Overview

Capture Japan investigates the formation of visual tropes and how these have contributed to perceptions of Japan in the global imagination. The book proposes that images are not incidental in the formation of such perceptions, but central to notions about identity, history and memory. From a tentative western ally in 1952 to a ‘soft power’ superpower with a huge global influence in the 21st century, the book locates questions about Japan in the global imagination to the country’s transforming geopolitical position. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, with a multiplicity of perspectives from around the world, Capture Japan goes beyond binarisms to uncover how images can also produce discourses that challenge, subvert or even contradict each other. The word ‘capture’ in the title of the book recognises both the deeply problematic role that images have played in relation to colonialism, as well as the potential dominance that visual spectacles can wield in a contemporary context. Diverse essays from a wide range of perspectives investigate the institutional framework that has allowed certain types of images of Japan to be promoted, while others have been suppressed. In doing so, the book points to a vast network of images that have shaped the perception of Japan both from within and from outside, revealing how these images are inextricably linked to wider ideological, political, cultural or economic agendas.

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9781350186828

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Reviews

"""Is ""capturing"" Japan in images possible? Bohr's anthology provides intriguing answers to this challenging question. This is a genuinely interdisciplinary and transcultural work that traces the production and global reshaping of ""Japanese"" images in post-World War II Japan and beyond."" --Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan ""Japan may not be quite the fearsome economic dynamo it once was, but for that very reason its art world is attracting ever more attention. This book is a compelling series of essays by major scholars on the full spread of Japanese art from the immediate post-War, to now. It is essential reading for all those interested in Japan, in Modernity, in Contemporary Art, and in how non-Western modes of expression compete and conflate with those coming from the West."" --Timon Screech, International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken), Kyoto, Japan ""Rich in tangible examples ranging from art photography and film culture through to video games, this volume demonstrates the importance of studying Japan and ""Japan"", proving how inextricably linked they are. Capture Japan will prove highly valuable in the Japanese-studies classroom and beyond."" --Jaqueline Berndt, Professor in Japanese Language and Culture, Stockholm University, Sweden"

Author Information

Marco Bohr is Associate Professor in Visual Communication at Nottingham Trent University, UK. Previous to that he was the recipient of a JSPS Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto as well as a Japan Foundation Fellowship. With Basia Sliwinska, Marco co-edited the volume The Evolution of the Image: Political Action and the Digital Self (2020).

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