In our time of post-capitalist economy, human resources management
has departed from its philosophy of cost-effective productivity to
something much more complex and humane. Business and industry, often
following the incentives of the government and spurred by the
discourse of the media, have come to pay major attention to issues of
gender, family, and environment. Popular culture has been influenced
by the status and philosophy of management while the latter has drawn
ideas from popular culture.

During the past four decades, the topic of business and industrial
management has become increasingly important in Japanese arts and
media. The genres that developed initially as minor entities in
popular arts have gained status in literature, theatre, film and
painting while manga comics, animated films, songs, TV shows, and
computer games have come to feature issues of business, industry,
welfare, and environment. This course will examine the ways in which
the economic development and changing ideas of management in Japan
have been reflected in popular culture. Emphasis will be put on U.S.-
Japan relations both in terms of debates on related issues and of
themes in popular culture. Besides the images of Japan's management
and its relation to U.S. economy represented by the writings of Ezra
Vogel, Akio Morita, and others, the class will study "business
novels" (by Takeshi Kaiko, Saburo Shiroyama and others), dramatic
films (by Akira Kurosawa and Juzo Itami), animated films (by Hayao
Miyazaki), manga comics (by Ishimori Shotaro) and popular TV programs
will be studied.