Memory and Myth: The Bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima in German and Japanese TV Drama

Japan is often blamed for not coming to terms with its own wartime past and for focusing solely on its role as a victim of the war. Germany, however, is often seen as the model that Japan has to emulate, having penitently accepted responsibility. Thus, in order to work out how these popular myths are being perpetuated, the media prove to be a good source of information, since they help to uphold memory and myth at the same time. In this paper, it will be examined how the "memory" of the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima is being upheld in Japan and Germany - and what kinds of "myths" are being created in the process. In focusing on two TV dramas, it shall be worked out to what extent Japan and Germany are represented as "victims" and to what extent, if at all, the issue of war responsibility features in these dramas

Oolong-Tee oder Instantnudeln - Zum Chinabild in der japanischen Fernsehwerbung

Asian characters rarely appear in Japanese television commercials, while on the other hand Western characters and sceneries are commonplace. Most Japanese-language publications on Japanese TV commercials have already proved this trend quantitatively, yet qualitative work on Japanese TV commercials is scarce. The aim of that paper is to link a quantitative to a qualitative approach in analysing a sample of the year 2002 in both ways while taking the quantitative background into account to elucidate possible developments. In addition, some older commercials were also included in the sample in order to make a possible change in the patterns of representation more evident. Despite an ‘Asia boom’ in Japan throughout the 1990s, which influenced many other popular genres, Japanese TV commercials were by large unaffected of this trend. In 2002, the Chinese characters did not appear in a large number. In addition, they were still the only other Asians in Japanese commercials and their appearance was strongly linked to the product to be advertised (i.e. Oolong Tea and Chinese food). Hence, stereotypes commonly associated with China were used in abundance in order to create a ‘Chinese flair’ for the Japanese product. While in the 1990s, even Chinese stars appeared only in relation to products of Chinese origin, at the beginning of the new millennium, a certain tendency to dissolve the Chinese stars from this background and to present them in a less stereotypical way could be observed

Whose Choice? Watching non-English language Films in the UK

In a market dominated by Hollywood, it is easy to overlook that the number of films (and televised productions) which are not in English is actually by far greater than those in English. However, although some non-English language film industries are vast, only a comparatively small number of productions are screened outside of their country of origin. Therefore, before being translated and brought to screens for us to watch, already a filter applies, as the films are chosen by curators of film festivals or the industry. For that reason, films that are perhaps less representative but more interesting, or by a well-known director may be chosen over others that may have been more successful in their country of origin, but are made by a less-well know director or perceived to be less interesting for ‘foreign audiences’. The choice of what we watch is thus never entirely ours. Using Japan, Germany and the UK as example, I will offer some thoughts on what impact such a filter might have on the consumption, and therefore the perception, of a film outside of its country of origin and what challenges this poses for audiences and researchers

Gendering the Japanese Empire: Ri Kōran as ‘Transnational’ Star?

This paper aims to assess how Ri Kōran came to represent the gender dichotomies of the Japanese Empire. Looking at two propaganda films, Suzhou Nights (1941) and Sayon’s Bell (1943), I will work out how the roles she played are indicative of the gender roles in the Japanese Empire, taking into account her transnational star persona

自由のビジョンとしての「アジア」 テレビドラマにおける女性の異文化接触を中心に (テレビドラマ『香港明星迷』と『本家のヨメ』における女性の異文化接触を中心 に）

The Asia boom in Japanese cinema that has been observed by scholars of Japanese cinema was not without re-percussion on the genre of Japanese television drama. Although throughout most of its history, Japanese TV drama has focused on ‘Japanese’ topics set in Japan – thus underpinning the myth of Japanese homogeneity – in the late 1990s, the genre began to slowly internationalise. In the wake of that ‘internationalisation’, more Asian characters were also brought to the small screens and the genre ‘discovered’ interculturality. Centring on the content analysis of two TV dramas of the years 2001 and 2002 respectively, this paper aims to work out how the encounter of female characters with another culture took place. The first drama to be analysed, features a young woman of Japanese-Taiwanese parentage coming to Japan whereas the second drama focuses on the encounter of three Japanese women with Hong Kong. In contrasting the encounter of the women with the respective ‘Other’, it shall be elucidated how ‘identities’ are constructed in these two dramas and what kind of gender concepts are portrayed therein