New article: “To be Seen, not Just Read”

Title:

“To be Seen, not Just Read: Script Use on the Votive Prayer Tablets of Anime, Manga, and Game Fans”

Abstract:

This article proposes one social explanation for the occurrence of graphic variation in contemporary written Japanese by examining a heretofore unexamined context of writing. Embracing the material culture approach, I explore the ema (votive prayer tablets) dedicated at Shinto shrines by fans of popular culture media productions (Sengoku Basara 戦国BASARA, Rakudai Ninja Rantarō 落第忍者乱太郎, Natsume Yūjinchō 夏目友人帳). Fans pen text on the ema that follows aesthetics of manga as well as online communication, incorporating features that are usually limited to print and online writing. Analyzing upwards of 2,000 ema from three shrines, this article proceeds to dissect a writing style composed of a mix of syllabaries and symbols using ‘thick description’ to evince the emotion behind fans’ calculated efforts to construct text that is not simply to be read, but to be seen. Seeking to answer the question of what fans attempt to achieve by writing on the ema in the way that they do, I will reference folklorist Elliott Oring’s ‘appropriate incongruity’ to put forth an argument that fans, harnessing a sense of play and endeavoring to animate the text on the ema, intimate by means of the visual presentation of writing-restricted variation a questioning of the perceived division between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds.

“To be Seen, not Just Read: Script Use on the Votive Prayer Tablets of Anime, Manga, and Game Fans” Japanese Studies, 2022, pp. 1-22.

Link to journal:

https://doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2022.2031138

Workshop presentation ワークショップ発表

On January 24, 2021, I presented at the online VIII – International Research Workshop “Mutual Images” hosted by Ryukoku University Kyoto. The workshop theme was “Japan Pilgrimages: Experiences and motivations behind cultural and spiritual peregrinations from and to East Asia.” My presentation title was “Ghostly Musings: When Anime Fans Traverse into the World of Natsume’s Book of Friends.”

I extend my deep gratitude to the organizers and to my fellow participants.

オンラインに開催された第8回国際学術会議「Mutual Images (ミューチュアル・イメージズ)」（於 龍谷大学）にて「幻を追う思いー『夏目友人帳』の世界に渡るファンたち」というタイトルで2021年1月24日に発表しました。

Conference presentation 学会発表

I presented at the 61th Annual Meeting of the Association for Indology and the Study of Religion on June 9, 2019 at Tenri University. The translated title of my presentation is as follows: “The People Searching for Happiness: A Case Study of the ‘Natsume Yujincho’ Anime Pilgrimage.

私は2019年6月9日に第61回印度学宗教学会学術大会（於 天理大学）にて「幸せを求める人たちー『夏目友人帳』の聖地巡礼を事例にー」というタイトルで発表しました。

”