Date: Thursday, 29 June 2017

Time: 17:00 to 18:45

Venue: SRC Chambers, Conference Centre, Hatfield Campus, University of Pretoria

RSVP: Sonja Yonehara at [email protected] or 073 925 7963 by 12:00 on Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Any visitor to Japan will be astonished to see the large number of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (animation movies) available on the market, as well as the many related objects, such as souvenir items, resin and PVC figurines, and businesses, such as manga cafes. These constitute an important part of Japan’s cultural industry and through popular culture things Japanese have gained global recognition (for example, the Pokemon and Hello Kitty  movies, and movies produced by Miyazaki Hayao). In this talk, Dr Porcu will explore how religious institutions in contemporary Japan have turned to manga and anime to appeal to younger generations, and how they use these two formats to transmit their teachings and communicate with their members.

Elisabetta Porcu, who holds a PhD in Religious Studies (2006), is a senior lecturer in Asian Religions at the University of Cape Town. Her field of specialisation is Japanese religions in contemporary society. Before moving to South Africa in 2014, she worked at universities in Japan (2004-2010) and Germany. She has been a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii and Kyushu University, a  visiting scholar at Tokyo University and the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies in Kyoto (Nichibunken), and has published extensively in the field of Japanese religions. Her works include Pure land Buddhism in modern Japanese culture (Brill, 2008); Pop religion in Japan: temples, icons and branding (2014); and Down-to-earth Zen: Zen Buddhism in Japanese manga and movies (2015). She is currently writing her second monograph on Japanese religions and popular culture while also  conducting research on the Gion Festival in Kyoto. She is the founding editor of the Journal of Religion in Japan, published by Brill.

Enquiries may be directed to Ms Sonja Yonehara at [email protected] or 073 925 7963.