Ito, Kinko

Dr. Kinko Ito is a Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Dr. Ito holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

A SOCIOLOGY OF JAPANESE LADIES’ COMICS Images of the Life, Loves, and Sexual Fantasies of Adult Japanese Women

2011 0-7734-1420-7
This work is a book about the history, content, and functions of ladies’ comics, the most recent addition to the modern comics in Japan. This book employs the methodology of visual sociology which uses imagery as a source of data and material for analysis. It describes Japanese ladies’ comics’ unique history and explores how love and sexuality of Japanese women is depicted as a reflection of their everyday life.

Being a significant part of Japanese popular culture, manga (Japanese comics) as texts can be an extremely important subject matter for sociology, especially visual sociology, comparative cultural studies, Gender Studies, and anthropology. This book will contribute to the understanding of Japanese social reality, current social issues, and sexuality of adult women through the analysis of ladies’ comics.

There are academics who have written books on manga for the general reader. However, there exist few books for English readers specifically on Japanese ladies’ comics with a sociological orientation. This book can be used at many universities by scholars of Japanese studies and possibly by students in courses on popular culture, visual sociology, Asian Studies, International Studies, Gender Studies, and anthropology.