Modern Japanese writer Unno Jūza 海野十三 (1897-1949) published the story “The Music Bath at Eighteen O’clock” 十八時の音楽浴 ("Jūhachiji no ongakuyoku") in 1937 that envisions a future where the use of science, utopian desires, and dystopian realities intertwine. By examining Unno’s life, the socio-political context of interwar Japan, and reading his story as dystopian fiction, I argue that “Jūhachiji no ongakuyoku” cannot only be interpreted as a propagandist story advocating for scientific progress in militarism; it is also a political satire modeled on 1930s Japan and a cautionary tale. Unno’s dystopia shows us that utopian perfection can never be realized without the devastating loss in human lives, identity, and morality.
On December 6, 2022, the authors convened the first virtual “Intercollegiate Classical Japanese Poetry Contest”—also known as Reiwa yonen sankō jūsanban utaawase 令和四年三校十三番歌合 (Three-Schools Poetry Contest in Thirteen Rounds in the Fourth Year of Reiwa)—between our first-semester students of classical Japanese language (bungo). The contest is shaping up to be an annual event, with sequels involving a new set of institutions held in 2023 and 2024. This paper presents our reflections on this project, including its genesis, its outcomes, and its prospects. In addition to exploring the value of creative composition in classical language education, we argue that such approaches challenge the perception of bungo as “dead,” and we outline the process we undertook to incorporate this particular assignment into coursework and class time. Within the landscape of bungo pedagogy in North America, experimental approaches such as our contest promise to foster community, enrich understanding of bungo, and bolster student interest in classical language and culture.
The writing errors made by second language learners of Japanese often reflect insufficient knowledge of verbs, specifically in choosing appropriate verbs and using them correctly in given contexts. To support these learners, we have been developing a Japanese verb database, Don 動詞どん (www.dondoushidon.org), which explicitly provides information about verb structures, including types of entities expressed by co-occurring elements, their semantic roles, and accompanying particles. To investigate whether having access to such information improves learners’ accuracy in sentence production, we conducted a study with forty-three learners of Japanese using two tools: Don 動詞どん and, for comparison, Jisho (jisho.org). While the former highlights verb structures explicitly, the latter does not. The results showed that participants performed significantly better when using Don 動詞どん. Responses to a post-experiment questionnaire further revealed that learners of Japanese believe that information about verb structures would be helpful for their learning.
Compass Japanese 1 Interactive Workbook and its accompanying Japanese Writing Practice Book for Novice Learners mark an important contribution to Japanese language instruction. Drawing on the Global Competence framework, the workbook integrates reflection, collaboration, and authentic communication into a learner-centered design. With its diverse representation, inclusive visuals, and wide range of interactive tasks, the series encourages students not only to acquire Japanese but also to explore cultural and social themes. While instructors may need to guide learners through some vocabulary and pitch accent nuances, the workbook’s emphasis on inclusivity, creativity, and intercultural awareness makes it a valuable and inspiring resource for novice-level classrooms.
