018) with the original text and translators' notes. Itō’s essays are not about a search for the ultimate delicacies, authentic dishes or best recipes. Instead, they use food to present acute observations about human life and cultures. The essays selected here ("Intangible Cultural Heritage of California", "Oysters and Scotch", "Pilgrimage to the Curry Mile", "Minced Squirrel and Rabbit Meat in Soup") illustrate border crossing food experiences as well as translation issues regarding food, humour and identity.
Girl Reading Girl provides the first overview of the cultural significance of girls and reading i... more Girl Reading Girl provides the first overview of the cultural significance of girls and reading in modern and contemporary Japan with emphasis on the processes involved when girls read about other girls. The collection examines the reading practices of real life girls from differing ...
Girl Reading Girl provides the first overview of the cultural significance of girls and reading i... more Girl Reading Girl provides the first overview of the cultural significance of girls and reading in modern and contemporary Japan with emphasis on the processes involved when girls read about other girls. The collection examines the reading practices of real life girls from differing ...
Among my friends there is a married woman who is a writer. I once heard a man tell her that she n... more Among my friends there is a married woman who is a writer. I once heard a man tell her that she needed to hurry up and have a child in order to develop her writing style. I remember being astounded and furious, although I couldn't think of anything to say at the time. Who gave him the right, first of all, to imply that every woman should have a child? And where did he get the idea that having a child could somehow influence a woman's writing? There was no way, without seeing her work, that he could tell a woman she should write like a mother. In fact, what right did he have to claim that any woman should be a mother?
Oh, Tama! describes the haphazard lives of Natsuyuki Kanemitsu and his loosely connected circle o... more Oh, Tama! describes the haphazard lives of Natsuyuki Kanemitsu and his loosely connected circle of dysfunctional acquaintances and family. Natsuyuki is prevailed upon by his friend Alexandre, an occasional porn-film actor, to adopt the very pregnant cat Tama, who gives birth and remains throughout the novel as a silent observer of her human hosts. Further complications arise surrounding the mystery of who the father of Alexandre's sister Tsuneko's unborn child is, with Tsuneko (a bar owner) happy to collect money from anyone who may be responsible. A "fast and comedic novel," Oh, Tama! plays out against a backdrop of cramped apartments and cheap food and drink where everyone seems to have an opinion on film, photography, and fashionable French art theory.
Indian Summer (Koharu biyori) is a relatively short novel by KANAI Mieko (b. 1947) who has been r... more Indian Summer (Koharu biyori) is a relatively short novel by KANAI Mieko (b. 1947) who has been recognized by critics both inside and outside Japan as one of the most important Japanese writers of recent decades. The work brilliantly demonstrates Kanai’s light-hearted wit in addition to her penchant for biting commentary on conservative elements in Japanese society.
A woman lingers before a mirror, putting the finishing touches to her face. She then dresses and ... more A woman lingers before a mirror, putting the finishing touches to her face. She then dresses and adds accessories and, voila, after a last careful look to check the result, finally makes an appearance. We call this a woman's narcissism and assume it to be her second nature. However, does the woman before the mirror really see an image of her own face? Can we say that she actually views her own true self? I can't really tell. It would seem, however, that nature is quite concerned to ensure that women do not see their true faces. And while this vigilance might surprise, we can only assume that nature has good reason to act in this way.
All married men and men who engage in conventional sex have undoubtedly had firsthand experience ... more All married men and men who engage in conventional sex have undoubtedly had firsthand experience of the recidivist self-centeredness that is the narcissism of women. It is less difficult for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a woman to separate from her own self and regard herself objectively. Among the recently increasing numbers of homosexual men there are also undoubtedly those who revel in a highly subjective form of narcissism, identical to that of women, that is closely associated with the physical body. But this is a separate issue. For my task here is to discuss the mysterious entity referred to as the woman writer. Given that she is a variety of woman, the woman writer will doubtless be subject to the same obsessive self-centeredness that afflicts all women. This is her biological fate. And since Okamoto Kaneko is also a woman, we must expect that she too will be subject to the same effect.
In this translation of Honda Masko's public lecture (trans. T. Aoyama and L. Fraser) Honda di... more In this translation of Honda Masko's public lecture (trans. T. Aoyama and L. Fraser) Honda discusses the current state of shōjo manga (girls' comics) in Japan, and in particular Nodame Cantabile, a shōjo manga that has been enormously popular in Japan and translated into English. Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animations) are not only supported by the youth of Japan but are currently attracting much interest from a variety of sources. They are crossing international borders, being translated into many languages, and being enjoyed by young people in many different countries. Moreover, while manga were originally developed in print form, they are now often adapted into animations or television series, and are therefore transcending the differences between print and electronic media. Shōjo manga are no exception; many have been adapted into other forms, such as television dramas and animations. This has led the genre to attract a much wider audience than before, as exemplified by Nodame Cantabile.
In this translation of Honda Masko's public lecture (trans. T. Aoyama and L. Fraser) Honda di... more In this translation of Honda Masko's public lecture (trans. T. Aoyama and L. Fraser) Honda discusses the current state of shōjo manga (girls' comics) in Japan, and in particular Nodame Cantabile, a shōjo manga that has been enormously popular in Japan and translated into English. Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animations) are not only supported by the youth of Japan but are currently attracting much interest from a variety of sources. They are crossing international borders, being translated into many languages, and being enjoyed by young people in many different countries. Moreover, while manga were originally developed in print form, they are now often adapted into animations or television series, and are therefore transcending the differences between print and electronic media. Shōjo manga are no exception; many have been adapted into other forms, such as television dramas and animations. This has led the genre to attract a much wider audience than before, as exemplified by Nodame Cantabile.
In this translation of Honda Masko's public lecture (trans. T. Aoyama and L. Fraser) Honda discus... more In this translation of Honda Masko's public lecture (trans. T. Aoyama and L. Fraser) Honda discusses the current state of shōjo manga (girls' comics) in Japan, and in particular Nodame Cantabile, a shōjo manga that has been enormously popular in Japan and translated into English. Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animations) are not only supported by the youth of Japan but are currently attracting much interest from a variety of sources. They are crossing international borders, being translated into many languages, and being enjoyed by young people in many different countries. Moreover, while manga were originally developed in print form, they are now often adapted into animations or television series, and are therefore transcending the differences between print and electronic media. Shōjo manga are no exception; many have been adapted into other forms, such as television dramas and animations. This has led the genre to attract a much wider audience than before, as exemplified by Nodame Cantabile.
Here, “tradition” is invoked to connect tenth-century conventions—though in the tenth century and... more Here, “tradition” is invoked to connect tenth-century conventions—though in the tenth century and beyond, men did write private letters and occasionally even journals in wabun (Japanese prose)—directly to those governing a woman born nine centuries later. The implication that Japanese could never have considered classical Chinese “their own language” is also debatable, and early modern male writers such as Shikitei Sanba, whom Futabatei Shimei cites as an infl uence in “Yo ga genbun itchi no yurai,” consciously strove to represent vernacular speech in their writing. I could continue to list points that troubled me about this anthology, some nitpicky, some more signifi cant. In a sense, though, to do so would be beside the point. Yes, there are problems with the framing and structure of this anthology, and more errors and editorial oversights than one might wish. But it is still an extraordinarily stimulating, creative, and even inspiring collection of frequently brilliant translations. Hats off to Sumie Jones and Charles Shirō Inouye for having the energy, dedication, and perseverance to realize this immensely valuable project. I know I will be using translations from A Tokyo Anthology in classes for many years to come.
By virtue of its 18 knowledgeable contributors, based in some of the finest universities in the U... more By virtue of its 18 knowledgeable contributors, based in some of the finest universities in the US, Europe and Japan, as well as of copious grants from prestigious research funds, the ‘‘Eurasia’’ project, which gave birth to this book, is one that no historic demographer can afford to ignore. At heart, this is a very methodical piece of scholarship laden with what are often very revealing quantitative data. The authors statistically analyse a total of 100,000 individual life histories in some 100 rural communities across Western Europe and East Asia in a bid to challenge Malthus’s suggestion that the concept of family planning (cf. ‘‘preventive checks’’, p. 3) was exclusively European in nature, and in order to highlight human agency as a significant factor in overcoming ‘‘short-term stress’’ – namely, famine. The authors believe (p. 19) that human agency was ‘‘at least as important as human biology in determining the pattern of mortality responses’’ across Eurasia. There is a good deal of extrapolation here concerning how age, gender, family, kinship, social class, epidemics and climate are linked to life expectancy. Contrary to what the sub-title might suggest, therefore, the book ultimately revolves around the impact of elder co-residency and household size on life expectancies, not on the mechanics of pre-modern family planning or on living standards as such. The latter have been addressed in more detail in James Lee’s previous work; they are addressed here through the proxy of grain prices, but not conventionally measured based on levels of consumption, material wealth or calorie intake. Two of the other authors (Cameron Campbell and Wang Feng) are affiliated with the University of California. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, ‘‘California School’’ views on global living standards in the eighteenth century permeate the project. Arguably the most influential ‘‘California School’’ studies, Pomeranz’s The Great Divergence and Wong’s China Transformed are cited frequently throughout the book’s 14 chapters. In a nutshell, these earlier studies suggest that living standards in Europe may not have been higher than they were in China on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. But whereas Pomeranz and Wong aimed at comparing the most affluent regions of Europe and China (i.e. Britain and the Yangzi delta), this project analyses Asian Studies Review December 2010, Vol. 34, pp. 513–543
By virtue of its 18 knowledgeable contributors, based in some of the finest universities in the U... more By virtue of its 18 knowledgeable contributors, based in some of the finest universities in the US, Europe and Japan, as well as of copious grants from prestigious research funds, the ‘‘Eurasia’’ project, which gave birth to this book, is one that no historic demographer can afford to ignore. At heart, this is a very methodical piece of scholarship laden with what are often very revealing quantitative data. The authors statistically analyse a total of 100,000 individual life histories in some 100 rural communities across Western Europe and East Asia in a bid to challenge Malthus’s suggestion that the concept of family planning (cf. ‘‘preventive checks’’, p. 3) was exclusively European in nature, and in order to highlight human agency as a significant factor in overcoming ‘‘short-term stress’’ – namely, famine. The authors believe (p. 19) that human agency was ‘‘at least as important as human biology in determining the pattern of mortality responses’’ across Eurasia. There is a good deal of extrapolation here concerning how age, gender, family, kinship, social class, epidemics and climate are linked to life expectancy. Contrary to what the sub-title might suggest, therefore, the book ultimately revolves around the impact of elder co-residency and household size on life expectancies, not on the mechanics of pre-modern family planning or on living standards as such. The latter have been addressed in more detail in James Lee’s previous work; they are addressed here through the proxy of grain prices, but not conventionally measured based on levels of consumption, material wealth or calorie intake. Two of the other authors (Cameron Campbell and Wang Feng) are affiliated with the University of California. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, ‘‘California School’’ views on global living standards in the eighteenth century permeate the project. Arguably the most influential ‘‘California School’’ studies, Pomeranz’s The Great Divergence and Wong’s China Transformed are cited frequently throughout the book’s 14 chapters. In a nutshell, these earlier studies suggest that living standards in Europe may not have been higher than they were in China on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. But whereas Pomeranz and Wong aimed at comparing the most affluent regions of Europe and China (i.e. Britain and the Yangzi delta), this project analyses Asian Studies Review December 2010, Vol. 34, pp. 513–543
... Author(s), Aoyama, T. Title, Review of The Art of Rice: Spirit and sustenance in Asia by RW H... more ... Author(s), Aoyama, T. Title, Review of The Art of Rice: Spirit and sustenance in Asia by RW Hamilton. Los Angeles: University of California Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 2003. ... Total pages, 1. Editor(s), K. Louie L. Milgram et al. Place of publication, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. ...
Modern Japanese literature has been enriched by contributions from a number of extraordinary and ... more Modern Japanese literature has been enriched by contributions from a number of extraordinary and eccentric writers. Though still relatively obscure outside Japan, Yumeno Kyūsaku (1889–1936) is cert...
Although Shinseinen is generally regarded as a magazine for young men, girls and young women made... more Although Shinseinen is generally regarded as a magazine for young men, girls and young women made a significant contribution to it as writers, readers, and protagonists. One of the key contributors to the popular representations of young women in Shinseinen is Hisao Jūran (1902–1957). This paper focuses on two early comic novels Jūran serialised in Shinseinen soon after his return from Europe. In Nonsharan dōchūki [The Record of Nonchalant Travels] (1934), the ‘nonchalant’ girl heroine, Tanu (‘racoon’), and her partner, Konkichi (‘fox’), travel extensively in France, becoming involved in a series of slapstick nonsense and surrealistic events and accidents. In Fyūgu doree [The Golden Fugue] (1935) the same pair are caught up in a search for secret funds by representatives of various international crime syndicates. Both texts employ comic pedantry that involves cross-cultural and multilingual knowledge and sophistication. Notably, in Jūran's texts the comic elements tend to be assigned to women and girls. I will link this to Takahara Eiri's notion of the ‘consciousness of the girl’ and Tsurumi Shunsuke's interpretation of Ame no Uzume as a brave, subversive, and inclusive being. I will also cite Nakano Miyoko's parody of Jūran as a tribute to the freedom espoused in his nonsense slapstick pedantry.
Abstract Nomizo Naoko's literature was revived to great acclaim in the 1980s after decades of... more Abstract Nomizo Naoko's literature was revived to great acclaim in the 1980s after decades of neglect. However, most published commentaries deal with the fascinating myths, legends and facts surrounding Nomizo's life rather than with her texts. Nomizo published only two short stories in Nyonin geijutsu: ‘Tasogare no hana: Sancta Susanna’ (‘Flowers at twilight’, 1928) and ‘Shii no banka’ (‘Elegy of a purple coat’, 1929). Although insignificant in quantity, these stories are filled with interesting themes and devices that are important not only to understand Nomizo's writing as a whole but also to understand the complexity of what is often dismissed as the cultural domain of women and children.
... These affairs end tragically, often with the musume killing herself. Such representations of ... more ... These affairs end tragically, often with the musume killing herself. Such representations of musume tended to be based on an amalgamation or confusion of the honourable samurai daughter and the geisha. The writer of the Ars diary clearly abhors this confusion. ...
... books and journals were published, including monographs by gender studies scholar Watanabe Sh... more ... books and journals were published, including monographs by gender studies scholar Watanabe Shūko and sociologists Imada Erika and Inagaki ... Also in 2007, the mainstream literary journal specialising in poetry and criticism, Yuriika (Eureka), published two girl-related special ...
Page 1. Childhood Reimagined The Memoirs of ?gai's Children TOMOKO AOYAMA IT is by no means ... more Page 1. Childhood Reimagined The Memoirs of ?gai's Children TOMOKO AOYAMA IT is by no means uncommon for family members to be encouraged to write about a deceased literary figure; indeed, as public figures themselves, by ...
Hisao Juran's novels contain almost without fail movement through time and space and wanderin... more Hisao Juran's novels contain almost without fail movement through time and space and wanderings in foreign lands or foreign cultural spheres. This paper examines the border-crossing, adventures, and sightseeing of three girl protagonists in his novels: Nonsharan dochuki (A Book of Nonchalant Travels, 1934), Kyarako-san (Miss Calico, 1939) and Daikon (Giant Radish, 1947-8). The comic travels in France of Tanu ('raccoon') and her partner Konkichi ('fox') represent the 'nonsense' genre and the modernism of the pre-war period. Miss Calico (nicknamed so because she wears calico rather than silk underwear) is the daughter of an army officer and courageously confronts all sorts of difficulties: the setting, seemingly, is Japan at war. After the defeat, on the other hand, Daikon rushes about in an effort to save 'that person' (the Emperor) and the nation from extinction. While they thus reflect their respective periods, these three works at the same time ...
Proceedings of the 15th Biennial Conference of …, 2004
... That this collection, which has been an essential reading for researchers of shōjo manga, was... more ... That this collection, which has been an essential reading for researchers of shōjo manga, was written by a man may remind us of the cases of the Takarazuka and Ribon no kishi. References to shōjo manga within Momojiri musume, therefore, create complex and ...
Eureka (or Yuriika) is a mainstream Japanese literary magazine specialising in poetry and critici... more Eureka (or Yuriika) is a mainstream Japanese literary magazine specialising in poetry and criticism. Established by Date Tokuo (1920–61) in 1956, the magazine has played a very important role for decades, introducing cutting edge Western art and literary theories and recognising new texts and talents as well as rediscovering the old. With a few exceptions such as a 1981 issue on girls' comics, however, the magazine has rarely dealt with women writers and artists—until relatively recently. Given this general background, the November 2005 Culture Girls issue has a special historical significance. From this issue onwards Eureka has paid much more attention than before to a wide range of 'Culture Girls' favourite topics, artists, and genres.
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Papers by Tomoko Aoyama
This paper seeks to rescue the shōjo out of such lingering confinements and to recognise her critical and creative power, or to borrow Takahara Eiri’s (1999) key words, her “freedom and arrogance,” in reference to two novels: Hashimoto Osamu’s Momojiri musume (Peach-Bottomed Girl, 1978) and Kanai Mieko’s Indian Summer (1988). Neither of these novels is specifically targeted at the shōjo audience but each, told by a young female first-person narrator, presents a parody of the shōjo shōsetsu and shōjo manga. There are two major issues here: intertextuality and gender criticism.
This paper seeks to rescue the shōjo out of such lingering confinements and to recognise her critical and creative power, or to borrow Takahara Eiri’s (1999) key words, her “freedom and arrogance,” in reference to two novels: Hashimoto Osamu’s Momojiri musume (Peach-Bottomed Girl, 1978) and Kanai Mieko’s Indian Summer (1988). Neither of these novels is specifically targeted at the shōjo audience but each, told by a young female first-person narrator, presents a parody of the shōjo shōsetsu and shōjo manga. There are two major issues here: intertextuality and gender criticism.
The contributors draw on a broad range of methodological approaches, including oral history, interview-based and ethnographic research, official discourse analysis, literary analysis, and analysis of visual culture. Such an interdisciplinary approach means that this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, Japanese/Asian studies and gerontology.
The middle-class nuclear family model has long dominated discourses on family in Japan. Yet there have always been multiple configurations of family and kinship, which, in the context of significant socio-economic and demographic shifts since the 1990s, have become increasingly visible in public discourse. This book explores the meanings and practices of "family" in Japan, and brings together research by scholars of literature, gender studies, media and cultural studies, sociology and anthropology. While the primary focus is the "Japanese" family, it also examines the experience and practice of family beyond the borders of Japan, in such settings as Brazil, Australia, and Bali. The chapters explore key issues such as ageing, single households, non-heterosexual living arrangements and parenting. Moreover, many of the issues addressed, such as the growing diversity of family, the increase in single-person households, and the implications of an ageing society, are applicable to other mature, late-industrial societies.
Employing both multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches, this book combines textual analysis of contemporary television, film, literature, manga, anime and other media with empirical and ethnographic studies of families in Japan and in transnational spaces. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields including Japanese culture and society, sociology of family, gender studies, film and media studies, literature and cultural studies, and gerontology
Half-sister Tsuneko, meanwhile, is herself pregnant by one of several lovers, all patrons of the bar she runs. She contacts three of them, claiming each to be the father, and demands money. One of these is Fuyuhiko, the older half-brother of Natsuyuki, although he is not aware of this fact. When Fuyuhiko comes to Tokyo in search of Tsuneko, he gravitates to Natsuyuki's apartment, where he and Alexandre move in with the weak-willed Natsuyuki.
Awarded the Women's Literature Prize in Japan, Oh, Tama! is the second book in the Mejiro Series, named after the area of Tokyo between the mega-towns of Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. The main characters (not to mention the author and her artist sister Kanai Kumiko) all live in this area. Most of the main characters in one book appear as side characters in the others. Natsuyuki and Alexandre, for example, appear in the third work in the series, Indian Summer. The protagonists of that book—Momoko, Hanako and Momoko's writer-aunt—all appear first in Oh, Tama!.
These Mejiro texts are full of humor and irony. While earlier works of Kanai are noted for their surrealistic, sensuous and poetic style and arresting, at times violent themes, the Mejiro novels focus on the human comedy in the seemingly mundane, actual world. The protagonists of the series are, however, in one way or another engaged in creative or intellectual activities, even though they are often unemployed or at loose ends.
While a few of the author's short stories, poems, and excerpts from her longer works were translated into English beginning in the late 1970s, and attracted some attention among feminist literary scholars, this is only the third book-length English translation of her work, following The Word Book and Indian Summer.
The collection examines the reading practices of real life girls from differing social backgrounds throughout the twentieth century while a number of chapters also consider how fictional girls read attention is given to the diverse cultural representations of the girl, or shôjo, who are the objects of the reading desires of Japan’s real life and fictional girls. These representations appear in various genres, including prose fiction, such as Yoshiya Nobuko’s Flower Stories and Takemoto Nobara’s Kamikaze Girls, and manga, such as Yoshida Akimi’s The Cherry Orchard. This volume presents the work of pioneering women scholars in the field of girl studies including translations of a ground-breaking essay by Honda Masuko on reading girls and Kawasaki Kenko’s response to prejudicial masculine critiques of best-selling novelist, Yoshimoto Banana. Other topics range from the reception of Anne of Green Gables in Japan to girls who write and read male homoerotic narratives.
Food is everywhere in Japanese literature, and early chapters illustrate historical changes and variations in the treatment of food and eating. Examples are drawn from Meiji literary diaries, children’s stories, peasant and proletarian literature, and women’s writing before and after World War II. The author then turns to the theme of cannibalism in serious and popular novels. Key issues include ethical questions about survival, colonization, and cultural identity. The quest for gastronomic gratification is a dominant theme in "gourmet novels." Like cannibalism, the gastronomic journey as a literary theme is deeply implicated with cultural identity. The final chapter deals specifically with contemporary novels by women, some of which celebrate the inclusiveness of eating (and writing), while others grapple with the fear of eating. Such dread or disgust can be seen as a warning against what the complacent "gourmet boom" of the 1980s and 1990s concealed: the dangers of a market economy, environmental destruction, and continuing gender biases.
Reading Food in Modern Japanese Literature will tempt any reader with an interest in food, literature, and culture. Moreover, it provides appetizing hints for further savoring, digesting, and incorporating textual food.
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We suggest two approaches to teaching nuclear disaster and post-3.11 “hope”, directed at Japanese studies and popular culture courses, using translated materials. The first is the “thematic” approach, which is exemplified here through an examination of food, cooking, and eating themes in manga about nuclear disasters. The second approach is one of comparison and contextualization, which we model through cross-generic and cross-media comparisons of a pre-3.11 manga, set during the Second World War, and three hit Japanese films from 2016 related to war and nuclear disaster. We argue that these two approaches are appealing and particularly well suited for developing the critical capacity of university students, who are already equipped with intertextual reading abilities and are often familiar with the practices of the Japanese “media mix”.
Nodame Cantabile depicts the story of Noda Megumi, portrayed as an eccentric, weak student, despite her special gift for music. She neither fits in the world of institutionalised music education nor follows socio-cultural norms in daily life. Although the main themes are Nodame’s development as a musician, and her relationships with others, especially love interest, Shin’ichi, there are three interesting episodes of language learning. First, Nodame has to pass a German examination. What can she, or Shin’ichi, as reluctant tutor, do in just one night? The second and third examples occur in Paris, where she is to study piano. After a failed attempt to learn everyday French expressions via a book, Nodame discovers a perfect method.
This chapter considers what insights Nodame’s language learning offers teachers and learners. The overall experience certainly reflects the gender and socio-economic differences between the two characters. Shin’ichi, with his privileged background, seems able - always and already – to speak and perform fluently. Nodame, rather, must learn, in accordance with the shōjo convention of finding one’s position (ibasho). Finally, we argue that the meta-learning and intertextuality of Nodame take us beyond stereotypes, even though the film/anime versions may not necessarily have the same effect.