JAPANESE SOCIETY ANTH 1784 Instructor Dr Gabriella Lukacs Review Sheet for Exam 3 Definitions 1 Nikkeijin Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants that reside in a foreign country second generation Japanese people of Japanese descent living in Peru Brazil and the United States kaigai chuuzai a station or assignment at a remote post overseas working abroad 2 3 media localization media imported from Japan is censored or edited in order to fit the taste of the particular local audiences Ex scenes from Pokemon will be edited for United States understanding cultural proximity why Taiwanese viewers prefer Japanese dramas over United States shows cultural closeness transnational regional modernity it is modernity what does it mean to be a modern in Asia soft power a form of power that arises from the attractiveness of a country s cultural values otaku both American otaku and Japanese otaku American mainly men fans of Japanese animation culture Japanese negative connotation 5 6 7 4 8 mass middle class society the people who define with the middle class based on their consumption gross national cool Japan started exporting cool and cute commodities 9 10 culturally neutral media reception of Japanese dramas in Taiwan if export to the West will not notice it is Japanese Questions 1 What are the main characteristics of cute culture and cute aesthetics Cute culture is childlike sweet adorable innocent pure simple vulnerable weak 2 How does Iwabuchi s study of the reception of Japanese dramas in Taiwan criticize dominant theories of cultural globalization Dominant theory of cultural globalization is based on the centered periphery model if culture goes beyond national boundaries it will go to the rest of the world center periphery model does not always work 3 Scholars have identified and analyzed a conspicuous rise in Japanese cultural exports during the 1990s What are the main venues through which Japanese popular culture entered global circulation during the 1990s Japanese mass culture became popular in East Asia Anime is becoming popular worldwide Localized version of Japanese mass culture Hollywood buys ideas from Japan Ring Shall We Dance Media bootleggers and fansubbers Multi cultural television channels 4 Japan s place in the global economy has changed significantly in the past two decades Describe the major changes Rapid growth in offshore manufacturing Export oriented economy sharp rise in transnational work assignments Tokyo is an international business center Direct foreign investment in Japan is increasing very slowly 1 5 In Lukacs s Scripted Affects why do male viewers find workplace dramas more appealing than love dramas Workplace dramas advocate the importance of social realism and can be enjoyed as independent episodes directors of workplace dramas say that love dramas are unrealistic 6 In her discussion of the global popularity of Iron Chef what evidence does Lukacs give to argue against the idea that Japan is accumulating soft power through exporting popular culture Reception of Iron Chef in the US did not include soft power in Japan because they did not connect the show with Japan and did not like the same things Japanese people liked 7 In Yoshimoto Banana s novel what compensates for the crumbling of the family and how Complete commodities consumption compensates for the loss of the family 8 According to Kurotani what are the contradictory expectations Japanese workers face in transnational contexts of employment Japanese men who work abroad are expected to be flexible to adapt to the different work environment but they will be shipped back to Japan so they have to remain accustomed to the Japanese culture as well 9 According to Faier why do rural men go to Filipina bars They feel cosmopolitan there no chances to marry Japanese women 11 In chapter 2 how does Lukacs explain the failure of the primetime drama titled Single Lives They didn t like it because the main role did not fit the tarento and did not play the tarento Japanese television remarketed themselves from narrated based entertainment to lifestyle based entertainment Tarentos endorse commodities 12 In Kurotani s view why is Japanese home cooking more important for Japanese families living abroad than for those living in Japan That is how women keep their husbands connected to Japan when they are abroad 13 How are migrant workers represented in Swallowtail They are free and can do whatever they want and contrasts the lifestyle of migrants of real Japanese culture which is actually highly regimented 14 What are the main characteristics of hardware and software that Japan exported until the 1990s Japan can sell only culturally neutral hardward buying up Hollywood to obtain software 15 According to Iwabuchi Koichi why are Japanese dramas more popular with Taiwanese youth than American dramas Cultural proximity and transnational regional modernity Taiwanese viewers find the distance more manageable the mode of representation is closer to them sense of intimacy Japanese dramas contain a lot of trendy fashions as well 16 How would you characterize American anime fans relationship to Japanese culture based on the documentary titled Otaku Unite Their relationship to Japanese anime is very limited to just anime and the cartoon culture 17 In Sawa Kurotani s opinion in Home Away from Home how has the practice of kaigai chuuzai changed in the last twenty years 2 Being in the elitist position is an honor 1980s but in the 1990s it became more common sense 18 According to Lukacs why the reception of Iron Chef in the US did not support the idea of Japan s emerging global soft power They could connect to Japan 19 Why did Kitchen become a global hit It represents Japan as a country with less cultural uniqueness and more economic clout 20 In chapter 3 how does Lukacs explain the young female scriptwriter boom Why were young female scriptwriters essential to the success of trendy dramas They needed to bridge the gap between the viewers who were usually women and the scriptwriters Bonus Points You will have the opportunity to earn three bonus points The three bonus questions will be based on 1 the lecture on imperialism 1 point 2 Mark Driscoll s essay titled Cool ie Japan 1 point and Ken Kawashima s essay titled The Birth of the Uncontrollable Colonial Surplus A Prehistory of the Korean Problem 1 point The lecture on imperialism and the readings by Driscoll and Kawashima will not be included in your third exam They are