INTRODUCTION:
Thank you for participating in this survey about the images of Japanese bodies in performances inside and outside Japan by the Working Group "Japanese Bodies in a Global Age." This survey consists of 16 questions and will take approximate 5-10 minutes.
The questionnaire starts from the next page.
ABOUT OUR WORKING GROUP:
The Working Group “Japanese Bodies in a Global Age” was established by Hayato Kosuge, Ken Hagiwara, Mariko Miyagawa and Rina Tanaka for an initial three-year term (2016-2019) to hold discussions on (re)presentations of “Japanese bodies” in different theatrical forms inside and outside Japan during the period of (post-)globalization, through empirical and theoretical analysis of individual examples. For creating and conducting this survey questionnaire, Katherine Mezur has cooperated.
With the rapid development of international transport, information technology and international festivals, many people all over the world have more chances to see performance works related to Japan. We can see that different images of “Japanese bodies” have developed in other areas of the world. Here, “globalization,” which often means “westernization” in Asia, acts as a “juggernaut,” whose power can eradicate local traditions and peripheral cultures. These conditions have raised many questions concerning our awareness of the differences and tensions between “universality” and “locality” in performance cultures. “Japanese bodies,” or “Asian bodies” in many cases, are floating in an amorphous space/time of globalization and multiculturalism, which can absorb them into a globalized “universal body.” But, there is also the possibility that these bodies can demonstrate their own individuality as "local bodies" based on their own climates, cultures and politics. Our intention is to work with these complex issues within our focus on “Japanese Bodies.”
In this Working Group, we do not consider the concept “Japanese Bodies” in a particular context. We understand that this concept is fluid and dynamic and that the diverse, interdisciplinary, and multi-dimensional forms and actions of “Japanese Bodies” will be shaped the questions, responses, and outcomes of this research. This survey and further research will be part of a larger study on embodied performance cultures and their politics.
Professor Hayato KOSUGE (Director of Research Center for the Liberal Arts at Keio University)
Professor Ken HAGIWARA (School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University)
Ms. Mariko MIYAGAWA (Ph.D. candidate, Graduate School of Arts and Science, University of Tokyo)
Ms. Rina TANAKA (Ph.D. student, Graduate School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University)
Dr. Katherine MEZUR (Lecturer, Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley)
[This research is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 16K02326, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)]