April 3, 2008 by Christopher Born.

Here’s a sample of my keynote slides!

I’ll post the presentation after Saturday.

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April 3, 2008 by Christopher Born.

Below is the introduction I delivered for Linda, Linda, Linda at Washington University in St. Louis’ Japanese mini-film festival. I really liked this film and highly recommend it from an entertainment and from a sociological perspective. Someone needs to update Hendry and Sugimoto, because things are changing a bit!

In highly developed economies, it is hard to find a more universal theme than that of school life. Because of the compulsory educational standards found both in the United States and in Japan, nearly everyone has some commonality when it comes to memories of adolescent relationships, classroom happenings, and the general type of self-discovery that comes along with the experience we call “high school.”

Unsurprisingly, the film we are about to see does not revolve around classroom happenings, but on interpersonal relationships and group dynamics found within school clubs. Clubs are an important aspect of Japanese school life. Clubs or circles exist throughout school life, from the earliest grades throughout university life, and are integral for social acclimation. There are all sorts of clubs, from dance to martial arts, music to computers, anime to sports, chess to sewing and fashion. Yet, many times, the clubs exist more for the social interaction than the enjoyment of the activity itself!

Clubrooms are places where students can go after school or during breaks to hang out and enjoy spending time with likeminded people. Clubs provide an “in group” within a society that places a high premium on being part of “the group.” These “In” or “Sub” groups allow for individuality in numbers, thereby not causing someone to be a loner or stick out too greatly. If many people enjoy the same activity, there is safety in those numbers. Clubs at any given school also have long histories. Members of any given club may have more or less social capital depending on the status and reputation of the club. Even after members graduate, there is still a sense of community that endures into college years and beyond.

Part of fitting in with a club, or most of Japanese society for that matter, is maintaining group harmony. Not committing meiwaku or an annoyance against a given group is crucial to preserving wa, or harmony. In Linda, Linda, Linda we see a group where some interpersonal meiwaku has fragmented a rock band made up members of the pop music club. This band must still perform at the school festival, but finds itself without a singer. In an attempt to goad one of the members back into singing with the group, one of the band members rashly recruits Son, a Korean exchange student to sing for the band. Not only is Son an outsider in that she is a Gaijin, or foreigner, but the members of this club have been tight with one another since junior high. The offended member stalks off, and as the plot unfolds, the inexperienced Son gets a crash course in Japanese group behavior. Quickly acclimating to an established group in any cultural context, even your own, can be daunting at best. Perhaps some of you who have lived abroad may identify to an extent with Son; I am sure many of us have been on the other side where we are still figuring out how to best embrace and relate to those who are different from us.

At any rate, more than just being a good snapshot of Japanese school life, the movie we are about to see does a good job examining themes of cross-cultural exchange, group dynamics, perseverance, and friendship. Without further ado, please enjoy the show!

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April 3, 2008 by Christopher Born.

I mentioned a while back that I am giving a presentation on Confucian Cardnial relationships, so I thought I’d give a few more details about the presentation. The event begins at 10:00 AM in the Social Sciences Building at UMSL. The event is University of Missouri - St. Louis’ annual “Japan on Campus” day. I will be presenting how ancient Confucian values are still very much alive as the underpinnings of Japanese society, albeit with a twist. Certain cardinal relationships have greater meaning than others, while values of on, giri, rei, and jin are undeniably persistent. We will be applying this knowledge to contemporary Shonen animation to drive the point home. It will be fun to examine the postmodern animation in the context of Confucian values! Welcome to Mechademia - anime examined from the academic perspective.

I mentioned this book before, but since I recently re-read it, I think you may truly enjoy it. T.R. Reid presents a very positive, engaging, and entertaining take on East Asian societies, particularly Japan, and theorizes how Confucian values help keep society together. This book was published in 1999 and is a bit dated, so many other social issues have come up since then that this book could not have addressed. But, the theory and basics are still correct for most of society. Thought this would be a nice contrast to Zielenziger’s Shutting Out The Sun, which, while having good facts, is also a Western perspective and a bit negative.

I am ordering a bunch of Japanese books from Amazon.co.jp shortly that are about Shakai-Mondai (Societal problems and issues) by Japanese and for Japanese readers. I want to see their take and contrast as well.

Confucius Lives Next Door:

What Living in the East Teaches Us About Living In The West

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