• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.13
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• pp.35-71
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• 2012

The purpose of this essay is to examine the responses of artists on nuclear experiences through an analysis of the nuclear images represented in contemporary Japanese art. Japan has previously as twice experienced nuclear disaster in 20th century. The first atomic bombs were dropped in 1945 as well as the 5th Fukuryumaru, Japanese pelagic fishing boat, exposed by hydrogen bomb test operated by the US in 1954 nearby Bikini atoll. Due to Tsunami taken place by the great earthquake that caused the meltdown of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March 2010, Japan is being experienced a nuclear disaster again. Despite practical experiences, comtemporary Japanese art has avoided the subject of nuclear disasters since the end of the Asia-Pacific War for a variety of reasons. Firstly, GHQ prohibited to record or depict the terrible effect of atomic bomb until 1946. Secondly, Japanese government has tried to sweep the affair under the carpet quite a while a fact of nuclear damage to their people. Because Japan has produced numerous war record paintings during the Second World War, in the aftermath of the defeated war, most of Japanese artists thought that dealing with politics, economics, and social subject was irrelevant to art as well as style of amateur in order to erase their melancholic memory on it. In addition, silence that was intended to inhibit victims of nuclear disasters from being provoked psychologically has continued the oblivion on nuclear disasters. For these reasons, to speak on nuclear bombs has been a kind of taboo in Japan. However, shortly after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the artist couple Iri and Toshi Maruki visited to ruin site as a volunteer for Victim Relief. They portrayed the horrible scenes of the legacy of nuclear bomb since 1950 based on their observation. Under the condition of rapid economical growth in 1960s and 1970s, Japanese subculture such as comics, TV animations, plastic model, and games produced a variety of post apocalyptic images recalling the war between the USA and Japanese militarism, and battle simulation based on nuclear energy. While having grown up watching subculture emerged as Japan Neo-Pop in 1990s, New generation appreciate atomic images such as mushroom cloud which symbolizes atomic bomb of Hiroshima. Takashi Murakami and other Neo-Pop artists appropriate mushroom cloud image in their work. Murakami curated three exhibitions including and persists in superflat and infantilism as an evidence in order to analyze contemporary Japanese society. However, his concept, which is based on atomic bomb radiation exposure experience only claimed on damage and sacrifice, does not reflect Japan as the harmer. Japan has been constructing nuclear power plants since 1954 in the same year when the 5th Fukuryumaru has exposed until the meltdown of Fukushima Nuclear Plant although took place of nuclear radiation exposures of Three Mile and Chernobyl. Due to the exploding of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, Japan reconsiders the danger of nuclear disaster. In conclusion, the purpose of this paper may be found that the sense of victim which flowed in contemporary art is able to inquire into the response of artist on the subject of nuclear as well as the relationship between society, politics, culture, and modern history of Japan and international political situation.

• Archives of design research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2004

Keiji Kobo is a unique self-generated design research group in Japan, which was founded in 1928 when Bauhaus movement was in its peak, and which lasted ten years until the end of the Second World War, when any activity of the group became virtually impossible due to the war. With insight to see the future, the group aimed at Modern Design advocating a new spirit in architecture, and played a significant role in prosperity of Japanese Modern Design assimilating Western design trends. Pursuing of craft works for everyday life--practical furniture works--Keiji Kobo actively executed various projects to realize modern philosophy. The range of the works of this group was very large: survey, mock-up, experiment, research, exhibition, lecture, order-based sale, advertising and writing. The works of the group were oriented to serious academicism, not compromising with commercialism. Considering the peculiar political situation such as Japanese Militarism, the spirit of functionalism that the group pursued was surprisingly academical and pure. This group was relatively small and clumsy, which lasted as short as around ten years. However, strong motivation was in their seemingly quiet movements, and the influence of the group cannot be underestimated even with today's criteria. There were a number of pioneers who contributed to today's prosperity of Japan and Keiji Kobo can be estimated to be one of the pioneers in the field of design. It was found that the contemporary intellectuals hoped that the committment and activity of the group would contribute to modernization of the life quality of ordinary people. In a sense, Keiji Kobo can be estimated to be a little Japanese equivalent for Bauhaus that could not fully bloom.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• no.26
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• pp.413-433
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• 2011

What this study aims is to analyze that how the stories of Prince Hodong are represented in modern historical fictions. The stories have been reproduced in many forms such as TV dramas, films, fictions, plays. It can be depicted that the narratives are indeed national and popular. Interestingly, however, the description of Hodong has not been found in pre-modern documents or fictions. The story began to appear and became popular in 1935 by Yoon Baek Nam. It can be explained that the narratives are the one of the example of the invented tradition since it became visible in modern period. Yoon, Lee Tae Joon, and Yu Chi Jin have constructed the character of Hodong what we are familiar with. Yoon depicted Hodong as a romatic lover with the motif of a lovers suicide. Lee and Yu put a context of nationalism by explaining Nakrang as a Nakrangkun of Hansagun(the four colonies of China). These are pure invention of the writers which cannot be found in The History of Three Kingdoms(三國史記). These characters are closely related with the surrounding of their own society. Yoon shows how the past can be seen as a nostalgic object by modern aesthetic perspective. Lee illustrates the ambiguous thought of a colonial intellectual who (anti)internalizes the ideology of militarism. Yu tries to find the way to recover the muscularity of the nation by re-colouring the memory of the past. These, the representations created in various contexts, make our common knowledges of Prince Hodong nowadays.

• Women's Studies Review
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.145-183
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• 2010

This study has compared South Korea with Taiwan, a society which has an almost non-hierarchical college culture in spite of its social and historical similarities to Korea, including the recruit system. By the means of quantitative and qualitative comparative studies and analysis, it has tried to clarify the reasons behind the hierarchical and sexist military culture of Korean universities. According to the comparative studies, Taiwan's college culture is less hierarchical than that of South Korea, and support for the necessity of hierarchy is weaker. Hierarchy had a greater influence on the payment of meals, appellations and society admissions in South Korea. Elements of military culture such as violence or group discipline were usually only present in South Korean college culture. Male-centered drinking and prostitution culture was also found to be stronger in South Korea. The historical and social reason for these differences is that Taiwan has a weaker basis for nationalism and militarism, both essential factors in the founding of hierarchical and collective culture. The most direct reason for the lack of hierarchy in Taiwanese college culture is the period of recruitment. In South Korea, young men usually apply for military service during the first or second year or college, and return to school as second or third-year studies. In Taiwan, however, men are usually recruited after having graduated from college. Students who have served in the army have proved to have a significant influence on violence, hierarchy and drinking culture in Korea's college culture. South Korea's college culture has two main problems. The first is that South Korean college students are not able to be critical towards the harms of South Korea's oppressively hierarchical collective culture, and therefore do not develop the strength to fight against it. This is all the more problematic because they are the future components of South Korea's main institutions. The second is that it roots male-centeredness even further into the South Korean mentality.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.33
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• pp.247-270
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• 2013

Kim, Yong-Hwan is a one of the South Korean major cartoonists between 1940s and 1960s. Kim, Yong-Hwan drew a variety of genres from children's cartoon to current-affair cartoon. Furthermore, Kim, Yong-Hwan took the lead in publishing cartoon magazine and newspaper after the Independence, and has been highly appreciated as a pioneer of Korean cartoon. Kim, Yong-Hwan created many works in the fields of illustrations, Oriental painting, history painting, caricature, etc. After going study for painting to Japan, Kim, Yong-Hwan made his debut as an illustrator called Kita Koji in Japan. However, not much is known about his works in Japan, only there is a simple data about his Japan period and some pieces of illustration during Japan years. In this paper, I examined in detail about Kim, Yong-Hwan's work activity in Japan which has been little known in Korea for a long time. I studied on illustrations in magazines and books which he drew in the name of Kita Koji, on the basis of the data of the National Diet Library of Japan. I could know that Kim, Yong-Hwan worked actively in a diversity of publishers and magazines. In addition, I could realize that many magazines in which Kim, Yong-Hwan drew illustrations were very popular ones. This demonstrates that Kim, Yong-Hwan was much recognized in Japan for his talent. However, a large number of Kim, Yong-Hwan's illustrations were published from late 1930s to mid-1940s. This period was the years that Japan concentrated all her energy for World War II. All the publishing were severely censored during this period. A majority of publishing in this period supported Japanese militarism, and glorified Japan's war policy. Kim, Yong-Hwan's illustrations were no exception, too. It was really sorry about his activity during his Japan period. This essay means a lot to a field of cartoon studies in terms of a collection of materials during Kim, Yong-Hwan's Japan period. Besides, I think that henceforth, this paper can contribute to a follow-up study on Kim, Yong-Hwan' work and his broad background.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.67
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• pp.177-208
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• 2014

This study inquires how human interest news on society section of newspapers had been modulated as multi-layered political narratives that would consistently have Koreans consider, realize and question on colonial situation as well as ethnic identity. Under totalitarian censorship of the colonial government, newspapers could not publish reports on political issues and current affairs, so society page of human interest such as crime, accident, conflict, disaster, and many kinds of sufferings of peoples to death would take great public attention and consequently be considered as a substitute of political section. Society page had enjoyed its influence on formation of public opinion of the colonized ethnic society and had maintained cultural-nationalist position ever since the founding of newspaper in mother-tongue in 1920. In colonial context, there is nothing non-political to the lives of the colonized, social facts would be necessary and happen to be modulated into a narrative that could trigger nationalist sentiment. For this end, news reporting of society section usually concentrated on aspects of 'Les Mis${\acute{e}}$rqbles', dramatic quality, and psychological factors in detail. Narrative style of news reporting got used to modulate factual informations with a proper taste of exaggeration, emotional expression, and commercial touch of exciting words. Even in a case of death by drug abuse, news was written to indicate what made him/her drive to miserable death on street, that is, what is de facto reason of all of social problems like as migration, hunger, leaving home, crime, suicide, violence, gambling, love affairs to death, adultery, and even opium habit. Those social problems and personal sufferings appeared up on newspaper 3rd page at daily base. Readers could acknowledge and identify what the real matter that should be resolved and then blame colonialism, capitalism, and militarism for those social problems. Journalists put values on inciting the colonized to realize the national and ethnic situation and feel sympathy for their people tied up by a common destiny. In this terms, news on society section of newspaper under Colonial Occupation were encoded as narratives of politically layered text and then decoded as intriguing sentiments against colonial dominance. I argue that society page of newspaper of colonial period engaged in a sort of cultural politics of sentiment and emotion which is a private area outside of imperial sight.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.147
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• pp.333-356
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• 2018

Shang Yang was a person who, as a representative of the former School of Law, not only had an effect of thought on Han Fei Tzu, but also put a cornerstone of Qin Shi Huang's great universal unification by placing small and weak Qin Dynasty in a border area in the rank of a newly rising powerful nation. He is especially regarded as a person who valued laws and established the theoretical framework of legalist thought of School of Law systematically. To begin with, this writing examines the contents of the enforcement of legal reforms relevant to the prerequisite of Shang Yang's legal thought in historical archives, and confirms that Shang Yang succeeded in accomplishing legal reforms twice and that the aim of the legal reforms was to realize national prosperity and military power for the universal unification. This writing also takes notice of the fact that Shang Yang's legal thought went through specific steps for unifying the legal authority and the power of the monarch. Especially this writing focuses on applying the three-step theory of norms that was presented in the western social and political norm theory to Shang Yang's legal thought and on examining the characteristic and meaning explicitly. In short, the social and political norms go through emergence, cascade, and internalization. This writing aims to confirm that Shang Yang's legal thought also went through these three steps and was specified. Specifying this critical mind, this writing is a result which discusses that Shang Yang's legal thought went though the steps of the selective prescriptivism of emergence, the monarchical absolutism through sever punishment, and the internal monarchism for national prosperity and military power, and that the thought was systemized. Finding that the contents of Shang Yang's legal thought correspond to the three-step theory of norms and produce the individual meaning is the independent characteristic of this writing. It is the aim of this writing that the system and meaning of Shang Yang's legal thought will be confirmed more explicitly through this contextual examination.