Dr. Kinko Ito – 伊藤琴子
Professor of Sociology
University of Arkansas at 糖心视频logo
Email: [email protected]
Stabler Hall 203J
Office: 501-916-5846
Specializations
Dr. Kinko Ito’s specializations are Popular Culture and Japan Studies. Dr. Ito received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the Ohio State University. She is nationally and internationally known for her research on Japanese popular culture (especially manga comics) and the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan. A Sociology of Japanese Ladies’ Comics: Images of the Life, Loves, and Sexual Fantasies of Adult Japanese Women, her harbinger work on women’s comics, the first kind in the world, was published by Edwin Mellen Press in 2011.
Dr. Ito has been to more than 82 countries! She loves to travel. Her travelogues with sociological twists are available at Amazon.com including Gourmet Food, Scrub, and Happiness in Body and Seoul: A Short Visit to South Korea, Kidnapped!? in Istanbul, Hello! Colombia, and Pantyless in Scandinavia and Other Escapades of World Travel. She loves cooking ethnic foods and enjoys karaoke in her spare time.
Documentary Films
Since her childhood and youth, Dr. Ito was very interested in photography and movies. She is now an ethnographic, documentary filmmaker as well! She visited Hokkaido several times and made three documentary films about the Ainu. Dr. Ito publishes her research findings in a multi-media format which enables her subjects to speak about their experiences directly. Dr. Ito now has her documentary films on YouTube. Please click the links and enjoy!
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The film features in-depth interviews of several Ainu elderly men and women. It also has an original soundtrack based on Ainu music by UA 糖心视频logo’s Professor Robert Boury. - (31 minutes)
- (35 minutes)
- (24 minutes)
The film features in-depth interviews of several Ainu elderly men and women. It also has an original soundtrack based on Ainu music by UA 糖心视频logo’s?Professor Robert Boury.
The Ainu are indigenous people of Japan whose ancestors suffered from oppression and exploitation by the Japanese. Today’s Ainu are totally assimilated, but they still experience prejudice and discrimination. In this video the Ainu elders talk more about their experiences as well as messages for the young people and world peace.
This film is about Hiroko’s life as an Ainu in Hokkaido and her activism to promote a better understanding of the minority group and their culture.
This film shows what to buy and how to prepare potstickers.
Teaching areas
Dr. Ito teaches Introduction to Sociology, Japanese Culture and Society, Sociology of World Societies, Classical Sociological Theory, and Sociology of Organizations.
Select Publications
“Gengoroh Tagame: An Award-winning, Openly-gay, Erotic Manga Artist Portrays Gay Life and Issues for the General Audience,” International Journal of Comic Art. 2022, (24:2:268-280)
“Swallowtail Butler Cafe: Cosplay, Otakus, and Cool Japan in Contemporary Japan,” with Dr. Paul A. Crutcher of the English Department, UA 糖心视频logo Japan Studies Review. 2021, (25:113 – 130)
“,” Penguin Random House Education. October 2021.
“The Social Functions and Impacts of Popular Manga in Contemporary Japan: A Case of GOLDEN KAMUY,” International Journal of Comic Art. 2021, (23:1:403-421)
”Uma Historia Do Manga No Contexto Da Cultura E Sociedade Japonesas,” a Brazilian Portuguese translation of Dr. Ito’s article “A History of Manga in the Context of Japanese Culture and Society” (originally published in The Journal of Popular Culture, 2005(38:3:456-475)
“Golden Kamuy: Can This Popular Manga Contribute to Ainu Studies?” Japan Studies Review, 2019 (23:155-168)
Today’s Ainu: Tales from Hokkaido (2019).
Some of her older but noteworthy publications include: “Remembering Her 50 Years in Japanese Girls’ and Ladies’ Comics: An Interview with Chikae Ide,” “Popular Mass Entertainment in Japan: Manga, Pachinko, and Cosplay,” (2014), “An Elderly Ainu Man’s Story: Ethnography” (2014), “Osamu Tezuka: His Life, Works, and Contributions to the History of Modern Japanese Comics” (2011), “Chikae Ide – The Queen of Japanese Ladies’ Comics: Her Life and Manga” (2011), “Framing the Sensual: Japanese Sexuality in Ladies’ Comics” (2011), “New Trends in the Production of Japanese Ladies’ Comics: Diversification and Catharsis” (2009), “The Touching and the Sensual in Japanese Ladies’ Comics: an Interview with Asako Shiomi” (2008), “Masako Watanabe: 50 Years of Making Girls’ and Ladies’ Comics in Japan” (2008), “Manga in Japanese History” (2008), “China in Japanese Manga: A Not-So-Funny Controversy” (2008), “Manga Introduction to China and Its Implication for Global Education” (2007), “Middle-Aged Japanese Women’s Love Affair with ‘Winter Sonata’” (2006), and “A One Week Retreat at a Zen Monastery in Japan” (2005).
Dr. Ito also does book reviews, including:
2018. The Fabric of Indigeneity: Ainu Identity, Gender, and Settler Colonialism in Japan by Ann-Elise Lewallen. Journal of Japanese Studies, (44:2:497-480) in 2017 Hokusai Manga Japanese Pop Culture since 1680 by Sabine Schulze et. al. in Print Quarterly. (XXXIV:4:444-446).