Using Anime as a Teaching Tool in US Undergraduate Courses

Visual forms of pop-culture such as anime (Japanese animation), TV drama, manga, and video games have become the primary motives for US undergraduate students to take Japanese language and culture courses. Using these pop-culture materials as teaching tools attracts students and creates a fun learning environment. However, the persistent preconception of these visual forms as mere entertainment causes the instructors to face various challenges when these courses are implemented in a higher education institution. This paper discusses how we can use visual forms of pop culture, especially anime, as an effective teaching tool in academics and utilize them to attract students to Japan-related courses. To understand students ’ motivation and attraction, an anime survey was conducted and the results are presented. Furthermore, based upon my successes and difficulties in using anime to teach US undergraduate students are also analyzed based on student comments on the course evaluations