Media Theory in Japan

441 Pages·2017·9.23 MB·English

by  Marc Steinberg

MEDIA THEOR Y in JAPAN
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MEDIA THEOR Y in JAP AN
marc s teinberg and
alexander z ahlten, ed itors
Duke University Press Durham and London 2017
© 2017 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca on acid- free paper ∞
Designed by Courtney Leigh Baker
Typeset in Minion Pro and Myriad Pro by Westchester Publishing Services
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Steinberg, Marc, [date] editor. | Zahlten, Alexander, [date] editor.
Title: Media theory in Japan / Marc Steinberg and Alexander Zahlten, editors.
Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2016043543 (print) | lccn 2016046042 (ebook)
isbn 9780822363125 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 9780822363262 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 9780822373292 (e- book)
Subjects: lcsh: Mass media— Philosophy. | Mass media— Social aspects— Japan—
History—20th century. | Mass media— Political aspects—J apan— History—
20th century. | Popu lar culture— Japan— History—20th century.
Classification: lcc p92.j3 m44 2017 (print) | lcc p92.j3 (ebook) |
ddc 302.23/0952—d c23
lc rec ord available at https:// lccn. loc. gov/ 2016043543
cover art: Photo by Alexander Zahlten
Chapter 11 appeared originally in Review of Japa nese Culture and Society,
vol. 22, 88–103 and is reproduced with permission.
Contents
Acknowle dgments [ix]
Preface (Interface) [xi]
akira mizuta lippit
Introduction [1]
marc steinberg and
alexander zahlten
PART I. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
1. From Film to Tele vi sion:
Early Theories of Tele vi sion in Japan [33]
aaron gerow
2. Architecture as Atmospheric Media:
Tange Lab and Cybernetics [52]
yuriko furuhata
3. The Media Theory and Media Strategy
of Azuma Hiroki, 1997–2003 [80]
takeshi kadobayashi
4. The InterCommunication Proj ect:
Theorizing Media in Japan’s Lost De cades [101]
marilyn ivy
PART II. PRACTICAL THEORY
5. McLuhan as Prescription Drug:
Actionable Theory and Advertising Industries [131]
marc steinberg
6. The Culture Industries and Media Theory in Japan [151]
miryam sas
7. Girlscape:
The Marketing of Mediatic Ambience in Japan [173]
tomiko yoda
8. 1980s Nyū Aka:
(Non)Media Theory as Romantic Per for mance [200]
alexander zahlten
9. Critical Media Imagination:
Nancy Seki’s TV Criticism and
the Media Space of the 1980s and 1990s [221]
ryoko misono
10. At the Source (Code):
Obscenity and Modularity in
Rokudenashiko’s Media Activism [250]
anne mcknight
PART III. MEDIATION AND MEDIA THEORY
11. An Assault on “Meaning”:
On Nakai Masakazu’s Concept of “Mediation” [285]
akihiro kitada
12. Much Ado about “Nothing”:
The Kyōto School as “Media Philosophy” [305]
fabian schäfer
13. Kobayashi Hideo and the Question of Media [328]
keisuke kitano
[vi] Contents
14. Media, Mediation, and Crisis:
A History— and the Case for Media Studies
as (Postcultural) Anthropology [347]
tom looser
Afterword. The Disjunctive Kernel
of Japa nese Media Theory [368]
mark b. n. hansen
Bibliography [389]
Contributors [413]
Index [417]
Contents [vii]
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Acknowl edgments
A journey is made by one’s traveling companions, as the Japa nese expres-
sion goes. On the journey that resulted in this volume, we had the benefit of
an incredible group of contributors. We thank each and every one of them
for taking the time to put their ideas into conversation, and to forge this
collective proj ect. We are grateful to them for the journey as well as for the
final product. Ken Wissoker and Elizabeth Ault at Duke University Press
were im mensely supportive of this proj ect from the very beginning, and
their continuous advice—a nd patience— were invaluable in navigating it
through its multiple stages. The Reischauer Institute of Japa nese Studies was
vital in supporting a workshop that allowed the contributors to meet and
spend an intense and very rich two days exchanging ideas on all aspects of
this enterprise. The current form of this volume started to take shape at the
Histories of Film Theories in Asia conference at the University of Michigan
in 2012, or ga nized by Markus Nornes, where we benefited from early and
im mensely sensible advice from Tomiko Yoda. Karen Beckman, Yuriko Fu-
ruhata, Joshua Neves, Masha Salazkina, and Haidee Wasson offered guidance
and solidarity in the art of creating an edited collection. We extend our deep
thanks to our talented research assistants, Peter Bernard, Alain Chouinard,
Andrew Campana, Kimberlee Sanders, and Edmund Stenson. We thank
every one in our contexts near and far who offered advice and support dur-
ing this proj ect.
Fi nally, there is one contributor who is especially in our thoughts. Ryoko
Misono enthusiastically agreed to contribute a central chapter to the volume
at a late stage in its development, greatly enhancing the proj ect as a w hole.
She tragically passed away just days a fter sending in her essay. With Misono-
san the fields of film and media studies in Japan lost one of its most promising