Keio University Syllabus and Timetable

INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE CINEMA 1

Lecturer(s)MES, THOMAS P.
Credit(s)2
Academic Year/Semester2023 Spring
Day/PeriodThu.5
CampusMita
Class FormatFace-to-face classes (conducted mainly in-person)
Registration Number37919
Faculty/Graduate SchoolINTERNATIONAL CENTER
Year Level2, 3, 4
Course DescriptionA course to aim to learn the origins of cinema in Japan and its development up to the present day by developing the knowledge of the course topic.
K-Number CIN-CO-00123-212-01
Course AdministratorFaculty/Graduate SchoolCININTERNATIONAL CENTER
Department/MajorCO
Main Course NumberLevel0Faculty-wide
Major Classification0Other Course
Minor Classification12International Center Course (Humanities) - Art
Subject Type3Elective subject
Supplemental Course InformationClass Classification2Lecture
Class Format1Face-to-face classes (conducted mainly in-person)
Language of Instruction2English
Academic Discipline01Philosophy, art, and related fields

Course Contents/Objectives/Teaching Method/Intended Learning Outcome

This course explores the origins of cinema in Japan and its development up to the present day. It will look into cultural influences that shaped approaches to filmmaking as well as narrative conventions and genres. We will also investigate how Japanese films have shaped foreign views of Japan and Japanese culture. Particular attention will be paid to issues and problems of film study in relation to cinema from Japan, including the construction of the “Japaneseness” of Japanese films.

Goals:
To develop knowledge of the course topic (Film in Japan) and the research and debates that have been central to it.
To develop general skills in the critical reading of and reflecting on academic texts.
To apply these skills to the course topic in the shape of analytical papers, including on films viewed in class.

Course Plan

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Method of Evaluation

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Textbooks

None

Reference Books

These readings will be available through K-LMS:
David Bordwell, Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988, pp. 31-50
David Desser, Eros Plus Massacre. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988, pp. 39-57
A.A. Gerow, “The Benshi’s New Face: Defining Cinema in Taishō Japan”, Iconics 3 (1994), pp. 69-86
Kyoko Hirano, “The Occupation and Japanese Cinema”, The Occupation of Japan: Arts and Culture, ed. Thomas W. Burkman. Norfolk, 1988, pp. 142-153
Joan Mellen, “History through Cinema: Mizoguchi Kenji’s The Life of Oharu (1952)”, Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts, eds. Alastair Phillips and Julian Stringer. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2007, pp. 90-101
Tom Mes (1), “Rashomon in the Thicket of Geopolitics”
Tom Mes (2), “V-Cinema: How Home Video Revitalized Japanese Film and Mystified Film Historians”, Introducing Japanese Popular Culture, ed. Alisa Freedman and Toby Slade. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2017, pp. 216-226
Stephen Prince, The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991, pp. 3-31
Catherine Russell, “From women's writing to women's films in 1950s Japan: Hayashi Fumiko and Naruse Mikio”, Asian Journal of Communication

Lecturer's Comments to Students

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Question/Comments

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