A Thousand Isekai, Part 2: Material, Imperial, Soft Power

Originally published January 2019

Commentary

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Stray Notes

• I am irrationally attracted to the huntress from Isekai Ryouridou

• I am NOT making a causal mechanistic claim between the form of tenii and the imperial sentiment, this is just something interesting.

• I should make a distinction between politics as a system of constitutive subjectivation and politics as a system of governance. The video focuses, somewhat hazily, on both. Both are tackled in slightly different, awkward ways.

• I think it's important to keep in mind that not all tenii operate like this, and not all isekai need to be tenii to have such sentiments. Tensei Shitara Slime, for example, is tensei and it still has these specifics anxieties

• Wasn't able to talk about Takarakuji de 40-oku as much as I myself was hoping, but it's an interesting one

• I want to note that many food isekai do not seem to be knowingly or outwardly expressing a particular imperial anxiety, but the way in which they operate make it really difficult to shake this imperial sentiment. That does not mean that they necessarily endorse it, but the fixation on modernity does tend to lead to these scenarios where the 'knowing' Hero wields an innately superior apparatus

• It's important to note that GATE, arguably, draws back even further with films like Momotaro's Divine Warriors. Whereas Momotaro uses what Sandra Annett refers to as 'Cute Ethnic Others' (in the form of animals), the use of cute girls in GATE creates a similar affective feedback loop. That said, this does not mean that the author intended it for it to be this way, the novel was largely a product of its Iraq War conception.

• There's a bit of a debate as to exactly HOW influential the Americans were in the construction of the Japanese Constitution, but I feel like it's a reasonable amount. Check my two sources for two different positions and feel free to come to your own conclusion.

Texts

• Cwiertka, Katarzyna J. "Modern Japanese Cuisine." Reaktion Books, 2006.

• Hirasawa, Akihiko. "Formation of Japan's food security policy: relations with food situation and evolution of agricultural policies." Papers & Reports, Norinchukin Research Institute Co., https://www.nochuri.co.jp/english/pdf/rpt_20180731-1.pdf

• Hovhannisyan, Astghik. "Japanese Language and Soft Power in Asia." Edited by Kayoko Hashimoto. Palgrave MacMillan, 2018.

• Jiji. "Nation's food self-sufficiency rate hits 23-year low as rice consumption decline continues." Japan Times, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/08/10/business/japans-food-self-sufficiency-rate-hits-23-year-low-rice-consumption-decline-continues/

• Kades, Charles L. "The American Role in Revising Japan's Imperial Constitution." Political Science Quarterly 104, No. 2 (1989), pp. 215-247.

• Moore, Ray A. "Comment: Reflections on the Occupation of Japan." The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol 38, No. 4 (1979), pp. 721-734.

• O'Donoghue, J.J. "Is farming in Japan on its last legs?" Japan Times, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2018/06/23/food/farming-japan-last-legs/

Media

• All spoilers have an asterisk

• Death March *

• Gacha wo Mawashite

• Garden of Words

• Gate

• Gun-ota

• Isekai Houtei*

• Isekai Izakaya Nobu

• Isekai Kenkokuki

• Isekai Omotenashi Gohan*

• Isekai Ryouridou*

• Isekai Shihai no Skill Taker*

• Isekai Shokudou

• Isekai Yakkyoku*

• Jui-san no Oshigoto

• Manuke FPS

• Moon-Led Journey Across the Wastes

• Nihonkoku Shoukan*

• Outbreak Company*

• Overlord

• Ponyo

• Sushi Police

• Sweetness and Lightning

• Takarakuji de 40-oku*

• Tensei Slime

• Tondemo Skill

• Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro

• Tsukuyomi Moon Phase

• Zipang*

Commentary

Stray Notes

Texts

Media

Audio