This is the companion course to ASIA 2009 Modern Japanese Society (MJS).  Whereas MJS examines Japan through the lens of the social sciences  Modern Japanese Culture (MJC) approaches Japan through the humanities.  Specifically, this class will draw on such materials as novels, short stories, film, poetry, anime and theatre to introduce students to a cross-section of Japanese culture: high and low, metropolitan and peripheral, contemporary and not-so-contemporary.

In this class we will move beyond simplistic characterizations of Japanese culture and Japanese cultural identity as homogeneous, monolithic entities and arrive at understandings of Japan, Japanese culture and cultural identity as an amalgams of coexisting, competing and oftentimes conflicting narratives, each with its own historical and political context.