Bachelor of Arts (BA) - The University of Hong Kong

216JAPN3008.Contemporary Japanese popular music (6 credits)This interdisciplinary content course looks at the contemporary Japanese popular music scene sinceWorld War Two. The main approach used will be anthropological rather than musicological or ethnomusicological. The course will take a close look at how the Japanese popular music industry wasestablished and developed. It will also examine how the images of particular popular singers and songswere constructed by the music industry, and then revised to take account of the response of audiences.We will also explore the social and historical situation in which the popularity of a particular singer andsong reflects.Assessment: 100% coursework (projects, assignments, presentation and tests).Prerequisite: Japanese language II.JAPN3009.Japanese film (6 credits)This interdisciplinary content course, taught in small groups, introduces modern/contemporaryJapanese filmmakers (e.g. Ozu Yasujiro, Mizoguchi Kenji, Kurosawa Akira, Iwai Shunji, SuoMasayuki, Sento Naomi, Hashiguchi Ryosuke) and their works. Students will read articles about themin newspapers, magazines, websites, etc., synopses and part of scenarios of their major films, all inJapanese, watch the films in Japanese (with English and/or Chinese subtitle) and discuss them. Thecourse aims to enhance the students' skills of reading/listening/watching Japanese films and theirsenarios, to provide them with the basic knowledge about Japanese films and their makers and to offeropportunities to discuss on Japanese films in Japanese. This course is open only for the third yearstudents of Japanese Studies.Assessment: 100% coursework (short quizzes, presentation(s) and essay assignment(s)).Prerequisite: Japanese language II (this course is open only for Japanese major students whoseJapanese language level (second year examination result) is C-grade or above).JAPN3010.Translation II (Chinese/Japanese, Japanese/Chinese) (6 credits)This language intensive course is a continuation of Translation I (Chinese/Japanese,Japanese/Chinese). It aims to further develop students' skills in translating more complex passageswritten in Japanese and Chinese. Passages will be chosen from established sources in Chinese andJapanese covering various topics and subjects.Assessment: 70% coursework, 30% examination.Examination: A two-hour written examination at the end of the second semester.Corequisite: Japanese language III.JAPN3011.Japanese in popular culture (6 credits)Apart from language used in newspapers, TV news, shopping, business letters, etc., people often uselanguage for entertainment purpose in popular culture. This language intensive course introduces avariety of Japanese found in fairy tales, children’s songs, TV programmes, magazines, manga, anime,popular songs, rakugo, manzai, poems and others. The course aims to provide the students with anopportunity to expose themselves to the various forms of Japanese and to enhance their Japaneselanguage ability. This is a tutorial-based language intensive course, taught in small groups, 1hour/week.Assessment: 100% coursework (short quizzes, presentations and essay assignments).Prerequisite: Japanese language II (this course is open only for Japanese major students).