MGS

Ben Whaley・Towards a Gameic World: New Rules of Engagement from Japanese Video Games
2023-07-19 15:30 - 17:00 (Asia/Tokyo) | Kanagawa University, 西区みなとみらい４丁目５−３, Room 5030 (5F), 横浜市, 神奈川県, 220-8739, Japan
Public Lecture

Abstract:

Toward a Gameic World bridges the gap between Japanese popular culture studies and game studies by encouraging a dialogue centered around Japanese-designed video games and social issues. It examines four contemporary Japanese video games in terms of how they engage with some of Japan’s biggest social and personal issues, including traumas: natural disasters (Disaster Report), a declining birthrate and aging population (Catherine), nuclear proliferation (Metal Gear Solid V); and youth social withdrawal (The World Ends with You). This book asks what some of the positive benefits are of working through a site of trauma from within a video game, and how games might teach us about Japanese culture and society through new kinds of interactive narratives, different from literature and film. The book proposes four new strategies of engagement with video games to explore the productive tensions that emerge at the boundaries of virtual reality, augmented reality, and gamification in contemporary Japan.

Presenter:

Ben WHALEY is an Associate Professor of Japanese in the School of Languages, Linguistics, Literature and Cultures at the University of Calgary. His research engages discourses of ethno-racial identity and national trauma in modern Japanese literature and popular culture, with a focus on manga (print comics) and videogames.

For in-person participation, Kanagawa U students and staff do not need to pre-register, but all others please pre-register by July 17th by emailing your name and affiliation with the subject line “Pre-Registration” to ft101908um@kanagawa-u.ac.jp.Online participation does not require registration. Please login with the the QR Code below.

Daniel White・Administering Affect: Pop-Culture Japan and the Politics of Anxiety
2023-05-08 12:30 - 14:30
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Monday, 8 May 2023 to discuss Daniel White’s new book Administering Affect: Pop-Culture and the Politics of Affect (Stanford University Press, 2023).

Participants:

Patrick W. Galbraith

Alexandra Hambleton

Adrienne Johnson

Jason G. Karlin

Megan Rose

Ben Whaley

* Not open to the public

Chloé Locatelli￼・Conceptualising "Posthuman Sexual Commerce": Towards a Digital Sex Industry￼
2022-07-29 15:00 - 17:00 | University of Tokyo, iii Main Building, 6F, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
Work-in-Progress Discussion

The MGS met online and at the University of Tokyo on Friday, 29 July 2022 to discuss and provide feedback on Chloé Locatelli’s doctoral research project presentation entitled “Conceptualising ‘Posthuman Sexual Commerce’: Towards a Digital Sex Industry.” This was our first in-person event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presenter:

Chloé LOCATELLI is a doctoral student in Digital Humanities at King’s College London and a visiting research scholar at the Interfaculty Initiative for Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. Her research interests are Gender Studies, Posthuman Theory, Sexual Commerce, Robotics, Digital Cultures, Feminist Theory and Sex Work.

Abstract:

This presentation explores how heterosexual men’s sextech developments replicate desirable features of post-industrial sexual commerce – heralding a shift into “posthuman sexual commerce”. In David Levy’s seminal “Love and Sex with Robots”, the potential for sex robots to replace and/or disrupt human sex work is explored (2007). Since this postulation, research has increasingly interrogated this possibility. However given that sex robots are in their nascent stages, and just one example of sextech developments, this research interrogates existing sextech’s intersections with sexual commerce (Locatelli, Pending). My research introduces ‘posthuman sexual commerce’ as a concept to explore how heterosexual men’s sextech replicates desirable aspects of post-industrial sexual commerce. Applying posthuman theory provides a rigorous base to interrogate the notion of ‘human’ and interrelationships with non-human others, particularly in relation to technological developments. Exploring this in conversation with sexual commerce literature provides the basis to consider the nuances of paid-for sexual interactions. Recent sexual commerce literature highlights three salient points. Firstly, that it is overwhelmingly heterosexual men paying women for sexual experiences. Secondly, emotional interaction and intimacy is a significant factor in these exchanges. Finally, sexual commerce is increasingly consumed as leisure and ludic activity. Departing from these three focus points, my research “interviews posthuman objects” to interrogate how sextech products advertise and afford these features (Adams and Thompson, 2016). This investigation firstly argues sextech products are reliant on a ‘remediated femininity’, exploring to what extent the products digitally remediate and advertise engagement with desirable forms of femininity. It then explores how the products present emotional interaction as attainable through constructions that afford ‘performative intimacy’, where gendered-female forms of sextech are presented as capable of satisfying desires for intimacy and closeness. Finally this research considers the ludic and leisure dimensions of sextech that increasingly replicates and encroaches on game terrain, offering digitalised forms of ‘sex as leisure and play’. I argue that the interplay of these factors suggests emergent forms of ‘posthuman sexual commerce’ where digital feminities provide technologically mediated emotional, erotic and ludic experiences of sexual interaction also prevalent in sexual commerce exchanges.

Participants:

Alexandra HambletonPatrick W. GalbraithJason G. KarlinBeatrice Antonia LeeJunxiao LengMegan RoseZahra StardustJames Welker

David Leheny・Empire of Hope: The Sentimental Politics of Japanese Decline
2022-06-10 16:00 - 18:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Friday, 10 June 2022 to discuss David Leheny’s new book Empire of Hope: The Sentimental Politics of Japanese Decline (University of Michigan Press, 2021).

Participants:

Patrick W. GalbraithAlexandra HambletonAdrienne JohnsonJason G. KarlinMegan RoseJames Welker

* Not open to the public

Thomas Baudinette・Regimes of Desire: Young Gay Men, Media, and Masculinity in Tokyo
2022-02-21 13:00 - 15:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Monday, 21 February 2022 to discuss Thomas Baudinette’s new book Regimes of Desire: Young Gay Men, Media, and Masculinity in Tokyo (University of Michigan Press, 2021).

Participants:

Patrick W. GalbraithAlexandra HambletonJason G. KarlinJames Welker

* Not open to the public

Amia Srinivasan・The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century
2022-01-31 13:00 - 15:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Monday, 31 January 2022 to discuss Amia Srinivasan’s book The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021).

Participants:

Patrick W. GalbraithAlexandra HambletonAdrienne JohnsonJason G. KarlinJames Welker

* Not open to the public

Rachael Hutchinson・Japanese Culture Through Videogames
2021-11-29 10:00 - 12:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Monday, 29 November 2021 to discuss Rachael Hutchinson’s book Japanese Culture Through Videogames (Routledge, 2019).

Participants:

Patrick W. GalbraithAlexandra HambletonJason G. KarlinJames Welker

* Not open to the public

Sharon Kinsella・Josō
2021-11-05 17:00 - 19:00 | University of Tokyo, iii Main Building, 6F, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
Work-in-Progress Discussion

The MGS hosted a screening of Josō (2020), a documentary film by Sharon Kinsella and David Panos on November 5, 2021. Following the screening, Michelle Ho served as discussant, and Sharon answered questions from the attendees.

Presenter: Sharon Kinsella, Lecturer in Japanese Studies, The University of Manchester

Discussant: Michelle H. S. Ho, Assistant Professor of Feminist and Queer Cultural Studies, National University of Singapore

*Not open to the general public

Christoper B. Patterson・Open World Empire: Race, Erotics, and the Global Rise of Video Games
2021-09-06 11:00 - 13:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Monday, 6 September 2021 to discuss Christopher B. Patterson’s new book Open World Empire: Race, Erotics, and the Global Rise of Video Games (New York UP, 2021).

Participants:

Patrick W. GalbraithAlexandra HamletonJason G. KarlinFrederic SeraphimJames Welker

* Not open to the public

Yoshikuni Igarashi・Japan, 1972: Visions of Masculinity in an Age of Mass Consumerism
2021-08-05 11:00 - 13:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Friday, 6 August 2021 to discuss Yoshikuni Igarashi’s new book Japan, 1972: Visions of Masculinity in an Age of Mass Consumerism (Columbia UP, 2021).

Participants:

Patrick W. GalbraithAlexandra HamletonJason G. KarlinJames Welker

* Not open to the public

Gabriele Koch・Healing Labor: Japanese Sex Work in the Gendered Economy
2020-11-27 15:00 - 17:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Friday, 27 November 2020 to discuss Gabriele Koch’s book Healing Labor: Japanese Sex Work in the Gendered Economy (Stanford UP, 2020).

Participants:

Tommaso BarbettaAlexandra HambletonPatrick W. GalbraithAdriene JohnsonJason G. KarlinJames Welker

*Not open to the public

Teri Silvio・Puppets, Gods, and Brands: Theorizing the Age of Animation from Taiwan
2020-06-04 16:00 - 18:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Thursday, 4 June 2020 to discuss Teri Silvio’s book Puppets, Gods, and Brands: Theorizing the Age of Animation from Taiwan (University of Hawai’i Press, 2019).

Participants:

Alexandra HambletonPatrick W. GalbraithJiaxi HouJason G. KarlinJames Welker

*Not open to the public

Gabriella Lukács・Invisibility by Design: Women and Labor in Japan's Digital Economy
2020-04-30 15:00 - 17:00
Reading Circle

The MGS met online via Zoom on Thursday, 30 April 2020 to discuss Gabriella Lukács’ new book Invisibility by Design: Women and Labor in Japan’s Digital Economy (Duke University Press, 2020).

*Not open to the public

Participants:

Alexandra HambletonPatrick W. GalbraithJiaxi HouJason G. KarlinJames Welker

William Feeney・Managing Monstrousness: Tracing the Social Entanglements of the Figure of the Complaining Parent in Contemporary Japan
2020-01-21 16:30 - 18:00 | University of Tokyo, iii Main Building, 6F, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
Work-in-Progress Discussion

The MGS met at the University of Tokyo on Tuesday, 21 January 2020 to discuss and provide feedback on William Feeney’s draft chapter entitled “Managing Monstrousness: Tracing the Social Entanglements of the Figure of the Complaining Parent in Contemporary Japan.”

Participants:

William FeeneyAlexandra HambletonPatrick W. GalbraithJason G. KarlinSharon KinsellaJunxiao LengMegan Catherine RoseJames Welker

Presenter:

William FEENEY is a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow in the Interfaculty Initiative for Interdisciplinary Information Studies, University of Tokyo. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 2018. His dissertation—“Laughing Until It Hurts: Children, Mothers and Concerns about Comedic Television in Contemporary Japan”—traces the ways that mundane discourses concerning televisual vulgarity, and its potential effects on youth, entail a profusion of consequential stakes for those tasked with caring for children.

Abstract:

Beginning in the mid 2000’s, reports of a new type of aberrant parent began to circulate widely in the mainstream Japanese media. Manifold accounts described the emergence of an apparently new species of selfish parent intent on shifting their parental responsibilities onto others. A regular stream of media accounts tirelessly identified elementary and middle schools as the natural, though not exclusive, habitat of these so-called ‘monster parents;’ where they could be seen burdening teachers with incessant complaints about insignificant matters and issuing demands for unreasonable accommodations on behalf of their children. This presentation considers the social entanglements of this mediatized figure of pathological parenting. It explores the complex circulatory contours by which the monster parent rose to visibility as a ‘wadai’ as well as the ways it came to loom over and inform the semiotic calculus of everyday life for a mothers in one middle-class Yokohama neighborhood. The analysis centers on an interview with one mother as she struggles to voice her concerns about the treatment of her six-year-old son in the classroom. Her telling points to the fractally double-edged affordances that drive the social circulation of moralizing figures like the ‘monster parent,’ highlighting the ways they can serve to render and reframe expressions of parental concern into stigmatizing signs of neglect. In this way, the paper calls attention to the locally situated power of such figures to exert pressure on mothers to regulate their interactions with schools in ways that silence parental concerns and constrain their efforts to support and advocate on behalf of their children.

*Not open to the public

James Welker・To Asia with (Boys) Love: BL Media and the Transfiguration of Gender and Sexuality
2020-01-07 18:00 - 19:30 | University of Tokyo, Faculty of Engineering Building 2, 9F, Room 93B, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
Public Lecture

Abstract:

Created by and for adolescent girls and women in Japan, boys love (BL) media, depicting romantic and sexual relationships between males, took root in commercial shōjo manga (girls’ comics) magazines in the early 1970s. BL quickly spread into other commercial and fan-produced media forms, including dōjinshi (fanzines), light novels, anime, drama CDs, live action films, collectible figures, and video games. Owing perhaps to cultural and geographic proximity, BL media has found a particularly receptive home in many parts of Asia, where it has often taken on new meanings and had different fan bases and cultural effects from in its country of origin. In this talk, which reflects on work published in my recent edited collection BL ga hiraku tobira: Hen’yo suru Ajia no sekushuariti to jendā (BL opening doors: Sexuality and gender transfigured inAsia; Seidōsha, 2019), and a related volume (in progress), I will discuss the sociocultural effects of BL media around East, Southeast, and South Asia. These effects range from helping female BL fans reconsider their attitudes towards romance, sex, and sexuality in India and the Philippines, to affecting attitudes about and representation of the LGBTQ community, including same-sex marriage, in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand, to facilitating new forms of cultural exchange across the region.

Presenter:

James WELKER is a professor in the
Department of Cross-Cultural Studies at Kanagawa University. His research
examines gender and sexuality in postwar and contemporary Japan, with a focus
on the lesbian community, radical feminism, and queer media consumption and
production, as well as the global spread of Japanese media. He is the author of Transfigurations:
Feminists, Lesbians, and Shōjo Manga Fans in Late Twentieth-Century Japan (Hawai‘i,
forthcoming), editor of BL ga hiraku tobira: Hen’yo suru Ajia no
sekushuariti to jendā (BL opening doors: Sexuality and gender
transfigured inAsia; Seidōsha, 2019) and a related volume in progress,
as well as co-editor of Rethinking Japanese Feminisms (Hawai‘i,
2018), Boys Love Manga and Beyond (Mississippi,
2015), and Queer Voices from Japan (Lexington, 2007).

Marc Steinberg・The Platform Economy: How Japan Transformed the Consumer Internet
2019-11-05 16:00 - 18:00 | University of Tokyo, iii Main Building, 6F, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
Reading Circle

The MGS met at the University of Tokyo on Tuesday, 5 November 2019 to discuss Marc Steinberg’s new book The Platform Economy: How Japan Transformed the Consumer Internet (University of Minnesota Press, 2019).

Participants:

Tommaso BarbettaAlexandra HambletonPatrick W. GalbraithJiaxi HouJason G. KarlinJames Welker

*Not open to the public
