64th Meeting of the Kyushu Manga Exchange Committee (KMEC), Japan Society for Studies in Cartoons and Comics (JSSCC) & The 9th Women’s MANGA Conference
March 16th, 2021
Open and Online Conference:
Freedom and Regulation of Expression, Manga and Women
“Commemorative Event: The Global Release of Nagayama Kaoru’s Erotic Comics in Japan”
Date
March 21, 2021 (13:00-17:30)
Abstract
Comics and cartoons from Japan, or manga and anime, are by now a common feature of visual and popular culture around the world. While it is often observed that these media forms appeal to broad and diverse demographics, including many adults, eroticism continues to unsettle critics and has even triggered legal action in some jurisdictions. Increased visibility of a wide range of manga and anime, including erotic variants, has led to deepening suspicion, public outrage and calls for strengthening regulation, if not banning some content out right. Erotic comics, or eromanga, are most often held up as examples of the extremes and violations of manga, anime and even the nation of Japan itself. International tensions around manga as popular culture and policed content raise questions about freedom of expression and its limits. Against this backdrop comes the English translation and global release of Nagayama Kaoru’s Erotic Comics in Japan: An Introduction to Eromanga (Amsterdam University Press, 2020). To open up productive discussion and push it in new directions, this commemorative event brings the author and translators into dialogue with scholars working on issues related to manga, sex and gender and freedom and regulation of expression in Japan and beyond.
Schedule
Part 1: Keynote Address
13:00-14:00: Keynote Address
Nagayama Kaoru, “Manga: The Expanding Imaginary Body and World”
14:00-14:15: Break
Part 2: Manga Debates: Thinking Sex, Expression and Freedom Across Cultures
14:15-15:45: Panel 1
Ogi Fusami, “Shōjo Manga and Her Persistence: The Half-Century Challenge of Destabilizing the Label”
Takeuchi Miho, “Perspective from Media Conditions Regarding the Site of Expression of Women’s Subjectivity: Focusing on Essay Manga in SNS”
Sugimoto-Bauwens Jessica, “`Way Beyond Porn` –Women and Sexual Expression”
15:45-16:00: Break
16:00-17:30: Panel 2
Hamano Takeshi, “Decoding Moral Panic on Sexual Expressions in Japan: An Analysis of the Development of Contested Rhetorical Frames Beyond National Borders”
Nagaike Kazumi, “Analyzing Erotic Manga Studies through the Discourse of Manga Realism: Can ‘Manga’ Represent Shota?”
Galbraith Patrick W., “Is `Eromanga’ a Bad Word? Confronting the ‘Erotic Barrier’ Domestically and Internationally”
17:30: Concluding Remarks
Nagayama Kaoru
Registration
Advanced registration is required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sde6qqD8pE9fq3SNiIYuO6A4X58F1H5xl
After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with meeting information. If the email does not appear, it may have been filtered into the junk folder.
Updates and Information
Details of the event will be frequently updated on the following website:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m1WEDxDF11KRQ8wD9oHNJKJQMn5rDKBzCYlSHBfGfOs/edit?usp=sharing
Request to Participants
Please remember to mute your microphone when joining the event. It should remain muted until participants are called on during question-and-answer sessions. Due to issues of privacy and copyright, please refrain from recording, saving or making public images or videos of talks and discussions.
Contact
Questions should be addressed to Hamano Takeshi (Kitakyushu City University):
hamano@kitakyu-u.ac.jp
* This online conference is free and open to the public. It is organized by the Kyushu Manga Exchange Committee as part of the Women’s MANGA Research Project. Funding comes from Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) No. 20H01225 “Research in Women’s Manga: Regulation and the Possibilities for Expression of Subjectivity.”
* Presentations will be in Japanese without translation. Panelists are each allotted 30 minutes, including question-and-answer time.