Manga Studies: From Architecture to Female Otaku

The London Asia Pacific Cultural Studies Forum is organizing a free session at London's Birbeck College on 28th January 2013, devoted to Manga Studies with researchers and professionals visiting from Japan.

The global circulation of manga has attracted increased attention and Manga Studies has now developed as an international, multidisciplinary field that attracts researchers from a wide area of study from the visual arts to the social sciences. This session is expected to be a multidisciplinary event that invites scholars from a range of fields to observe the diversity of manga consumption as popular culture, worldwide.

The speakers are Dr Ryuichi Tanigawa, an Assistant Professor at the Center for Integrated Area Studies at Kyoto University who specializes in Modern Asian Architectural and Urban History, Architectural Theory; Dr Chie Yamanaka, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Human Studies, Jin-ai University who specializes in Sociology, Manga Comics Studies, and Korean Studies; Mr Yu Ito, a Researcher/ curator of Kyoto Seika University International Manga Research Center, Kyoto International Manga Museum. He has organized many manga exhibitions and workshops over the past years. He specializes in Manga Comics Studies and Folklore.

Also at the event are Dr Sonoko Azuma, an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University who specializes in Sociology of Culture and Gender Studies; Mr Simon Turner, a Ph.D student at Birkbeck College, University of London whose main research interest lies in the field of Japanese Cultural Studies and New Media Studies; Dr Shinji Oyama, a Sasakawa Research and Teaching Associate in Japanese Creative Industries Studies head of Japanese cultural studies at Department of Media and Cultural Studies, Birkbeck College; and Dr Mariko Murata, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University, Japan. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Birkbeck.


The event has been co-organized by the Centre for Media, Culture and Creative Practice (Birkbeck, University of London) and LAPCSF, supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 2012 (Challenging Exploratory Research, Ryuichi Tanigawa, Grant No.24656343) MEXT, Japan.

Here's the full program.

Manga Studies: From Architecture to Female Otaku

Speakers: Dr. Ryuichi Tanigawa, Dr. Chie Yamanaka, Mr. Yu Ito, and Dr. Sonoko Azuma
Discussant: Mr. Simon Turner
Chair: Dr. Mariko Murata

Program

18:00-18:10 A Welcome from the Organizers (Dr Shinji Oyama and Dr. Mariko Murata)

18:10-18:30 Manga, Architecture, and Cities: Interpreting Space in JOJO's Bizarre Adventure (Dr. Ryuichi Tanigawa)

18:30-18:50 The Reception of Manga in the Republic of Korea: A Case Study on NARUTO (Dr. Chie Yamanaka)

18:50-19:10 Barefoot Gen in Japan: War and Boys’ Comics (Mr. Yu Ito)

Short break

19:20-19:40 How to Enjoy 'Yaoi' Texts: Manga Consumption of Female Otaku in Japan (Dr. Sonoko Azuma)

19:40-20:10 Discussion (Discussant: Mr. Simon Turner)

• Starting at 6.00pm, the talks will be in English and the discussion will be interpreted. Attendance is free of charge, but registration is required. You can book here: http://mangastudies.eventbrite.co.uk