Asian Studies Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Asian Studies Theses and Dissertations by Author "Freedman, Alisa"

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    A Space of Renegotiation: Japanese Shachūhaku Narratives
    (University of Oregon, 2022-10-04) Bartholomew, David; Freedman, Alisa
    In the past decade there has been a growing interest in representations of shachūhaku, or car camping, in Japanese media. In this thesis, I examine three different kinds of media representations of shachūhaku to understand how these narratives provide the distance from the rhythms of everyday life necessary to renegotiate one’s place within the hegemonies that structure them. Each kind of media that I examine has its own formal considerations, and each one utilizes both the spatial configurations of the vehicle and the narrative arc of shachūhaku to bring different aspects of the quotidian under scrutiny, but they all ultimately engage in this renegotiation, whether it be with the concept of death, gender, labor, or home.
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    Mizuko Kuyo Online: Religious Ritual and Internet Space in Contemporary Japan
    (University of Oregon, 2013-10-03) DePaulo, Julie; Freedman, Alisa
    This thesis looks at three different Japanese websites to examine how each spreads information about mizuko kuyō and how each provides online spaces for users in which they can share their own experiences with the ceremony. The goal is to show how perceptions of mizuko kuyō have changed with the advent of the Internet and the rise of Japanese Internet culture. Additionally this study shows how individuals now actively participate in dialogues about mizuko kuyō online and how this affects mizuko kuyō as a cultural practice. Emphasis is placed on the shift from mizuko kuyō being a temple dominated religious practice to a more secular and practitioner-focused ritual.
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    The Lost Year of Anime Conventions: Observations from FanimeCon 2020
    (University of Oregon, 2021-09-13) Scrivani, Kourtney; Freedman, Alisa
    As a result of the pandemic in 2020, many large fan events canceled to adhere to health guidelines. From this context, conventions had to change their models to virtual entities. This thesis investigates the fan production of the virtual FanimeCon, based in San Jose, CA, during the COVID-19 pandemic. After setting up the history of anime conventions, including concepts of other fan producers and Fanime history, the study used participant-observation and digital interviews with eight respondents to show how fans moved into the role of producers. This information was analyzed to identify the motivations behind fans acting as producers of this convention. From the results, those motivations align with ideas of interactivity, community, and desire to recreate the convention in the absence of an official event. This fan-produced Fanime was a one-time event that resulted directly from the pandemic disruption, which caused a lost year of anime conventions.
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    Tora-San, Wish You Were Here: Nostalgic Filmmaking In The World’s Longest Film Series
    (University of Oregon, 2022-10-26) Ghandour, Fawzi Rami; Freedman, Alisa
    The longest film series to feature the same actor, the It’s Tough Being a Man film series, known to fans as the Tora-san series, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with the release of its fiftieth installment, Tora-san, Wish You Were Here (2019). Released twenty-two years after the previous entry and the death of its main actor, this film takes a nostalgic look back on the franchise in the absence the titular Tora-san by a particular technique of inserting scenes from previous films in the series as memories of the film’s main characters. I argue that the film uses its cinematic form to engage with nostalgia in three forms in order to bring Tora-san back. The first is by engaging with the cinematic image cultivated by the series during Japan’s high-growth and bubble economy eras, an image that is defined by Tora-san’s complex character and depictions of vanishing spaces in modern Japan. The second is the use of self-referentiality in the film, adopting the narrative formula of the previous films as well as rooting the cinematic world into the present. Thirdly, the techniques of filmmaking itself are used to evoke a feeling of nostalgia. Through these analyses, I engage with a notion of nostalgic filmmaking and suggest a larger discourse on the connection between cinema and memory within this product of Japanese popular culture.