Dr Mio Bryce is Head of Japanese Studies and a senior lecturer in Faculty of Arts’ Department of International Studies: Languages and Cultures.
Dr Bryce's research interests include second language learning, children's literature and anime and manga as popular cultural expressions of contemporary Japanese life. She is the author of more than 30 articles and book chapters on topics ranging from the teaching and learning of Japanese as a second language, to children's literature, to anime and manga as integral to youth identity and youth cultures.
Dr Bryce is currently undertaking research on Japan's pressing social issues such as youth poverty and hardships in the post Great East Earthquake of 2011.
To gain more insight into her research on manga and anime, we asked Dr Mio Bryce a few questions.
What is your current research project about?
My most current work is focused on narratives concerning the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 in order to examine the role fiction can have in generating social activism. Fictional narratives, such as those of manga in particular, have the power to create a liminal space wherein controversial issues can be vividly revealed and hence provide emotional immediacy that encourages readers to explore the issues more freely and holistically. Many shōjo (girl) manga since 1970s demonstrate such narrative power, exposing confrontational social issues such as gender discrimination, sexual abuse, child abuse, collective bullying (ijime), poverty, illness, suicide and environmental issues (e.g., pollution). As exemplified by Tezuka Osamu’s manga/anime (e.g., Astro Boy) and Studio Ghibli’s anime (e.g., Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirted Away), many narratives explore Otherness and the quest for a sense of self which, to me, is indicative of the resilience of human individuals.
Why did you decide to conduct this research?
The core concern of my research interests, both personally and scholarly, lies in identity issues, particularly, how profoundly individual identity can be dictated by, as well as arise out of struggles with, social pressures for conformity in each given situation, and how deeply that alienates the vulnerable from themselves and others. In such societies, the vulnerable are often forced to remain invisible. In the last three decades in Japan, the gap between the poor and wealthy has widened and created a vicious spiral of poverty, increasing the silence of victims such as hikikomori (social withdrawal), the jobless and working poor, as well as the Fukushima nuclear disaster exacerbating already handicapped situations for adequate social responses. Although a lot of wonderful, heartfelt experiences have been told, many victims are left to struggling. The incident and subsequent events are very complicated and ambiguous and difficult to articulate. Fiction, manga in particular, enables us to obtain detailed information and experience the situation from an individual’s perspective thereby providing insight, contemplative engagement and encouragement.
At what stage is the research at?
My research into manga, anime, novels and social issues has been ongoing for years, however, my most current research focus is on the role of literature in post-Fukushima Japan, which is still at a very early stage. This research is related to my interest in youth culture in Japan, which progressed towards real and pressing issues, such as poverty and inequality as experienced in current Japanese society. In a way, my research is moving from fictional thematics to representations of real socio-cultural issues, especially victimhood.
Are you applying any pioneering approaches/innovative methodologies in your research?
My approach to the text is to examine the role, ability and resilience of literature as a shared form of activism. The use of manga and anime for research and teaching could be said to be pioneering. My teaching is always closely connected to my research. I am very fortunate to be able to develop and teach several manga units including “JPS124: Manga and Japanese Contemporary Culture" and "JPS324: Manga and anime as Global Imagery,” with strong support of my colleague Jason Davis and our undergraduate students. Manga and anime have become recognized and used as rich and relevant resources in university courses, however, I think courses like ours are extremely rare.
For that, I try to capture the texts from multiple levels and angles (e.g., objective/ subjective, micro/macro) with particular focus on social contexts to perceive the depth, breadth, complexity and ambiguity of the issues.
What benefits does your research provide to the community?
I would be very happy if I can make some contribution to the community by broadening the capacity for insight into people’s lives and their relationships with their surroundings, and somehow break down barriers between and within people and cultures through my research. Various recent phenomena such as cyber bullying seem to indicate increasing similarities between social issues within and outside of Japan. Manga/anime’s global popularity also suggests the opportunities for growing shared cultures across countries. My research on Japanese texts and youth cultures has the potential to be relevant to those in other countries such as Australia. I would also be happy if I can inspire students to investigate these issues themselves through my research and teaching as I am also often inspired by them. In addition, I am concerned about Japanese inwardness, so by using Japanese material in my publications, I aspire to make more non-Japanese people aware of how valuable Japanese artistic and scholarly works are.
Which of the University’s future shaping research priorities does your project align to?
My research is generally related to Japan and is thus cultural-specific. However, the focused aspects of it are more universal as they involve human lives and their surroundings, including self and others in relation to both tangible and intangible environment (e.g., Nature, advanced technology). Manga as well as Japanese novels are for all ages and recently manga has started to feature inspiring stories involving characters with disabilities as well as the acutely Japanese inter-generational issue of an aging population. Therefore, my research could align to Healthy people, Resilient Societies, Secure Planet and Innovative Technologies.
Dr Bryce's research interests include second language learning, children's literature and anime and manga as popular cultural expressions of contemporary Japanese life. She is the author of more than 30 articles and book chapters on topics ranging from the teaching and learning of Japanese as a second language, to children's literature, to anime and manga as integral to youth identity and youth cultures.
Dr Bryce is currently undertaking research on Japan's pressing social issues such as youth poverty and hardships in the post Great East Earthquake of 2011.
To gain more insight into her research on manga and anime, we asked Dr Mio Bryce a few questions.
What is your current research project about?
My most current work is focused on narratives concerning the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 in order to examine the role fiction can have in generating social activism. Fictional narratives, such as those of manga in particular, have the power to create a liminal space wherein controversial issues can be vividly revealed and hence provide emotional immediacy that encourages readers to explore the issues more freely and holistically. Many shōjo (girl) manga since 1970s demonstrate such narrative power, exposing confrontational social issues such as gender discrimination, sexual abuse, child abuse, collective bullying (ijime), poverty, illness, suicide and environmental issues (e.g., pollution). As exemplified by Tezuka Osamu’s manga/anime (e.g., Astro Boy) and Studio Ghibli’s anime (e.g., Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirted Away), many narratives explore Otherness and the quest for a sense of self which, to me, is indicative of the resilience of human individuals.
Why did you decide to conduct this research?
The core concern of my research interests, both personally and scholarly, lies in identity issues, particularly, how profoundly individual identity can be dictated by, as well as arise out of struggles with, social pressures for conformity in each given situation, and how deeply that alienates the vulnerable from themselves and others. In such societies, the vulnerable are often forced to remain invisible. In the last three decades in Japan, the gap between the poor and wealthy has widened and created a vicious spiral of poverty, increasing the silence of victims such as hikikomori (social withdrawal), the jobless and working poor, as well as the Fukushima nuclear disaster exacerbating already handicapped situations for adequate social responses. Although a lot of wonderful, heartfelt experiences have been told, many victims are left to struggling. The incident and subsequent events are very complicated and ambiguous and difficult to articulate. Fiction, manga in particular, enables us to obtain detailed information and experience the situation from an individual’s perspective thereby providing insight, contemplative engagement and encouragement.
At what stage is the research at?
My research into manga, anime, novels and social issues has been ongoing for years, however, my most current research focus is on the role of literature in post-Fukushima Japan, which is still at a very early stage. This research is related to my interest in youth culture in Japan, which progressed towards real and pressing issues, such as poverty and inequality as experienced in current Japanese society. In a way, my research is moving from fictional thematics to representations of real socio-cultural issues, especially victimhood.
Are you applying any pioneering approaches/innovative methodologies in your research?
My approach to the text is to examine the role, ability and resilience of literature as a shared form of activism. The use of manga and anime for research and teaching could be said to be pioneering. My teaching is always closely connected to my research. I am very fortunate to be able to develop and teach several manga units including “JPS124: Manga and Japanese Contemporary Culture" and "JPS324: Manga and anime as Global Imagery,” with strong support of my colleague Jason Davis and our undergraduate students. Manga and anime have become recognized and used as rich and relevant resources in university courses, however, I think courses like ours are extremely rare.
For that, I try to capture the texts from multiple levels and angles (e.g., objective/ subjective, micro/macro) with particular focus on social contexts to perceive the depth, breadth, complexity and ambiguity of the issues.
What benefits does your research provide to the community?
I would be very happy if I can make some contribution to the community by broadening the capacity for insight into people’s lives and their relationships with their surroundings, and somehow break down barriers between and within people and cultures through my research. Various recent phenomena such as cyber bullying seem to indicate increasing similarities between social issues within and outside of Japan. Manga/anime’s global popularity also suggests the opportunities for growing shared cultures across countries. My research on Japanese texts and youth cultures has the potential to be relevant to those in other countries such as Australia. I would also be happy if I can inspire students to investigate these issues themselves through my research and teaching as I am also often inspired by them. In addition, I am concerned about Japanese inwardness, so by using Japanese material in my publications, I aspire to make more non-Japanese people aware of how valuable Japanese artistic and scholarly works are.
Which of the University’s future shaping research priorities does your project align to?
My research is generally related to Japan and is thus cultural-specific. However, the focused aspects of it are more universal as they involve human lives and their surroundings, including self and others in relation to both tangible and intangible environment (e.g., Nature, advanced technology). Manga as well as Japanese novels are for all ages and recently manga has started to feature inspiring stories involving characters with disabilities as well as the acutely Japanese inter-generational issue of an aging population. Therefore, my research could align to Healthy people, Resilient Societies, Secure Planet and Innovative Technologies.
