The increasing availability of non-fiction books on Japanese women, and translations and critical work involving the Japanese fantastic show the energy these two areas are generating in Japanese Studies. Can these books be combined to create one class or do they require separate course titles and teaching methods? For example, a course in "Japanese Women in Society" might well include a unit on violence against women, with readings about domestic violence, rape laws, and wartime tragedies such as the experience of the "comfort women." Here, women's narratives are taken as testimony, a transparent window on experiences that too few want to understand or even acknowledge. At the same time, one tries to avoid depicting Japan as radically Other. In the fantastic, however, violence is everywhere, language is deceptive, and Japanese society is nothing if not weird. Interestingly, some of the most challenging Japanese women writers and feminist critics of thei! r work are deeply involved with fantastic fiction. What's more, students interested in anime are taking both kinds of classes, and looking for guidance in how to think about feminism, violence, and narrative in both cases.
Teaching both kinds of courses myself led me to want to organize a roundtable of experts with whom my ATJ colleagues and I could discuss these issues. Four scholars have graciously agreed to participate. Each is well-known for her work on the Japanese fantastic as well as women's writing: Susan Napier, Sharalyn Orbaugh, Atsuko Sakaki,and Michiko Wilson. I (Jan Bardsley) will moderate the panel. Each panelist opens with a five-minute statement on the theme of the panel. After about 20 minutes of discussion among the panelists, we will open the floor to comments from the audience. Together we will all generate ideas for approaching the issue of feminism and the fantastic in classes with undergraduate students.