Keio University, one of Japan’s first and most prestigious private universities, recently announced that they will be launching a new endowed course titled Anime Peace Studies: Creating peace through Japanese anime, which students can enroll in starting this year’s spring semester. The course is a part of a wider Anime Peace Studies project led by Keio University Global Research Institute X Dignity Center, and is funded and co-administered by Netflix.
According to the university’s press release, the purpose of the course is to analyze the social value anime has as a means of cultural expression, and academically review its relationship with peace in a broader sense (mutual understanding, empathy, coexistence). Instead of focusing solely on professional terminology and industry frameworks, the course aims to give participants a deeper understanding of “dialogue,” “solidarity,” and “cultural legacies” which arise as an effect of anime crossing national and generational boundaries.
On a related note, it seems likely that this project was inspired by the recent online boom that has made anime content into a global phenomenon. While the Japanese government itself has been laying out new policies for expansion of anime in the West and even addressing the lack of legitimate global distribution channels amidst rising cases of piracy, overseas companies like Netflix have also been eyeing the country’s content industry. Specifically, the company’s recent strategic partnership with studio MAPPA, the animation company behind some of the anime industry’s biggest hits in recent years, was forged to leverage the ever-increasing global demand for anime.
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