Books by Nissim Otmazgin
This book analyzes the role of manga (Japanese comics) within contemporary Japanese public discou... more This book analyzes the role of manga (Japanese comics) within contemporary Japanese public discourse, and explores its role in propagating new perceptions regarding Japanese history. Through the analysis of of cases studies ranging from nineteenth century magazines to contemporary online comics and fandom, it focuses on the representations and interpretations of history in manga, and clarifies this medium’s interrelation with historical memory and political debate. Stories for the Nation delineates alternative modes of historical memory and expression as they are manifested and contested in manga, and argues for manga's potential to influence the historical and political views of wide audiences in Japan.
This book introduces a multilayered approach to the study of democracy, combining specific knowle... more This book introduces a multilayered approach to the study of democracy, combining specific knowledge of Japan with theoretical insights from the literature on democratization. It examines different aspects of Japanese democracy—historical, institutional, and sociocultural—to provide a conscious understanding of the nature and practice of democracy, both in Japan and beyond. The book's chapters give testimony to the dynamic nature and continuity of Japanese democracy and analyze its strengths and weaknesses.
The central argument of this book is that Japan’s democratization should be seen as a multilayered experience shaped by the gradual process of absorbing democratic ideas, forming democratic institutions, and practicing democratic behaviors and rituals at various levels of society. As the case of Japan shows, democracy is neither a structured formula nor only a set of democratic laws and institutions, but a continuous, gradual process.
This ambitious work provides a comprehensive, empirically grounded study of the production, circu... more This ambitious work provides a comprehensive, empirically grounded study of the production, circulation, and reception of Japanese popular culture in Asia. While many studies typically employ an interactive approach that focuses on the "meaning" of popular culture from an anthropological or cultural studies point of view, Regionalizing Culture emphasizes that the consumption side and contextual meaning of popular culture are not the only salient factors in accounting for its proliferation. The production side and organizational aspects are also important. In addition to presenting individual case studies, the book offers a big-picture view of the dramatic changes that have taken place in popular culture production and circulation in Asia over the past two decades.
This wide-ranging volume is the first to examine the characteristics, dynamics and wider implicat... more This wide-ranging volume is the first to examine the characteristics, dynamics and wider implications of recently emerging regional production, dissemination, marketing and consumption systems of popular culture in East and Southeast Asia. Using tools based in a variety of disciplines - organizational analysis and sociology, cultural and media studies, and political science and history - it elucidates the underlying cultural economics and the processes of region-wide appropriation of cultural formulas and styles.
Through discussions of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Philippine and Indonesian culture industries, the authors in the book describe a major shift in Asia's popular culture markets toward arrangements that transcend autonomous national economies by organizing and locating production, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods on a regional scale. Specifically, the authors deal with patterns of co-production and collaboration in the making and marketing of cultural commodities such as movies, music, comics, and animation.
The book uses case studies to explore the production and exploitation of cultural imaginaries within the context of intensive regional circulation of cultural commodities and images. Drawing on empirically-based accounts of co-production and collaboration in East and Southeast Asia's popular culture, it adopts a regional framework to analyze the complex interrelationships among cultural industries. This focus on a regional economy of transcultural production provides an important corrective to the limitations of previous studies that consider cultural products as text and use them to investigate the "meaning" of popular culture.
This volume examines the relations between popular culture production and export and the state in... more This volume examines the relations between popular culture production and export and the state in East and Southeast Asia including the urban centres and middle-classes of Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Thailand, and the Philippines. It addresses the shift in official thinking toward the role of popular culture in the political life of states brought about by the massive circulation of cultural commodities and the possibilities for attaining "soft power". In contrast to earlier studies, this volume pays particular attention to the role of states and cross-state cultural interactions in these processes. It is the first major attempt to look at these issues comparatively and to provide an important corrective to the limitations of existing scholarship on popular culture in Asia that have usually neglected its political aspects. As part of this move, the essays in this volume suggest a widening of disciplinary perspectives. Hitherto, the preponderance of relevant studies has been in cultural and media fields, anthropology or history. Here the contributors explicitly draw on other disciplinary perspectives – political science and international relations, political economy, law, and policy studies – to explore the complex interrelationships between the state, politics and economics, and popular culture.
Papers by Nissim Otmazgin
The term “creativity”—and related expressions like originality, imagination, innovation or inspir... more The term “creativity”—and related expressions like originality, imagination, innovation or inspiration—has become a key word in today’s media and cultural industries. Indeed, the term (frequently in concert with allied notions) is variously used as a guiding organizational principle, a marker of a peculiar form of production, a mobilizing and motivating slogan for employees in workplaces, or a motto differentiating them from other industries. Whatever the veracity of such claims, creativity has become a veritable watchword in media and cultural businesses.
Routledge Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in Asia, 2018
Creative Context, 2020
Massive commodification and marketing of media culture is not, of course, unique to Japan. Many c... more Massive commodification and marketing of media culture is not, of course, unique to Japan. Many countries have commodified and industrialized culture to some degree, whether for purposes of entertainment or propaganda.
The Anime Boom in the United States, 2017
Global Policy, 2020
Contemporary media production in East Asia has been booming in recent decades, reaching consumers... more Contemporary media production in East Asia has been booming in recent decades, reaching consumers of various nationalities to an extent unseen before. Concurrently, various collaborations in the production and promotion of movies, TV programs, animation, videogames, music, and the like have intensified and become more effective in delivering cultural content across national borders. The state in East Asia, once considered a custodian of local culture and a censor of foreign influences, has gradually changed its position and now views media production and its export as an integral part of market activity beneficial for both economy and diplomacy. Drawing upon governmental reports and interviews with government officials and media industry personnel in Korea and Japan, this paper examines the way the state reacts to the massive production and export of media culture, its attempt to integrate it within its developmental economic model, and the bureaucratic restructuring this process entails. The central argument presented is that state policy toward the media sector, and the abundance of institutions dealing with this sector in Korea and Japan, are the result of the growth of market-led media production and globalization. In other words, media industry development is not the result of policy, policy is the result of media industry development. In a wider context, this paper aims to better conceptualize the relations between state policy and media production in East Asia and the dynamics of industrial globalization under state guidance.
Social Commentary on State and Society in Modern Japan, 2016
Over the past two decades, Japanese popular culture has reached consumers of other countries in a... more Over the past two decades, Japanese popular culture has reached consumers of other countries in a variety and scale unseen before. As any lecturer in Japanese studies in any part of the work can testify, anime and manga is what brings students into class, and not the economy or Japanese managerial systems, as it used to be the 1980s. One of the interesting aspects of this unexpected aspect of Japan’s internationalization is a growing discourse in Japan about the new opportunities created by the globalization of Japanese popular culture. While some emphasize the economic benefits of cultural exports as a new source for revenues and as a way to upgrade the economy, others point to the diplomatic advantages of popular culture as a way to boost the country’s image abroad and attain “soft power ”. The Japanese government, for its part, has been increasingly interested in this sector and is gradually placing popular culture production and export on its agenda. In such context, this chapter examines the way the globalization of popular culture has been treated in domestic discourse in Japan and analyzes the way it is being bureaucratized and utilized by the state.
The Relevance of Regions in a Globalized World, 2018
The majority of studies on regional formation in East Asia (both Northeast and Southeast Asia) ha... more The majority of studies on regional formation in East Asia (both Northeast and Southeast Asia) have focused on economic integration and institutional build-up initiated by states. Developments in the field of contemporary society and culture, however, have been largely overlooked. This study seeks to shed light on the way popular culture influences our perception of regions by examining some recent developments in the study of translational dissemination of popular culture across Asian societies. The paper argues that popular culture plays a constructive role in shaping the East Asian region by creating transnational markets for cultural commodities and by disseminating communalities of lifestyles and concepts, which are based on the experience of consuming the same cultural products by different people in different parts of East Asia.
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Books by Nissim Otmazgin
The central argument of this book is that Japan’s democratization should be seen as a multilayered experience shaped by the gradual process of absorbing democratic ideas, forming democratic institutions, and practicing democratic behaviors and rituals at various levels of society. As the case of Japan shows, democracy is neither a structured formula nor only a set of democratic laws and institutions, but a continuous, gradual process.
Through discussions of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Philippine and Indonesian culture industries, the authors in the book describe a major shift in Asia's popular culture markets toward arrangements that transcend autonomous national economies by organizing and locating production, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods on a regional scale. Specifically, the authors deal with patterns of co-production and collaboration in the making and marketing of cultural commodities such as movies, music, comics, and animation.
The book uses case studies to explore the production and exploitation of cultural imaginaries within the context of intensive regional circulation of cultural commodities and images. Drawing on empirically-based accounts of co-production and collaboration in East and Southeast Asia's popular culture, it adopts a regional framework to analyze the complex interrelationships among cultural industries. This focus on a regional economy of transcultural production provides an important corrective to the limitations of previous studies that consider cultural products as text and use them to investigate the "meaning" of popular culture.
Papers by Nissim Otmazgin
The central argument of this book is that Japan’s democratization should be seen as a multilayered experience shaped by the gradual process of absorbing democratic ideas, forming democratic institutions, and practicing democratic behaviors and rituals at various levels of society. As the case of Japan shows, democracy is neither a structured formula nor only a set of democratic laws and institutions, but a continuous, gradual process.
Through discussions of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Philippine and Indonesian culture industries, the authors in the book describe a major shift in Asia's popular culture markets toward arrangements that transcend autonomous national economies by organizing and locating production, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods on a regional scale. Specifically, the authors deal with patterns of co-production and collaboration in the making and marketing of cultural commodities such as movies, music, comics, and animation.
The book uses case studies to explore the production and exploitation of cultural imaginaries within the context of intensive regional circulation of cultural commodities and images. Drawing on empirically-based accounts of co-production and collaboration in East and Southeast Asia's popular culture, it adopts a regional framework to analyze the complex interrelationships among cultural industries. This focus on a regional economy of transcultural production provides an important corrective to the limitations of previous studies that consider cultural products as text and use them to investigate the "meaning" of popular culture.
Job requirements:
The position is open for all fields of Japanese Studies. Candidates must exhibit the ability to conduct high-quality academic research which draws on Japanese-language sources. Knowledge of other Asian languages is an advantage.
The position is open to individuals who hold a doctorate degree and for advanced doctoral students whose Ph.D. will be conferred no later than July 1, 2019.
Responsibilities include the teaching of required and elective courses in the candidate's field(s) of specialization (at B.A. and M.A. degree levels). Successful candidates are expected to conduct independent and original research at the highest academic level, demonstrate academic leadership, compete for Israeli and international research grants and have the ability to cooperate with colleagues within the Faculty of Humanities and beyond.
Where pertinent and in accordance with inter-departmental needs, a joint departmental appointment or teaching sharing arrangement may be considered, combining with one of several departments and cognate areas of study in the Humanities.
The Hebrew University's main language of instruction is Hebrew. Nonetheless, the possibility of teaching one or more graduate courses in English may be entertained. Candidates whose Hebrew proficiency is such that they would not be comfortable teaching in Hebrew will be encouraged to master the Hebrew language sufficiently during the initial years following their appointment.
Qualified candidates will be invited for a campus visit, which will include a job talk, an interview and meetings with department members.
For additional details, please contact the department chair, Dr. Orna Naftali, at [email protected], or the Head of the Japan Section of the Department of Asian Studies, Prof. Nissim Otmazgin, at [email protected]
The Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the oldest in Israel and is one of the biggest departments in the Faculty of Humanities, home to over 300 students specializing in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian Studies. The department is characterized by its excellence in research and teaching, and it maintains an environment of cooperation between students and faculty in a wide array of extracurricular activities. To read more about the department, visit: http://asia.huji.ac.il/en.
Candidates are requested to apply in writing to: Professor Dror Wahrman, Dean of the Faculty of Humanit
Applicants should provide:
(1) Cover letter
(2) Confirmation of receipt of degree
(3) Curriculum Vitae (Please use – CV form)
(4) Current list of publications (Please use - List of Publication form)
(5) 2-3 page statement of research plans + a statement of teaching plans
(6) Teaching evaluations (from the past three years)
(7) Two representative publications
(8) Letters of recommendation up to three referees sent directly by the recommender
(9) Relatives Declaration (click here)
https://hum.huji.ac.il/applications
Complete applications must be submitted by 13 September 2018
Applications can be submitted at:
http://ttp.huji.ac.il
Deadline: March 6, 2017
See http://www.eacenter.huji.ac.il/
year 2018-2019. The post-docs are open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences
specializing in East Asia, especially China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia.
Fellowships are granted for one academic year or one term The starting date of the visit should not be later than four years after receipt of the Doctoral Degree; the fellow must hold a valid Doctoral Degree no later than October 2018.
The fellowship consists of a monthly stipend (tax free) of $1,800, paid in Israeli NIS
and linked to the representative rate of exchange. Fellows are entitled to one airline ticket (economy class, up to 1500$) for a direct flight from their hometown to Israel and back.
The fellows are expected to teach one semesterial course at the Hebrew University (for additional payment, according to the Hebrew University regulations). The ability to teach a course in Hebrew is welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attaining the fellowship.
The fellows will also actively participate in the life and activities of the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies and will present their research at the seminar of the Department of Asian Studies, and possibly at other relevant forums. Any work outside the Hebrew University would be allowed only after specific approval by the Frieberg Center.
Applicants should submit one hard copy and an electronic copy- in one file- of their
application to the address below, no later than March 22, 2018. The application must include:
1. CV
2. Research plan (up to 5 pages)
3. A sample of applicant's publications (if relevant)
4. Two letters of recommendation
The applicant should indicate the names and positions of the recommenders, but the letters of recommendation should be sent by the recommenders directly to the email address below.
Please send materials to:
The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies
Rm 6300, The Faculty of Humanities
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mt. Scopus Jerusalem 91905
ISRAEL
email: [email protected]
The 14th Conference of Asian Studies in Israel (ASI18) May 23-24 2018
Deadline: November 6, 2017
We are delighted to announce that the 14th Biennial Conference of Asian Studies in Israel (ASI18) will take place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus Campus, on Wed-Thu, May 23-24, 2018.
We invite proposals on Asian-related topics (Central, South, East and South-East Asia). Priority will be given to thematic panels, but individual paper submissions are also welcome. The deadline for submitting proposals for either organized panels or individual papers is November 15, 2017.
The proposal should include the title of the panel or the individual paper together with a short abstract (150-200 words), as well as a short CV (1 page max) of the presenter/s. With the exception of roundtables, panel proposals should also include the title and abstract of each paper. Please indicate in your proposal what equipment, if any, will be required for your panel or lecture.