Japanese Martial Arts as Popular Culture: Teaching Opportunity and Challenge

Stephen Robert NAGY

doi:10.4312/as.2015.3.1.83-102

Authors

Stephen Robert NAGY Associate Professor Department of Politics and International Studies International Christian University (ICU) 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8585 Japan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2015.3.1.83-102

Keywords:

Japanese culture, pedagogy, budō, martial arts

Abstract

Japanese martial arts, here after Japanese budō, are popular cultural icons that are found in films, comics, video games and books. Teaching Japanese budō at university offers a novel way to teach about East Asian and in particular Japanese culture, history, and philosophy while including ideas about the globalization and the localization of culture. Question though remains as to how and what should we teach about the popular culture of Japanese budō at the university level? This paper found that a comprehensive approach to teaching about budō was effective. By using many kinds of materials and the incorporation of opportunities to experience budō and to try budō, students were better able to grasp the historical, cultural and religious characteristics of budō.

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Author Biography

Stephen Robert NAGY, Associate Professor Department of Politics and International Studies International Christian University (ICU) 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8585 Japan

Stephen has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the International Christian University since September 2014. Previously he was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Japanese Studies from December 2009 to January 2014. He obtained his PhD from Waseda University, Japan in International Relations in December 2008 and worked as a Research Associate at the Institute of Asia Pacific Studies at Waseda University from October 2007 to November 2009.

His recent funded research projects are “Sino-Japanese Relations in the Wake of the 2012 Territorial Disputes: Investigating changes in Japanese Business’ trade and investment strategy in China” and “Non-traditional security Cooperation in Northeast Asia” and “Human Security Paradigm in Japan: Exploring the Challenges and Possibilities of International Cooperation in Northeast Asia”.

His research interests include international relations of Northeast Asia, Sino-Japanese relations, Asian regional integration and regionalism in Asia, non-traditional security, human security and migration/ immigration related issues. In conjunction with his research focus on Asian regional integration, in March 2010 he was appointed a Senior Fellow with the Global Institute of Asian Regional Integration (GIARI), Waseda University. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia Pacific Studies’ International Affairs Research Centre (IARC) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

For more information: http://www.waseda-giari.jp/index.html

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