Beauty in Contemporary Japan: Fall 2008 Body/Comm Workshop

What is beauty in contemporary Japan? According to Fall 2008 Body/Comm students: big (enlarged) eyes; colored, curly hair; long, skinny legs; bone-thin body; large (proportioned) breasts; no body hair; whitened skin accessorized with make-up; painted, gem studded and pierced fingernails and an all encompassing cuteness that is non-threatening to the patriarchy...






Thanks to all participants (especially those who braved the Algorithm Exercise warm-up). Click here to see how previous Body/Comm students have dealt with Japanese beauty.

Fall 2008 Globalization Kobe Fieldtrip

This semester we had a small and intimate group to discover and experience globalization in Kobe. As usual we examined the Japanese image of western-ness in the Kitano area, the Japanese conception of China in Nankin machi and finally the memorial, port and playground features of the Harbor area. Many interesting observations were made and many good photographs were taken. Enjoy. For previous Kobe fieldtrip posts, click here.






Photos from Maria:








Photos from Yuka:





Photos from Kristina:






Photos from Emi:





Photos from Steven:






Thanks to all who contributed their photos. One can never get enough globalization in Kobe...

Fall 2008: A New Semester, New Student Blogs...

Fall semester is already in its third week and that can only mean one thing: new students and new visual anthropology photo-journal blogs. Please scroll down to the "Fall 2008 Student Photo-Journal Blogs" menu and see what the new students are saying.

Their first post assignment is on their early impressions of Japan. (Native anthropologists blog about what they feel newcomers to Japan should know about their culture.) It is always interesting to see what new students are seeing and feeling about their new surroundings. The students this semester come from a variety of countries and perspectives but all seem enthusiastic.

It is also interesting to see how students' perceptions and ideas change throughout the course of the semester. It seems that every year students know more and more about Japan. But do their preconceptions match with their new reality? And how can they combine images with text to describe their new cultural setting?

Traditional culture, pop culture, sports, gender, religion, globalization, art and politics are only a few of the themes to be tackled in the next few months along with the anthropological method and issues of visual representation. Please visit the students' blogs often and leave comments. This blogging exercise is an attempt at collaboration in the discovery and presentation of Japanese culture, the good, bad, beautiful, ugly, extraordinary and mundane. "Making the strange seem familiar and making the familiar seem strange..."