Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2011 Co-sponsored by the CIEE Study Center Japan Japanese Popular Culture Around the World Renato Rivera, Meiji University

Nov. 29th, 2011
18: 30 - 20:00
Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus
Bldg. 10, Room 301

Japanese popular culture – including music, fashion, but most notably anime and manga – has recently become a global commodity capitalized upon by the government’s “Cool Japan” policy. However, the true globalization of Japanese pop contents, though largely unnoticed through subtle assimilation into the West, dates back to the 60s, 70s and 80s, then exploding through a subculture movement in the 1990s which had been brewing for decades. This lecture will examine the identity and re-identification of “Japan” through the process of splicing, transforming and re-forming its contents industry works by the West, and how these changes in turn create a new response in both Japanese creativity and policy-making. Understanding this history may give us hints as to where the industry may go from here.

Renato Rivera Rusca is a graduate of Japanese Studies at Stirling University in Scotland and has conducted research on Japanese popular culture in Osaka University and Kyoto University. He has lectured at the Manga Faculty at Kyoto Seika University and has participated in many projects involving the Kyoto International Manga Museum since its inception. He is currently a lecturer at the School of Commerce, Meiji University.

Free and open to all
Lecture in English

Inquiry about the talk should be addressed to David Slater
(dhslater@gmail.com) or to the following offices.

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture

Council on International Educational Exchange CIEE Study Center Japan, Sophia University www . ciee . org/isp