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WARTIME IMAGE CULTURE IN JAPAN AND ITS TERRITORIES
(Film Studies 4490F/9211A)
AUTUMN 2014
Instructor: Michael Raine
Email: [email protected]
Office: UC Room 80
Office Hours: Wednesday, 2-4
TIMETABLE
Screening: Tuesday, 10:30 – 1:30, UC12
Lecture/tutorial: Thursday, 12:30 – 2:30, UC12
DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE
What is the role of cinema, and other media, in times of war? This seminar explores the history of cinema as
part of an image culture of propaganda and agitation during Japan's wars in Asia and the Pacific, 1937-1945.
From art films to action spectaculars, Japanese cinema was connected to a global 1930s "illiberal modernism"
while also drawing on more local sources in prewar studio cinema and the documentary film movement.
Cinema was never produced or watched in isolation but always within frames provided by ancillary media,
including popular music, war paintings, propaganda posters, published photography, and advertising. We will
explore the history and theory of propaganda, the relation between film and politics, and the complexities of
studying film at such historical and cultural remove. In addition to tracing its history in Japan will also study
how film was deployed in Japan's colonies (Taiwan and Korea), client states (Manchuria), and occupied
territories (Eastern China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.) during the war in order to think about
the role of cinema in constructing national and imperial affiliation.
All readings on the course are in English; no Japanese is required.
COURSE AIMS
The goal of the course is to acquaint you with the major features of cinema in wartime Japan and its
territories, so that you can develop your understanding of what is at stake in the cultural and textual analysis
of cinema.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
In addition to learning about the Japanese experience of World War II, by the end of the course you will have
learned ways of thinking that will help you make sense of the relation between culture and politics in other
times and places.
REQUIRED READING (at the Western Bookstore)
Peter High. The Imperial Screen: Japanese Film Culture In The Fifteen Years War
Barack Kushner. The Thought War: Japanese Imperial Propaganda
RECOMMENDED READING (buy online or order through the bookstore)
John Dower. War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War
Michael Baskett. Attractive Empire: Transnational Film Culture in Imperial Japan
Alan Tansman. The Culture of Japanese Fascism
Richard Calichman. Overcoming Modernity: Cultural Identity in Wartime Japan
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Screening journal:
Classroom attendance and participation:
Individual presentations:
Essay:
10%
20%
10%
60%
1. Screenings:
• Many of the films on this course have been subtitled by me. So they can be watched only in the Media
Library or the class screening. This is a small class so I'm willing to work with you on your schedule. You will
email me your screening journal before class each week.
2. Attendance and participation:
• This is a graduate course: attendance and participation are essential. You are learning not only to master a
body of information but to discuss it with your colleagues, and they with you. All absences should be explained
– unreasonable absences will affect your grade.
3. Individual presentations
• Students will be assigned topics to research outside of class. You are not expected to be experts in the topic
before the class but you should read, in addition to the assigned reading, English-language work on the topic
in question and make a presentation based on your understanding. All research relies on other scholars and
no research is ever finished: you will learn how to develop and present work in progress, paying attention to
unanswered questions and future directions as well as to the claims you can make.
3. Essay:
There will be one term paper, with multiple deadlines. Missed deadlines will count against your final grade. All
essays must be uploaded to the class web site; they will be automatically passed through the plagiarism filters
at turnitin.com and a report will be sent to you. Target word count for the graduate essay is 6,000 words; for
the undergraduate essay it is 4,000 words.
Please note:
a. Essays should be within 10% of the required word count.
b. Assignments handed in late without a previously approved extension will be penalized 3% per day. Essays
should be submitted to the appropriate section of the class web site as a single uploaded file in .doc format
(please put your name and the film title in the filename and include the .doc file extension). I will write
comments in your file and send it back to you. Please read them! You should keep a copy of every assignment
you hand in.
c. Please refer to the graduate and undergraduate grading criteria at the end of this syllabus.
E-MAIL POLICY
Think ahead. Generally, all emails will be responded to within 24-48 hours during weekdays (not including
holidays). Don't be shy about reminding me if you don't hear back.
SENATE REGULATIONS
1. Plagiarism and plagiarism checking: Students must write their essays in their own words. Whenever
students take an idea, or a passage, from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using
quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a
major academic offence (see Scholastic Offense Policy in the UWO Calendar). All required papers may be
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subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under
license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted will be included as source
documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently
submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between the
University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com.
2. Prerequisites: Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your
Dean to enroll in it, you will be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. The decision
may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a
course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
3. UWO Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness: Students seeking academic accommodation on
medical grounds for any missed tests, exams, participation components and or assignments must apply to
their Academic Counseling Office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic
accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or department. Please go to the following site for
information on the university Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness:
www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf
For information on the examination services provided by the Student Development Centre, please visit
www.sdc.uwo.ca/ssd
4. Mental Health: Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western for
a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/
5. Complaints: If students have a complaint concerning a course in which they are enrolled, they must discuss
the matter with the instructor of the course. If students are still not satisfied, they should then take the
complaint to the Film Studies Office, University College, Room 80. These regulations are in place because a
failure to follow these procedures creates the potential for injustices of various kinds affecting either the
instructor or the students themselves, or both parties. Concerns should not be allowed to fester but should be
raised with the instructor in a timely manner, so that they can be addressed in time to make a difference to
the course.
6. Course and programme aim (in accordance with OCAV requirements)
1. Understanding, capacity for argument, judgment and analysis will be fostered by essays, presentations and
assignments with formative comment, and by whole-class discussion.
2. Communication skills will be imparted through in-class discussion and credit given for frequency and quality
of contributions, and by essays and other assignments marked in accordance with a grading scale given to the
students and including benchmarks for the expectations associated with each grade, from A+ to F.
3. Awareness of the limits of knowledge will be enhanced by exploring the legitimate differences of opinion
and methodology within the field, and by requiring students to negotiate the formulation of their own
opinions in-class with the terms and knowledge brought to that discussion by other students and the
instructor.
4. The ability to argue and decide on complex issues will be fostered by essays and in-class discussion; the
ability to manage time by the need to prepare properly for class and to deliver assignments in a timely
manner; and the ability to take academic responsibility by the need to source assignments accurately.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1: Consuming subjects and subjects of the State
Screening: My Neighbor Miss Yae (Tonari no Yae-chan, 1934)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 1 and 2
Barack Kushner. The Thought War "Introduction" and Ch. 1
Jaques Ellul. "The Characteristics of Propaganda"
Miriam Silverberg. "Japanese Modern Times"
Wada-Marciano. "The Japanese Modern in Film Style"
Week 2: Japan's embrace of illiberal modernism
Screening: The New Earth (Atarashiki tsuchi, 1937)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 4 and 5
Barack Kushner. The Thought War Ch. 2
Janine Hansen. "The New Earth: A German-Japanese Misalliance on Film"
Michael Baskett "All Beautiful Fascists? Axis Film Culture in Imperial Japan"
Week 3: Music, melodrama and the "continental films"
Screening: China Nights (Shina no yoru, 1940)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 7 and 8
Barack Kushner. The Thought War Ch. 5
Yiman Wang. "Affective Politics and the Legend of Yamaguchi Yoshiko/Li Xianglan"
Christine Gledhill. "The Melodramatic Field: An Investigation"
Eric Rentschler. "The Testament of Dr. Goebbels"
Week 4: Japanese aesthetics
Screening: The Loyal 47 Ronin, pt. 2 (Zoku Genroku chushingura, 1942)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 6
Darrell William Davis. "Approaching the Monumental Style"
Darrell William Davis. "Genroku Chushingura (1941-1942)"
Kenneth Ruoff. "Mass Participation and Mass Consumption"
Jeffrey Herf. "Reactionary Modernism in the Third Reich"
Week 5: Japanese ethics
Screening: There Was a Father (Chichi ariki, 1942)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 9, 10
Ministry of Education. The Essence of the National Polity [extracts]
Alan Tansman. "The Rhetoric of Unspoken Fascism: The Essence of the National Polity"
Thomas Havens. "Extravagance is the Enemy"
Week 6: Documentary film and wartime experience
Screening: Youth Corps of the Sky (Sora no shonenhei, 1941) / Can you Become a Pilot? (Kimi wa sojusha ni
nareruka, 1942) / We're Working So Hard (Watashi-tachi wa konna ni hataraite iru, 1945)
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Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 3.
Mark Nornes . "Stylish Charms: When Hard Style Becomes Hard Reality"
Susan Sontag. "Fascinating Fascism"
Mizuno Hiromi. "The Mobilization of Wonder"
Week 7: Special effects and action cinema
Screening: The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya (Hawai-Maree okikaisen, 1942)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 11
Shimizu Akira. "War and Cinema in Japan"
Ueno Toshiya. "The Other and the Machine"
Week 8: Cartoons and animation
Screening: Momotaro the Undefeated (Nippon ichi Momotaro, 1928) / Private 2nd Class Norakuro (Norakuro
nitohei, 1933) / Sankichi the Monkey: The Air Combat (O-saru no Sankichi: Bokusen, 1942) /
Momotaro's Sea Eagle (Momotaro no umiwashi, 1942)
Reading:
Thomas Lamarre. "The Biopolitics of Companion Species"
Barack Kushner. "A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Front"
*** NO LECTURE ON 10/31: STUDY BREAK ***
Week 9: Home front action cinema
Screening: Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky (Kessen on ozora e, 1943)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 12
Sato Tadao. Currents in Japanese Cinema [extract]
Barack Kushner. Ch. 3 and 4
Kato Atsuko. "The Formation of Total Planning from Individual Production to the Film Industry"
Week 10: Women on the home front
Screening: The Most Beautiful (Ichiban utsukushiku, 1944)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 13
Kim Brandt. "The Beauty of Labor: Imagining Factory Girls in Japan's New Order"
Gennifer Weisenfeld. "Selling Shiseido: Luxury and Thrift in Wartime"
Thomas Havens. "Women and War in Japan, 1937-45"
*** Essay topic due ***
Week 11: Nihilism of the late war action film
Screening: Battle Troop (Raigekitai shutsugekisu, 1944)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 14
Aaron Gerow. "Narrating the Nation-ality of Cinema"
Asato Ikeda, Aya McDonald, Ming Tiampo (Eds.). Art and War in Japan and Its Empire [Extract]
Barack Kushner. The Thought War Ch. 6 and "Conclusion"
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Week 12: The war in Korea
Screening: Suicide Squad at the Watchtower (Boro no kesshitai, 1943)
Reading:
Peter High. The Imperial Screen Ch. 7, 8
Naoki Mizuno "Subverting Ethnic Harmony?: The film Suicide Squad at the Watchtower and Colonial Korea"
Takashi Fujitani. "Nation, Blood, and Self-Determination"
*** Bibliography and Outline due ***
Week 13: The war in Manchuria
Screening: My Nightingale (Watashi no uguisu, 1943)
Reading:
SooKyeong Hong. "Between Ideology and Spectatorship: The 'Ethnic Harmony' of the Manchuria Motion
Picture Corporation, 1937-1945"
Michael Baskett. "From Film Colony to Film Sphere"
Michael Baskett. "Imperial Acts: Japan Performs Asia"
*** Essay due ***
GRADUATE GRADING GUIDELINES
A+ (90+) Work of publishable standard, albeit with some revisions possible. Equivalent to advanced Ph.D. level
work.
A (88-89) Excellent: displaying extensive originality.
A- (85-87) Strong performance at MA level, fully equal to that of an average Ph.D. student. Must be wellwritten and show some originality.
B+ (80-84) Good MA-level work, indicating the student’s potential (with some reservations) to work
successfully at the Ph.D. level.
B (78-79) Competent MA work, but does not suggest potential to proceed to Ph.D. level
B- Any mark below 78 indicates performance below the level required of a graduate student.
UNDERGRADUATE GRADING GUIDELINES
A+ (90-100)
Argument: Clear development of a specific, challenging and original thesis. The writer has taken significant
risks successfully; in the resulting piece, distinctive ideas and content have discovered their necessary
distinctive form. Detailed reference to appropriate texts, with evidence of individual response. Ability not only
to expound subject but to see it around–subtleties and ambiguities, qualifications and concessions, relations
to other subjects, etc.
Presentation, structure: Quotations well integrated into text. Proper paragraphs. Almost no typographical
errors.
Language Skills: Sentence structure correct, with full range of sentence types (compound, complex, and
compound-complex), with full range of punctuation (including semicolons, colons, dashes, parentheses).
Graceful style, neither pompous nor breezy, and few errors. Research/scholarship: Evidence of effective,
extensive and independent research, with
proper documentation of sources. Quotations used appropriately and purposively.
A (80 to 89)
Argument: The writer has taken risks and most of them succeed. Clear development of a specific and
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challenging thesis, with proper paragraphs. Detailed reference to appropriate texts, with evidence of
individual response. Ability not only to expound subject but to see it around–subtleties and ambiguities,
qualifications and concessions, relations to other subjects, etc.
Presentation, structure: Quotations well integrated into text. Proper paragraphs. Almost no typographical
errors.
Language Skills: Sentence structure correct, with full range of sentence types (compound, complex, and
compound-complex), with full range of punctuation (including semicolons, colons, dashes, parentheses).
Graceful style, neither pompous nor breezy, and few errors. Research/scholarship: Evidence of effective and
independent research, with proper documentation of sources. Quotations used appropriately and purposively.
B (70 to 79)
Argument: Clear development of a specific thesis, with proper paragraphs. Adequately detailed reference to
texts. Ability to expound reasonably sophisticated ideas with clarity. Presentation/structure: Quotations well
integrated into text. Proper paragraphs. A few typographical errors.
Language Skills: Sentence structure correct, with reasonable range of sentence types and full range of
punctuation. Style not too wordy, with errors relatively few and minor.
Research Scholarship: Evidence of adequate research, with proper documentation of sources.
C (60 to 69)
Argument: Reasonably clear development of a thesis, with proper paragraphs. Basic
ability to expound ideas, whose development might be rather thin. Effort to support points with references to
the text. Tendency to replace analysis with descriptive retelling of plot. Presentation/structure: Presentation
showing lapses in tidiness and/or proofreading. Poor use of paragraphs.
Language Skills: Sentence structure correct, but perhaps overly simple, with tendency to avoid punctuation
besides period and comma. Errors relatively few, but occasionally serious, with evident misunderstanding of
some point of elementary grammar (comma splices, fragments, semicolon errors, subject-verb disagreements,
poorly integrated quotations)
Research/Scholarship: reasonable effort at documentation, but rather thin.
D (50 to 59)
Argument: Difficulty with paragraphing or consecutive thought. Ideas inchoate but clouded by weak
expression. Overgeneralization with inadequate support, or examples that run to lengthy paraphrase, with
little or no analysis.
Presentation/structure: Very poor to non-existent use of paragraphs. Inadequate and inaccurate
documentation. Multiple typographical errors.
Language Skills: Errors of grammar or diction frequent enough to interfere with understanding.
Research/Scholarship: Little serious effort to research the topic.
F (49 and down)
Argument: Ideas too simple for level of course. Argument completely incoherent. Erroneous content showing
little or no understanding of subject.
Presentation/structure: Very sloppy proof-Reading. Documentation virtually non-existent.
Language Skills: Writing frequently ungrammatical.
Research/Scholarship: Non-existent. Content largely "borrowed" from sources with non individual distillation,
but no apparent attempt to deceive.
0 (Report to Department)
Plagiarism with intent to deceive.