Module manager: Dr Irena Hayter
Email: i.hayter@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
| EAST3350 | Japanese Cinema in the World |
| EAST5037M | Transnational East Asian Cinemas |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Japan is one of the major cinematic nations and its influence on global film culture is significant; from the female assassins and spectacularly choreographed sword fights of Tarantino’s Kill Bill to the slow-motion sequences in every action film and the narrative roles of robots in Star Wars. This module analyses the major directors and genres in Japanese cinema from the 1930s to the present. It situates Japanese cinema in its social and cultural histories, but it also attends to the cross-cultural dynamic connecting it with Hollywood and other national cinemas. The module explores the tensions between Japanese cinema’s culturally and historically specific aesthetics and the transnational nature of the film industry and the art-house cinema circuit. Students will learn to read films both formally and historically, through theoretical concepts and frameworks such as genre, gender, auteurism, Orientalism, national cinema and transnationalism. No prior knowledge of Japanese cinema or the Japanese language is necessary. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
To study both the national and international dimension of the genres, auteurs and texts (from critical analyses to marketing messages) of Japanese cinema;
To encourage students to engage with mainstream genres (jidaigeki period film, J-horror, anime, etc.) and with the work of the most prominent Japanese auteurs from the 1930s to the present;
To understand and evaluate the specifically Japanese cultural and socio-historical contexts of production and exhibition.
To develop an understanding of transnational Japanese and Chinese cinemas as fully embedded in the networks of the global film industry, and the international art house cinema circuit, on one hand, but also as agents in specifically East Asian cultural flows of production, exhibition and fandom;
To reflect critically on Western discourses on Japanese cinema as an expression of an intrinsically and irreducibly ‘Japanese’ aesthetic.
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Discuss Japanese cinema in its cultural and socio-historical contexts.
2. Evaluate the role of Japanese cinema within global film culture.
3. Recognize key concepts and analytical frameworks used in film studies and apply them to study of Japanese cinema.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Demonstrate effective written and oral communication.
5. Identify from different sources the information or evidence needed in order to understand an issue, or to address a problem or task.
6. Use appropriate software to put together visual and (where relevant) audio aids in order to deliver an engaging presentation.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Seminars discussion (both group-based and class-wide) will offer opportunities to observe students’ contributions and offer comments and feedback. Group discussions will also involve peer learning and feedback. Individual feedback to students will be provided in regular office hours and or in meetings by appointment, if necessary, in order to discuss presentation and essay marks. Detailed individual written feedback will be given on the essay.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Essay | 70 |
| Coursework | Presentation | 30 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 16/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team