Module: Perspectives on Japanese Culture

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Perspectives on Japanese Culture
Module Code	JPN1015 (ITS: JA421)
Faculty	SALIS	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

The purpose of this module is to enable students critically to examine images and stereotypes of Japan appearing foreign media and foreign literature. By enhancing their critical capabilities, the module will equip students to interrogate literary and non-literary texts to achieve a deeper understanding both of Japan and of foreign stereotypes of Japan. Students will express their findings in spoken and written Japanese, in classroom presentations and in essays. The module will provide a foundation for students to develop their interests more fully in subsequent work.

Learning Outcomes

1. Investigate and analyse topical issues in contemporary Japanese Society.
2. Describe how these issues are portrayed in Japanese and Western media.
3. Lead an advanced discussion on the topic in the target language.
4. Demonstrate research capabilities in the topic in the target language.
5. Evaluate critically and trace the development of the main themes in the representation of Japan in western literature.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	24	No Description
Independent Study	101	No Description
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	10853	Part of Term	Semester 1
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Keisuke Jindai	Module Teacher	Lijie Shao, Ryoko Sasamoto, Sakiko Pawlak

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Essay	n/a	100%	Sem 1 End

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Lectures
Tracing the development of stereotyped images of Japan in the West. Images of Women based on the historical relationship between the West and Japan. Western images of Japanese men. Wartime images of Japan. Western attitudes to and understanding of Japanese aesthetics and beauty. Western attitudes to and images of Japanese religion Western images of Japanese nature. The use by Western writers and artists of images drawn from the range of stereotyped images of Japan, and deployed in commercial work, in popular art, in high art and in literature.

Audio visual supplementing lectures
Sample of films and television programmes showing stereotypes of images of Japan and how that persisted. Western Advertisements availing of conventional images of Japan: Japanese traditional sports, Japanese traditional theatre forms; Japanese ‘high modern’ cyber art; Japan as a futuristic metropolis.

Literature
Extracts from Japanese literary novels, as interpreted in Western media.

Classroom presentations
Students choose a stereotyped image and give a presentation on the theme.

Essay
Students write a terminal essay on the theme of their presentation.

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Yoshio Sugimoto: 1997, An Introduction to Japanese Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England,
R. Mouer and Y. Sugimoto: 1980, Images of Japanese Society, Kegan Paul,
P.Dale: 1988, The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness,
Buruma Ian: 1984, A Japanese Mirror: Heroes and Villains of Japanese Culture, Jonathan Cape, London,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None