The World of Japanese Animation

1. It would be intuitive and convenient for us to start with the two films and find criticism and interpretations in scholarly journal articles.

2. It is very likely the specific imagery of food are not directly addressed in articles about these films. Therefore, broaden your search to explore the larger context of the topic to provide a frame of reference in your own analysis of your specific cases:

a. The tradition/history of food/rice used in Japanese films; how the case of the particular two films compare.

(film* or cinema or “motion pictures”) and Japan* and (food* or rice)

b. The even broader context of food in films and/or Literature

(film* or cinema or “motion pictures”) and food

“food in literature” and Japan*

c. The symbolic significance of food/rice in Japanese culture

Japan* and (food* or rice) and (symbol* or metaphor*)

Sample findings in the Tisch library on the topic:

Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film. / edited by Anne L. Bower.

Food in Film: a Culinary Performance of Communication. / Jane F. Ferry.

Rice as Self: Japanese Identities through Time. / Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney.

Reading food in Modern Japanese Literature. / Tomoko Aoyama.

II. Research Sample Two

The Research Interest:

Search Newspapers and Popular Magazines:

Current:

LexisNexis Academic

Factiva (more international coverage)

Historical

New York Times Online Archive
(1851 - 3 years before current date)

Times Digital Archive (1785 - 1985)

Art Index Retrospective (1929- 1982)

Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982)

“something on jazz in anime, for example in the movie, ‘Cowboy Bebop’”.

Research Steps:

1. Start with the "tangibles" -- the film, the director and/or the composer.

2. There may not be much scholarship on the film, but reviews in popular press; relate your specific question to the larger contexts?

a. The tradition/history of music in Japanese films; how the case of this particular t film compare.

japan* and (amine or animat*) and music

sample findings:

Drawn to sound: animation film music and sonicity.
With the essay “Cowboy bebop: corporate strategies for animation music products in Japan”by Aki Yamasaki

The Cartoon Music Book
With the essay “Robots, romance, and ronin: music in Japanese anime” by Milo Miles.

b. How does your particular film compare in the history/tradition of music in this film genre (Action and adventure films; science Fiction Films) in general and/or in Japan?

sample findings:

Sounds of the Future: Essays on Music in Science Fiction Film

Terror tracks: Music, Sound and Horror Cinema

Finding Full Texts

1. Click on the button in your search results screen to a window of three sequential options:

a. link to the digital full text when available;

b. link to a Library Catalog search for the print journal;

c. link to ILliad for requesting the article when the above two options are negative.

2. Search for a journal directly here:

a. Tufts Library Catalog (including e-journals)

b. Electronic journals list

c. Use ILliad to request your article, if Tufts does not have your journal.

Request Articles/Books

Set up for your ILliad account

Use ILLiad, our Interlibrary Loan Service, to request articles, books and other materials that are not available at Tufts.

c. The even broader context if relevant -- Music and Film

sample findings

Music and mythmaking in film: genre and the role of the composer

Film music: a history

Movie music, the film reader

Sound and music in film and visual media: an overview

d. Other related Context -- Jazz in Japan

Sample findings:

1. General survey titles on Japanese film/cinema may include chapters/essays on this topic.

Jazz and Japan

2. Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan

3. Minor transnationalism
With the essay, The calm beauty of Japan at almost the speed of sound: Sakamoto Kyū and the translations of rockabilly by Michael K. Bourdaghs

III. Some Background Readings at Tisch

Search the Catalog for More Readings

(note the search pattern; modify to your own needs)

A. by/about the directors and their works:

Miyazaki, Hayao ;

Oshii, Mamoru;

"Katsuhiro Otomo".

B. Focus on a particular issue

Otaku

C. the larger context of "Culture of Japanese Anime"

Popular culture -- Japan.

Subculture -- Japan.

D. the larger context of "Animated Films as a genre"

Animated films

Animated Films -- History And Criticism

Animated Films -- Japan -- History And Criticism.

(anime or manga) and cultur*

Tips: 1. Or and ( ) to search any or all of the words; 2. cultur* searches for culture, cultural, etc.

Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime.
edited by Mark W. MacWilliam; foreword by Frederik l. Schodt.
NC1764.5.J3 J37 2008

Living Japan: Essays on Everyday Life in Contemporary Japan.
ed. by Harumi Kimura; translated by Haruko Miyazaki, Yuriko Takahashi.
DS821 .L58 2009

Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture.
edited by Yoshio Sugimoto.
DS822.5 .C365 2009

Japan Style
edited by Edward L. Davis.
N7350 .C25 2007

Contemporary Youth Culture: an International Encyclopedia.
edited by Shirley Steinberg, Priya Parmar, and Birgit Richard.

IV. Writing and Citing Sources

Movie Reviews vs Film Criticism (Timothy J. Corrigan.)

Writing About Film (Dartmouth Writing Program)

MLA Style (for citing sources)

Chicago Style Manual (for citing sources)

RefWorks