APPLY HERE FOR FALL 2024 JAPANLAB INTERNSHIPS. The Game of Life Board games can be serious business, designed not just to entertain, but also to prepare children (and adults) for “real life.” The American board game “The Game of Life,” for example, explicitly tells players to get lots of education, In this JapanLab we will create digital, playable versions one or two such Japanese board games (sugoroku) from a century ago. What did it mean to be a “good girl” or a “good boy” in 1920s Japan? What was decadent and what was dangerous? How was “good” behavior gendered? Which aspects of “good” behavior seem familiar, and which seem “old-fashioned” or distinctly Japanese? The images below are from popular adult game named after the proverb “if you fall down seven times, get up eight.” But if you gamble big, will lady luck smile on you? Or will the devil get his due? A Star is Born: The Paths to Transnational Japanese Stardom This team is set to develop an immersive role-playing video game that charts a Japanese actor’s uncertain journey to transnational stardom. Several Japanese stars have historically paved the way: Hayakawa Sessue broke into the U.S. and European markets amidst rising Japanese national pride in the 1920s; Yamaguchi Yoshiko emerged as a symbol of ethnic harmony within Asian colonies under Japanese empire during WWII; and Takakura Ken epitomized the zenith of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations in the 1980s. In the game we create together, players will take on the role of an aspiring Japanese star who must navigate the path to international fame. Which roles will you accept? Which will you decline? And at what cost or benefit? How to navigate the many pressures from your talent agent, your fans, the media, and sometimes also the censorious authorities? In this way, players will experience the challenges and triumphs of a Japanese star's journey to global recognition. We invite applications from creative minds passionate about blending historical insight with gaming innovation to bring this project to life. Join us in crafting an engaging experience that delves into the makings of a transnational Japanese film star. Finding the object(ionable): Censored arts in postwar and contemporary Japan Boycotts, bans, burnings of books, films, and more. Like the grainy black-and-white photo below, we might be tempted to relegate this kind of censorship to a long bygone era or a place faraway from our own. But censorship endures in many guises in our contemporary world, with the state of Texas leading record-high numbers of library book titles challenged in 2023. How to understand this enduring impulse to locate and to excise objectionable content? And what effect, if any, does removing such content have? FOR SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE INTERNSHIPS SEE HERE.FOR IMAGES FROM SOME PAST PROJECTS SEE BELOW
