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JAPANGEN 51: Japanese Business Culture and Systems (JAPANGEN 251)

Japanese sociocultural dynamics in industrial and corporate structures, negotiating styles, decision making, and crisis management. Practicum on Japan market strategies.
Terms: Win | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Dasher, R. (PI)

JAPANGEN 57: How to Find Modern Japan: A Gateway Course (JAPANGEN 157)

An introduction to key locales in the cultural production of modern Japanese identity, offering a virtual tour of Japan and its significant others through major works of Japanese literature and film. Particular attention to sociohistorical context.
Last offered: Winter 2014 | Units: 4

JAPANGEN 60: Asian Arts and Cultures (ARTHIST 2)

An introduction to major monuments, themes, styles, and media of East and South Asian visual arts, in their social, literary, religious, and political contexts. Through close study of primary monuments of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural arts and related texts, this course will explore ritual and mortuary arts; Buddhist arts across Asia; narrative and landscape images; and courtly, urban, monastic, and studio environments for art from Bronze Age to modern eras.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Vinograd, R. (PI)

JAPANGEN 75N: Around the World in Seventeen Syllables: Haiku in Japan, the U.S., and the Digital World

Preference to freshmen. Origins of the haiku form in Japan, its place in the discourse of Orientalism during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the West, its appropriation by U.S.devotees of Zen and the beat poets after WW II, and its current transformation into a global form through the Internet.
Last offered: Autumn 2013 | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II

JAPANGEN 79: Japanese Ghosts: The Supernatural in Japanese Art and Entertainment (JAPANGEN 179)

The complex meanings of ghosts in Japanese culture. Representations of the supernatural in images, drama, oral narratives, prose, film, comics and animation at different moments in Japanese history.
Last offered: Spring 2011 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom

JAPANGEN 82N: Joys and Pains of Growing Up and Older in Japan

What do old and young people share in common? With a focus on Japan, a country with a large long-living population, this seminar spotlights older people's lives as a reflectiion of culture and society, history, and current social and personal changes. Through discussion of multidisciplinary studies on age, analysis of narratives, and films, we will gain a closer understanding of Japanese society and the multiple meanings of growing up and older. Students will also create a short video/audio profile of an older individual, and we will explore cross-cultural comparisons. Held in Knight Bldg. Rm. 201.
Last offered: Spring 2015 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

JAPANGEN 92: Introduction to Japan

Required Japanese majors. Introduction to Japanese culture in historical context. Previous topics include:shifting paradigms of gender relations and performance, ancient mythology, court poetry and romance, medieval war tales, and the theaters of Noh, Bunraku, and Kabuki.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Carter, S. (PI)

JAPANGEN 121: Translating Japan, Translating the West (COMPLIT 142B, JAPANGEN 221)

Translation lies at the heart of all intercultural exchange. This course introduces students to the specific ways in which translation has shaped the image of Japan in the West, the image of the West in Japan, and Japan's self-image in the modern period. What texts and concepts were translated by each side, how, and to what effect? No prior knowledge of Japanese language necessary.
Last offered: Winter 2015 | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

JAPANGEN 122: Translating Cool: Globalized Popular Culture in Asia (JAPANGEN 222, KORGEN 122)

Did you grow up watching Pokémon and Power Rangers? Have you danced along to "Gangnam Style"? As we become increasingly exposed to Asian popular culture and the Internet facilitates instant access to new media, previous localized forms of entertainment--animated cartoons, comics, video games, music videos, film, and soap operas--have become part of a global staple. However, these cultural forms have emerged not only in their original form with mediation of subtitles. Many have undergone various processes of adaptation and translation so that we no longer recognize that these products had ever originated elsewhere. This course will immerse students in a range of Japanese and Korean cultural phenomena to reveal the spectrum of translation practices across national boundaries. We will inquire into why these cultural forms have such compelling and powerful staying power, contextualize them within their frames of production, and explore the strategies, limitations, and potential of translational practices.nnContact instructor for place. dafnazur@stanford.edunKnight 201.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Zur, D. (PI)

JAPANGEN 124: Manga as Literature (JAPANGEN 224)

Analysis of representative manga as narratives that combine verbal and visual elements, with attention to historical and cultural background. Representative manga by Tezuka Osamu, Tatsumi Yoshihiro, Koike Kazuo, Taniguchi Jiro, Natsume Ono, Kono Fumiyo, and others. All readings in English.nnClass meets in Knight Bldg, Rm 018. Contact instructor (sdcarter@stanford.edu) for place
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Carter, S. (PI)

JAPANGEN 126: The Vampire in Anime

Analysis of anime where vampires play central roles as characters and/or in plot development. Comparison of character and plot development within anime series and Western vampire literature will be the main focus; attention will also be paid to the development of the vampire as a literary and film character in the West, the conception of the supernatural in Japanese culture, and the points of similarity and difference between the two.
Last offered: Spring 2014 | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 127: JAPANimals: Fauna in the Cultural History of Japan (JAPANGEN 227)

Multifarious roles played by animals throughout Japanese art and culture.Signs of the zodiac; shape-changers and tricksters; fabulous beasts and sacred animals; the notorious "Dog Shogun" and animal satires; commodification of animals, representation of animals in anime.
| Units: 3-5

JAPANGEN 133: Japanese Media Culture (JAPANGEN 233)

Focuses on the intertwined histories of the postwar Japanese television, anime, music, and video game industries, and how their development intersects with wider trends in Japanese society. We will pay particular attention to questions of affect, labor, and environment in media production, consumption, and style.
Terms: Aut | Units: 2-4

JAPANGEN 137: Classical Japanese Literature in Translation (JAPANGEN 237)

Prose, poetry, and drama from the 10th-19th centuries. Historical, intellectual, and cultural context. Works vary each year. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
Last offered: Autumn 2012 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II

JAPANGEN 138: Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture (COMPLIT 138A, JAPANGEN 238)

This class introduces key literary texts from Japan's modern era (1868-present), locating these works in the larger political, social, and cultural trends of the period. Primary texts include: Futabatei Shimei's Floating Clouds, Higuchi Ichiyô's Child's Play, Natsume Sôseki's Kokoro, Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Boat, Ôe Kenzaburô's The Catch, and Yoshimoto Banana's Kitchen. Examination of these literary works will be contextualized within larger political trends (e.g., the modernization program of the Meiji regime, the policies of Japan's wartime government, and postwar Japanese responses to the cold war), social developments (e.g., changing notions of social class, the women's rights movement, and the social effects of the postwar economic expansion), and cultural movements (e.g., literary reform movement of the 1890s, modernism of the 1920s and 30s, and postmodernism of the 1980s). The goal of the class is to use literary texts as a point of entry to understand the grand narrative of Japan's journey from its tentative re-entry into the international community in the 1850s, through the cataclysm of the Pacific War, to the remarkable prosperity of the bubble years in the 1980s.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Levy, I. (PI); Young, T. (GP)

JAPANGEN 141: Japanese Performance Traditions (JAPANGEN 241)

Major paradigms of gender in Japanese performance traditions from ancient to modern times, covering Noh, Kabuki, Bunraku, and Takarazuka.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum

JAPANGEN 142: Gender, Sex, and Text in Early Modern Japan (JAPANGEN 242)

The early modern period in Japan (1600-1868) was a vibrant time when popular culture flourished, cities expanded, and people enjoyed a 'floating world' of transient, sensual delights. Reading popular literature from the time (in translation), including novels and poetry, and looking at explicit erotic imagery in woodblock prints as well as other visual media, we will discuss topics related to gender, sex, and sexuality. Critical scholarship by historians, art historians and scholars of literature will add to students' own readings of these primary sources.
Last offered: Spring 2015 | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 144: Inventing Japan: Traditional Culture in the Modern World (JAPANGEN 244)

Features of traditional Japanese culture such as temples and shrines, kimono, and cultural practices like the tea ceremony, have played an important role in both domestic and international representations of Japan since the late nineteenth century. In this course students will be introduced to these elements of traditional Japanese culture, while learning to cast a critical eye on the concept of tradition. Themes will include discussion of the gendered nature of tradition in modern Japan and the role played by such traditions in constructing national identity, both in Japan and overseas. We will explore these topics using the theoretical frameworks of invention of tradition and reformatting of tradition. Contact instructor for room. rcorbett@stanford.edu
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Corbett, R. (PI)

JAPANGEN 148: Modern Japanese Narratives: Literature and Film (JAPANGEN 248)

Central issues in modern Japanese visual and written narrative. Focus is on competing views of modernity, war, and crises of individual and collective identity and responsibility. Directors and authors include Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Ogai, Akutagawa, Tanizaki, Abe, and Oe.
Last offered: Winter 2010 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-EDP

JAPANGEN 149: Screening Japan: Issues in Crosscultural Interpretation (JAPANGEN 249)

Is the cinematic language of moving images universal? How have cultural differences, political interests, and genre expectations affected the ways in which Japanese cinema makes meaning across national borders? Sources include the works of major Japanese directors and seminal works of Japanese film criticism, theory, and scholarship in English. No Japanese language skills required.
Last offered: Autumn 2007 | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum

JAPANGEN 152: Art Animation (FILMSTUD 146, JAPANGEN 252)

While anime has spread around the world, Japanese art animators have been busy developing a parallel tradition, built from a more personal, experimental, and idiosyncratic approach to the medium. Looking closely at key works from major artists in the field, this course explores art animation from a variety of perspectives: animation scene; philosophical attempts to account for animated movement; and art animation's unique perspective on Japanese culture.
Last offered: Spring 2015 | Units: 2-4

JAPANGEN 157: How to Find Modern Japan: A Gateway Course (JAPANGEN 57)

An introduction to key locales in the cultural production of modern Japanese identity, offering a virtual tour of Japan and its significant others through major works of Japanese literature and film. Particular attention to sociohistorical context.
Last offered: Winter 2014 | Units: 4

JAPANGEN 160: Early Modern Japan: The Floating World of Chikamatsu (JAPANGEN 260)

Early modern Japan as dramatized in the puppet theater of Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), Japan's leading dramatist, who depicted militarization, commercialization, and urbanization in the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). Emperors, shogun, daimyo, samurai, merchants, monks, geisha, and masterless ronin in his bunraku plays as denizens of a floating world. Themes of loyalty, love, heroism, suicide, and renunciation in the early modern world. In English.
| Units: 4

JAPANGEN 179: Japanese Ghosts: The Supernatural in Japanese Art and Entertainment (JAPANGEN 79)

The complex meanings of ghosts in Japanese culture. Representations of the supernatural in images, drama, oral narratives, prose, film, comics and animation at different moments in Japanese history.
Last offered: Spring 2011 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom

JAPANGEN 184: Aristocrats, Warriors, Sex Workers, and Barbarians: Lived Life in Early Modern Japanese Painting (ARTHIST 184, ARTHIST 384, JAPANGEN 384)

Changes marking the transition from medieval to early modern Japanese society that generated a revolution in visual culture, as exemplified in subjects deemed fit for representation; how commoners joined elites in pictorializing their world, catalyzed by interactions with the Dutch.
Last offered: Winter 2015 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum

JAPANGEN 185: Arts of War and Peace: Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan, 1500-1868 (ARTHIST 187, ARTHIST 387)

Narratives of conflict, pacification, orthodoxy, nostalgia, and novelty through visual culture during the change of episteme from late medieval to early modern, 16th through early 19th centuries. The rhetorical messages of castles, teahouses, gardens, ceramics, paintings, and prints; the influence of Dutch and Chinese visuality; transformation in the roles of art and artist; tensions between the old and the new leading to the modernization of Japan.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom
Instructors: ; Takeuchi, M. (PI)

JAPANGEN 186: Theme and Style in Japanese Art (ARTHIST 186, ARTHIST 386, JAPANGEN 286)

A mixture of lecture and discussion, this course presents a chronological introduction to some of the defining monuments in the history of Japanese visual culture from prehistory to the mid-19th century. This introductory class presumes no prior knowledge of art history or of Japan. We will emphasize certain overarching themes like religious life; notions of decorum appropriate to various classes (court, warrior, and commoner); the relationship between and among the arts, such as the visual and the verbal, or the symphonic assemblage arts as seen in the tea ceremony; pervasive cultural tropes like nostalgia, seasonality, or the sense of place; and broader issues such as censorship, patronage, gender issues, and the encounters between Japanese and foreign cultures.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
Instructors: ; Takeuchi, M. (PI)

JAPANGEN 187: Romance, Desire, and Sexuality in Modern Japanese Literature (FEMGEN 187, JAPANGEN 287)

This class is structured around three motifs: love suicide (as a romantic ideal), female desire, and same-sex sexuality. Over the course of the quarter we will look at how these motifs are treated in the art and entertainment from three different moments of Japanese history: the Edo period (1615-1868), the modern period (1920-65), and the contemporary period (1965-present). We will start by focusing on the most traditional representations of these topics. Subsequently, we will consider how later artists and entertainers revisited the conventional treatments of these motifs, informing them with new meanings and social significance. We will devote particular attention to how this material comments upon issues of gender, sexuality, and human relationships in the context of Japan. Informing our perspective will be feminist and queer theories of reading and interpretation.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

JAPANGEN 198: Senior Colloquium in Japanese Studies (KORGEN 198)

Research, write, and present capstone essay or honors thesis.
Terms: Win | Units: 1
Instructors: ; Zhou, Y. (PI)

JAPANGEN 200: Directed Reading in Asian Languages

For Japanese literature. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (Staff)
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-12

JAPANGEN 201: Teaching Japanese Humanities

Prepares graduate students to teach humanities at the undergraduate level. Topics include syllabus development and course design, techniques for generating discussion, effective grading practices, and issues particular to the subject matter.
Last offered: Autumn 2010 | Units: 1

JAPANGEN 220: The Situation of the Artist in Traditional Japan (ARTHIST 485)

Topics may include: workshop production such as that of the Kano and Tosa families; the meaning of the signature on objects including ceramics and tea wares; the folk arts movement; craft guilds; ghost painters in China; individualism versus product standardization; and the role of lineage. How works of art were commissioned; institutions supporting artists; how makers purveyed their goods; how artists were recognized by society; the relationship between patrons¿ desires and artists¿ modes of production.
Last offered: Spring 2008 | Units: 5

JAPANGEN 221: Translating Japan, Translating the West (COMPLIT 142B, JAPANGEN 121)

Translation lies at the heart of all intercultural exchange. This course introduces students to the specific ways in which translation has shaped the image of Japan in the West, the image of the West in Japan, and Japan's self-image in the modern period. What texts and concepts were translated by each side, how, and to what effect? No prior knowledge of Japanese language necessary.
Last offered: Winter 2015 | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 222: Translating Cool: Globalized Popular Culture in Asia (JAPANGEN 122, KORGEN 122)

Did you grow up watching Pokémon and Power Rangers? Have you danced along to "Gangnam Style"? As we become increasingly exposed to Asian popular culture and the Internet facilitates instant access to new media, previous localized forms of entertainment--animated cartoons, comics, video games, music videos, film, and soap operas--have become part of a global staple. However, these cultural forms have emerged not only in their original form with mediation of subtitles. Many have undergone various processes of adaptation and translation so that we no longer recognize that these products had ever originated elsewhere. This course will immerse students in a range of Japanese and Korean cultural phenomena to reveal the spectrum of translation practices across national boundaries. We will inquire into why these cultural forms have such compelling and powerful staying power, contextualize them within their frames of production, and explore the strategies, limitations, and potential of translational practices.nnContact instructor for place. dafnazur@stanford.edunKnight 201.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-4
Instructors: ; Zur, D. (PI)

JAPANGEN 224: Manga as Literature (JAPANGEN 124)

Analysis of representative manga as narratives that combine verbal and visual elements, with attention to historical and cultural background. Representative manga by Tezuka Osamu, Tatsumi Yoshihiro, Koike Kazuo, Taniguchi Jiro, Natsume Ono, Kono Fumiyo, and others. All readings in English.nnClass meets in Knight Bldg, Rm 018. Contact instructor (sdcarter@stanford.edu) for place
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Carter, S. (PI)

JAPANGEN 227: JAPANimals: Fauna in the Cultural History of Japan (JAPANGEN 127)

Multifarious roles played by animals throughout Japanese art and culture.Signs of the zodiac; shape-changers and tricksters; fabulous beasts and sacred animals; the notorious "Dog Shogun" and animal satires; commodification of animals, representation of animals in anime.
| Units: 3-5

JAPANGEN 229: Topophilia: Place in Japanese Visual Culture through 19th Century (ARTHIST 229D)

Attachments to "place" and "home" are hard-wired into the biology of humans and animals alike, although such attachments vary according to specific times, cultures, and states of mind. Can we speak of a "Japanese sense of place" and if so, what is distinctive about it? Seminar explores religious visions and ritual fields; narratives of itinerancy; cityscapes; topographic taxonomies. Knowledge of Japanese culture is beneficial but not mandatory.
| Units: 5

JAPANGEN 233: Japanese Media Culture (JAPANGEN 133)

Focuses on the intertwined histories of the postwar Japanese television, anime, music, and video game industries, and how their development intersects with wider trends in Japanese society. We will pay particular attention to questions of affect, labor, and environment in media production, consumption, and style.
Terms: Aut | Units: 2-4

JAPANGEN 237: Classical Japanese Literature in Translation (JAPANGEN 137)

Prose, poetry, and drama from the 10th-19th centuries. Historical, intellectual, and cultural context. Works vary each year. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
Last offered: Autumn 2012 | Units: 4

JAPANGEN 238: Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture (COMPLIT 138A, JAPANGEN 138)

This class introduces key literary texts from Japan's modern era (1868-present), locating these works in the larger political, social, and cultural trends of the period. Primary texts include: Futabatei Shimei's Floating Clouds, Higuchi Ichiyô's Child's Play, Natsume Sôseki's Kokoro, Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Boat, Ôe Kenzaburô's The Catch, and Yoshimoto Banana's Kitchen. Examination of these literary works will be contextualized within larger political trends (e.g., the modernization program of the Meiji regime, the policies of Japan's wartime government, and postwar Japanese responses to the cold war), social developments (e.g., changing notions of social class, the women's rights movement, and the social effects of the postwar economic expansion), and cultural movements (e.g., literary reform movement of the 1890s, modernism of the 1920s and 30s, and postmodernism of the 1980s). The goal of the class is to use literary texts as a point of entry to understand the grand narrative of Japan's journey from its tentative re-entry into the international community in the 1850s, through the cataclysm of the Pacific War, to the remarkable prosperity of the bubble years in the 1980s.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-4
Instructors: ; Levy, I. (PI); Young, T. (GP)

JAPANGEN 241: Japanese Performance Traditions (JAPANGEN 141)

Major paradigms of gender in Japanese performance traditions from ancient to modern times, covering Noh, Kabuki, Bunraku, and Takarazuka.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 242: Gender, Sex, and Text in Early Modern Japan (JAPANGEN 142)

The early modern period in Japan (1600-1868) was a vibrant time when popular culture flourished, cities expanded, and people enjoyed a 'floating world' of transient, sensual delights. Reading popular literature from the time (in translation), including novels and poetry, and looking at explicit erotic imagery in woodblock prints as well as other visual media, we will discuss topics related to gender, sex, and sexuality. Critical scholarship by historians, art historians and scholars of literature will add to students' own readings of these primary sources.
Last offered: Spring 2015 | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 244: Inventing Japan: Traditional Culture in the Modern World (JAPANGEN 144)

Features of traditional Japanese culture such as temples and shrines, kimono, and cultural practices like the tea ceremony, have played an important role in both domestic and international representations of Japan since the late nineteenth century. In this course students will be introduced to these elements of traditional Japanese culture, while learning to cast a critical eye on the concept of tradition. Themes will include discussion of the gendered nature of tradition in modern Japan and the role played by such traditions in constructing national identity, both in Japan and overseas. We will explore these topics using the theoretical frameworks of invention of tradition and reformatting of tradition. Contact instructor for room. rcorbett@stanford.edu
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Corbett, R. (PI)

JAPANGEN 248: Modern Japanese Narratives: Literature and Film (JAPANGEN 148)

Central issues in modern Japanese visual and written narrative. Focus is on competing views of modernity, war, and crises of individual and collective identity and responsibility. Directors and authors include Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, Ogai, Akutagawa, Tanizaki, Abe, and Oe.
Last offered: Winter 2010 | Units: 3-5

JAPANGEN 249: Screening Japan: Issues in Crosscultural Interpretation (JAPANGEN 149)

Is the cinematic language of moving images universal? How have cultural differences, political interests, and genre expectations affected the ways in which Japanese cinema makes meaning across national borders? Sources include the works of major Japanese directors and seminal works of Japanese film criticism, theory, and scholarship in English. No Japanese language skills required.
Last offered: Autumn 2007 | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 251: Japanese Business Culture and Systems (JAPANGEN 51)

Japanese sociocultural dynamics in industrial and corporate structures, negotiating styles, decision making, and crisis management. Practicum on Japan market strategies.
Terms: Win | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Dasher, R. (PI)

JAPANGEN 252: Art Animation (FILMSTUD 146, JAPANGEN 152)

While anime has spread around the world, Japanese art animators have been busy developing a parallel tradition, built from a more personal, experimental, and idiosyncratic approach to the medium. Looking closely at key works from major artists in the field, this course explores art animation from a variety of perspectives: animation scene; philosophical attempts to account for animated movement; and art animation's unique perspective on Japanese culture.
Last offered: Spring 2015 | Units: 2-4

JAPANGEN 260: Early Modern Japan: The Floating World of Chikamatsu (JAPANGEN 160)

Early modern Japan as dramatized in the puppet theater of Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), Japan's leading dramatist, who depicted militarization, commercialization, and urbanization in the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). Emperors, shogun, daimyo, samurai, merchants, monks, geisha, and masterless ronin in his bunraku plays as denizens of a floating world. Themes of loyalty, love, heroism, suicide, and renunciation in the early modern world. In English.
| Units: 4

JAPANGEN 286: Theme and Style in Japanese Art (ARTHIST 186, ARTHIST 386, JAPANGEN 186)

A mixture of lecture and discussion, this course presents a chronological introduction to some of the defining monuments in the history of Japanese visual culture from prehistory to the mid-19th century. This introductory class presumes no prior knowledge of art history or of Japan. We will emphasize certain overarching themes like religious life; notions of decorum appropriate to various classes (court, warrior, and commoner); the relationship between and among the arts, such as the visual and the verbal, or the symphonic assemblage arts as seen in the tea ceremony; pervasive cultural tropes like nostalgia, seasonality, or the sense of place; and broader issues such as censorship, patronage, gender issues, and the encounters between Japanese and foreign cultures.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Takeuchi, M. (PI)

JAPANGEN 287: Romance, Desire, and Sexuality in Modern Japanese Literature (FEMGEN 187, JAPANGEN 187)

This class is structured around three motifs: love suicide (as a romantic ideal), female desire, and same-sex sexuality. Over the course of the quarter we will look at how these motifs are treated in the art and entertainment from three different moments of Japanese history: the Edo period (1615-1868), the modern period (1920-65), and the contemporary period (1965-present). We will start by focusing on the most traditional representations of these topics. Subsequently, we will consider how later artists and entertainers revisited the conventional treatments of these motifs, informing them with new meanings and social significance. We will devote particular attention to how this material comments upon issues of gender, sexuality, and human relationships in the context of Japan. Informing our perspective will be feminist and queer theories of reading and interpretation.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-4

JAPANGEN 287A: The Japanese Tea Ceremony: The History, Aesthetics, and Politics Behind a National Pastime (ARTHIST 287A)

The Japanese tea ceremony, the ultimate premodern multimedia phenomenon, integrates architecture, garden design, ceramics, painting, calligraphy, and other treasured objects into a choreographed ritual wherein host, objects, and guests perform designated roles on a tiny stage sometimes only six feet square.. In addition to its much-touted aesthetic and philosophical aspects, the practice of tea includes inevitable political and rhetorical dimensions. This course traces the evolution of tea practice from its inception within the milieu of courtier diversions, Zen monasteries, and warrior villas, through its various permutations into the 20th century, where it was manipulated by the emerging industrialist class for different-but ultimately similar-ends.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5
Instructors: ; Takeuchi, M. (PI)

JAPANGEN 384: Aristocrats, Warriors, Sex Workers, and Barbarians: Lived Life in Early Modern Japanese Painting (ARTHIST 184, ARTHIST 384, JAPANGEN 184)

Changes marking the transition from medieval to early modern Japanese society that generated a revolution in visual culture, as exemplified in subjects deemed fit for representation; how commoners joined elites in pictorializing their world, catalyzed by interactions with the Dutch.
Last offered: Winter 2015 | Units: 4

JAPANGEN 402T: Entrepreneurship in Asian High-Tech Industries (CHINGEN 402T, EE 402T, KORGEN 402T)

Distinctive patterns and challenges of entrepreneurship in Asia; update of business and technology issues in the creation and growth of start-up companies in major Asian economies. Distinguished speakers from industry, government, and academia. Course may be repeated for credit.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Dasher, R. (PI)
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