JAPN 277 Empire of Sex: Eroticism, Mass Culture and Geopolitics in Japan, 1945 – present.

This course uses English translations of political, literary, and historical works to introduce issues of sexuality, capitalism and geopolitics to Post-WW II Japan. Enduring a 7-year Occupation by the US after its defeat in WW II, Tokyo emerged in the 1950s as one of the global centers for the production of pornographic film and art. Moreover, it was the most popular destination for sex tourism until the late 1960s. In order to situate the diverse aspects of Japan’s politics of sexuality, each segment of the course will take up exemplary phenomena such as kissing, revolution and sexuality, soft-core porn, gay and lesbian sexuality, otaku epistemology, hostess clubs and maid cafés (GL)