Category: IICJ2016
Japanese Mythology and Nationalism: Myths of genesis, Japanese identity, and Familism
In the nationalism’s toolbox, mythology is one of the most useful and productive tools for the construction of national identity. Mythic tales provide a sense of ‘essence’ for the nation; in a way, they symbolize the ‘roots’ for the members of nation. Because of this valuable meaning, pre-nationalist /nationalist thinkers revive and reproduce them according …
The “Literature of the Catastrophe” as a Canon: From Genbaku Bungaku to Fukushima Bungaku
The literary responses to Fukushima disaster appeared in the last few years highlighted the similarities with Hiroshima and Nagasaki experience as long as both tragedies were caused by an arguable usage of nuclear power. What is remarkable, is that a seismically active area like Japan subjected to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions ever since, has not …
Kioku: An Analysis of How the Memory of the World War II Remains Influencing Social and Political Aspects in Japan
On 15 August 1945, the Japanese people listened on the radio, through the words of Emperor Hirohito himself, the unconditional surrender of their country. The World War II was then coming to an end at the Pacific theater. However, the end of the war created fertile soil for various memories about the conflicts that happened …
A Democratic Solution for Japan’s Fading Political Public Space: Constitutional Inquiry into Article 1
With the upper house election scheduled for July 2016, the topic of constitutional amendments is gaining growing attention in Japan. While Article 9 of Japan’s post-World War II Constitution, which defines the country’s position in terms of war and military, continues to be the centre of public controversy, the nation’s debates on Article 1 – …
Visual Framing in Ichikawa’s 1964 Tokyo Olympiad
Depicting a mega-event such as an Olympic Games is generally centered around heroic victories played out in spectacular stadiums. Such films usually combine elements of Nichols’ (2010) poetic and expository modes. But beyond the use of Nichols’ taxonomy, the issue of framing is also paramount in deconstructing an Olympic documentary. At the heart of the …
Framing the Pre-Olympic News Coverage of Tokyo 2020: A Comparative Analysis of Tokyo’s Successful Bid and the Olympic Stadium Design
The Olympics as a global spectacle usually generates a significant amount of international news coverage for the host country. The power of the media to shape public opinion or the ‘complementary role of macro-communications and interpersonal micro-communications through media’ as Jacques Ellul describes it, suggests that the messages and symbols which are now emerging from …
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Nation Branding Creates an Opportunity for a New Cultural Narrative for Japan
What is the role of the 2020 Olympics in shaping the narrative for Japan’s cultural and national identity? A cultural approach to nation branding targets a range of possible identities for Japan, shaping a narrative for the benefit of external and internal audiences (Kaneva, 2011). Building on the concept of nation branding being developed through …
Rites of Passage in Japanese Traditional Culture
The paper examines the rites of passage in Japanese traditional culture from the perspective of semiotic method, a study of signs, symbols and significations. Sign systems of traditional customs and rituals ensure transmission of cultural values and information between and within generations. Based on the analyses of concrete elements and symbolic content of life-cycle rituals …
Shibata G: Filmmaker of a Hybrid Japan
Shibata Go� is a Japanese contemporary independent filmmaker. He made only a few movies and yet unfairly unknown. Until recently, attention was paid only to his second long-movie, Late Bloomer (Osoi Hito) in 2003 from some independent reviews like ‘The Midnight Eye’ However, his first film, NN891102 (1999), which is also the work from his …
Information Sharing Between the Civil Administration and Citizens: An Implementation Proposal of Open Data Strategy in Japanese Local Governments
Administrative services in Japan have become diversified as a result of economic growth. However, as this growth has slowed down in recent years, there is now a need to review such conventional administrative service. Hence, in light of such a social climate, the Japanese government has been advocating an open data strategy (ODS) for administrative …
Politeness Strategies Among Japanese College Students: Discussion of the Acquisition of Honorifics and Onomatopoeias
In general, learning the proper use of parts of speech peculiar to the Japanese language, such as honorifics and onomatopoeias, often becomes a problem in Japanese language education. Honorifics are considered to be difficult by many Japanese and are used incorrectly on many occasions. Also, onomatopoeias are frequently used in various cartoon and comic books, …