Toward “Reciprocal Legitimation” between Shakespeare’s Works and Manga

In April 2014, Nihon Hoso Kyokai (NHK: Japan Broadcasting Company) aired a short animated film titled “Ophelia, not yet”. Ophelia, in this animation, survives, as she is a backstroke champion. This article will attempt to contextualize the complex negotiations, struggles and challenges between high culture and pop culture, between Western culture and Japanese culture, between authoritative cultural products and radicalized counterculture consumer products (such as animation), to argue that it would be more profitable to think of the relationships between highbrow/lowbrow, Western/non-Western, male versus female, heterosexual versus non-heterosexual, not simply in terms of dichotomies or domination/subordination, but in terms of reciprocal enrichment in a never-ending process of mutual metamorphoses

The Diffusion of Foreign Cultural Products: The Case Analysis of Japanese Comics (Manga) Market in the US

This paper outlines the historical development of the US manga (Japanese comics) industry from the 1980s through the present in order to address the question why foreign cultural products become popular in offshore markets in spite of cultural difference. This paper focuses on local publishers as “gatekeepers” in the introduction of foreign culture. Using complete data on manga titles published in the US market from 1980 to 2006 (n=1,058), this paper shows what kinds of manga have been translated, published, and distributed for over twenty years and how the competition between the two market leaders, Viz and Tokyopop, created the rapid market growth. This case analysis finds two main reasons for the growth of the manga market in the US. First is the path dependency of market growth: without Viz’s pioneering effort in the localization of manga in the 1980s, Tokyo pop’s standardization in the 2000s would not have boosted the market expansion, and vice versa. The second is stigma management by publishers. By selecting proper titles, censoring them, and establishing age rating systems, publishers sought to avoid the stigma attached to American mainstream comics and establish the legitimacy of manga as acceptable entertainment.Manga, comics, foreign influences, Japan

'"So what is this mango, anyway?" understanding manga, comics and graphic novels (Primary and Secondary'

Graphic novels, comics and manga can play an important part in encouraging reading for pleasure amongst students of any age and also have a role in teaching in many subject areas. I'm going to offer a small snapshot of the least well known of these, manga, below, but want to start with a few general points about the comic strip medium ..

Three Adaptations of the Japanese Comic Book Boys Over Flowers in the Asian Cultural Community: Analyzing Fidelity and Modification from the Perspective of Globalization and Glocalization

A wide variety of cultural products have been adapted into a brand new text in the process of globalization. The three adaptations of the Japanese cartoon, Boys over Flower, in the following countries: Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have very similar storylines. The three storylines, although similar, have several modifications due to the differing audiences and goals of each series. Based on the idea of globalization; fidelity in the adaptation can be understood as emphasizing the shared values and community spirit between cultures while modifications can be interpreted as organizational gatekeeping. This study analyzes how the narratives in the three adapted texts show fidelity and modification. In conclusion, fidelity could be interpreted as presenting the glocalized cultural values or socio-cultural popular memory in the Asian context while modification could be considered as being reflective of a wide variety of different socio-cultural contexts where the series were create

Embracing The Victimhood: A History Of A-bomb Manga In Japan

This paper examines the representations of the A-bomb and its victims in Japanese manga. While Keiji Nakazawa's Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen) stands tall in this genre, the brief look at the history of A-bomb manga in Japan will reveal that the nuclear bombs that killed more than a quarter million people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been a popular topic in Japanese manga and has manifested in variety of manga genres. In overviewing the history of A-bomb manga in Japan, this paper aims to explore the social connotations of A-bomb manga. I wish to show that Japanese manga is a major vehicle in promoting and proliferating the Genbaku Otome, or A-bomb beauties myth. This myth lies at the centre of the Japanese imagination of the A-bomb victims and which contributes significantly to the establishment of the social notion of victimisation in post-war Japan

Death and the adorable orphan: Marcelino pan y vino (1954; 1991; 2000)

The Spanish journalist and writer José María Sánchez-Silva, unaware that he was adapting a folk tale about religious devotion rewarded, produced a complex narrative about the mother-son dyad: Marcelino pan y vino (1952). This was the basis of a popular Spanish film adaptation directed by Ladislao Vajda, released in 1954. It was then remade in 1991 as an Italian/Spanish/French co-production, directed by Luigi Comencini, and, recently, it has been translated into animation for television, the result of Spanish/Japanese/French collaboration in 2000. This article analyses how each version reveals shifting perceptions of childhood by focusing on the ideological function of the orphan child and the spectacle of the 'adorable boy'

Tacky “Shakespeares” in Japan

There is no doubt that Shakespeare is “the flagship commodity” in the globalized cultural market. The fact that his works are being studied, performed, and admired, or, adapted and parodied almost all over the world, would surely testify that his works are great sources to be capitalized on (both culturally and materially) in the consumerist society in which we live. However, it could be also argued that the brand logo, “Shakespeare,” no longer holds such a privileged status, that it is merely one of numerous cultural artifacts that can be used and recycled, and that one of the few convenient things about “Shakespeare” is that it can be reproduced, copied, and parodied without the need for any royalty payments being made? Some popular, global, tacky “shakespeares” seek to destabilize the presupposed notion that “Shakespeare” is the dominant, central, hegemonic icon by juxtaposing “Shakespeare” with other artifacts, which are presumed to be of minimal capitalist and cultural value. This article attempts to illustrate how (in)significant or (un)influential Shakespeare, as a residual socio-cultural icon, can be. Tackyfying “Shakespeares” can, however, also be a means to proliferate the Bard. Japanese pop “Shakespeares,” proudly and assertively tacky, offer tributes to the great Bard

Referring to Cinderella in L2 Japanese: A preliminary study

This study reports how English-speaking learners of intermediate Japanese refer to the subject noun referents previously introduced within a given discourse. Tsuchiya, Yoshimura & Nakayama (2015) and Nakayama, Yoshimura & Tsuchiya (2015) report that English-speaking L2 Japanese learners only rarely used kanojo 'she' during their telling of the story of The Little Match Girl. Instead, we observed a frequent use of null pronouns as well as a positive correlation between language proficiency and a repetitive use of referential nouns. The use of null pronouns, but not kanojo, may come from an instructional effect as those learners were taught the null pronominal use earlier than kanojo. The current study analyzing the Cinderella story in L2 Japanese also finds a more frequent use of null pronouns than referential nouns and kanojo, which may indicate the importance of explicit instruction and more exposure to narratives in the target language