Miyazaki Hayao’s World Japan in Today’s World Fall 2013-14, Fri, 10:30-12:00 p.m. (2nd period) Instructor: Tamah Nakamura, Professor 〒818-0192 Chikushi Jogakuen University 筑紫女学園大学 2-12-1 Ishizaka 福岡県太宰府市 Dazaifu-city, Fukuoka 818-0912 石坂 2 丁目 12-1 英語学科 教授 中村テーマ Email: [email protected] Course Overview Hayao Miyazaki’s 30-year creative development took him from manga to anime, and his own Studio Ghibli. This course looks at Miyazaki’s anime beyond entertainment focusing on deeper interpretations of several of his visual works. We will discuss these works through concepts reflected in Miyazaki’s anime world such as ‘shūkyō asobi’, spirituality, nature, environment, mythology, identity, self, to explore questions such as these in Miyazaki’s works: What is traditional? What is Japanese? What is global? All visuals are supplemented by required readings from the textbook and academic articles.
Course Objectives and Requirements Identify recurring themes, symbolic representations, and examples in the reading texts and visual texts. Through reading text and viewing text, 1-page reports on specific questions/themes, and in-class discussion will extract threads of these concepts.
Evaluation Attendance, discussion, readings 40% Four short papers 60% Credit 2
Week 1 Introduction Overview of syllabus; Miyazaki Hayao – creative developmental process from manga to anime View: Kiki’s Delivery Service
Week 2 & 3 My Neighbor Totoro
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Visual, reading and discussion: My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro, 「となりのトトロ」, 1988) Cavallaro pp. 68-76 [86 minutes] 1. Paper QUESTION: Spirituality in Tonari no Totoro
Week 4 & 5 Nausicaa Visual, reading and discussion: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no tani no Nausicaa,「風の谷のナウシ カ」,1984) Cavallaro pp. 68-76 [117 minutes; approx. 2 hours] 2. Paper QUESTION: Nature and Environment in Nausicaa
Week 6 & 7 The Crimson Pig (Porco Rosso) Porco Rosso (1992) [94 min.] **Miyazaki’s oddest film
Week 8 & 9 Princess Mononoke Visual and reading: Princess Mononoke (Mononokehime, 『もののけ姫』, 1997) Cavallaro pp. 120-130 [134 min; 2 hours and 23 min.] **The top-grossing domestic feature ever released in Japan as of 1997. 3. Paper QUESTION: Mythology and Folklore in Princess Mononoke
Week 10 & 11 Spirited Away Visual, reading and discussion: Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, 『千と千尋の神隠し』, 2001) ; Cavallaro pp. 134-147 [125 min; approx. 2 hours] **Academy Award for best animated film; ** The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history 4. Paper QUESTION: Identity and Self in Spirited Away
Week 12 Additional time if we need to extend viewings and/or discussions.
Week 13 & 14 & 15 Whisper of the Heart; The Cat Returns Whisper of the Heart, 1995, 111 min. The Cat Returns, 2005, 75 min. Catnapped, 2004, 2004 The Cat Returns recalls Whisper of the Heart and Takashi Nakamura's Catnapped, but it
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offers neither the wistful charm of the former nor the bold visual imagination of the latter. Hayao Miyazaki has been seeking young directors for Studio Ghibli for several years. After preparing the script and storyboards for Whisper, he turned the film over to Yoshifumi Kondo, who died tragically shortly after the film's release. The Cat Returns was directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who shows promise, but lacks Kondo's elegant sensibility.
Week 15 Course Evaluations; 3 credit papers View Kokurikozaka Kara (From Kokuriko Hill)
Required text: The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki by Dani Cavallaro
Supplementary texts: Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle by Susan Napier (selected chapters) Miyazak Hayao: Master of Japanese Animation by Helen McCarthy Hayao Miyazaki: A Life in Anime by Cocoro Books
Related readings - optional and required (prepared by lecturer)
“An Exploration of Japanese Archetypes in Miyazaki’s Anime” (Harvey King, ISP)
Shuukyoo Asobi and Miyazaki Hayao’s Anime (Jolyon Thomas, 2007, The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.
Shinto in Anime (by Oskar Kallner: Orebro Theological Seminary course paper)
Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki’s Anime “Spirited Away” (Boyd, Nishimura, 2004, The Journal of Religion and Film)
Animated Animism – the Global Ways of Japan’s National Spirits (Lars-Martin Sorensen, 2008, Intellect, Ltd.)
Forest Spirits, Giant Insects and World Trees: The Nature Vision of Hayao Miyazaki (Lucy Wright, 2005, Journal of Religion and Popular Culture)
Confronting Master Narratives: History as Vision in Miyazaki Hayao’s Cinema of
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De-assurance (Susan Napier, 2001, positions)
Miyazaki’s Mononoke-hime: The Analysis of a Myth (Erlijne Runia: Kobenhavns Universitet, Dept. of Film course paper)
Furusato Japan: The Culture and Politics of Nostalgia (Jennifer Robertson, 1988, Human Sciences Press)
Technologies of Perception: Miyazaki in Theory and Practice (Bigelow, 2005, animation)
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