Japanese Society
Course code
HIL6598.HT
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Jaapani ühiskond
Course title in English
Japanese Society
ECTS credits
6.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2025/2026 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2026/2027 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Brief description of the course
The course provides a systematic overview of the structure, major trends, and current issues of contemporary Japanese society. Topics such as demographic changes, gender roles, work culture, the education system, and social stratification are discussed. Particular attention is paid to how these social challenges and societal pressures are reflected in contemporary Japanese culture – cinema, anime, manga, and visual arts. During the course, students develop the skills to analyze cultural texts within a socio-cultural context and to understand the connections between social changes and cultural expression.
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- identifies the main structures, social norms, and contemporary problems of Japanese society (e.g., demography, work culture, family models);
- understands the causal relationships and interactions between social developments and cultural expression (film, anime, manga);
- independently analyzes Japanese cultural phenomena as reflections of social problems, using appropriate terminology;
- discusses critically the specificities of Japanese society in a comparative and global perspective, presenting their views in a reasoned manner.
- identifies the main structures, social norms, and contemporary problems of Japanese society (e.g., demography, work culture, family models);
- understands the causal relationships and interactions between social developments and cultural expression (film, anime, manga);
- independently analyzes Japanese cultural phenomena as reflections of social problems, using appropriate terminology;
- discusses critically the specificities of Japanese society in a comparative and global perspective, presenting their views in a reasoned manner.
Teacher
Alari Allik
Study programmes containing that course