RS 123Monsters and Magic in Japanese Popular Culture

Units: 0.50
Faculty: Arts
Subject: Religious Studies
Cross-listed: EASIA 120R

Not in the current Undergraduate Calendar. Shown as it appeared in 2024–25.

When it runs

Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

An examination of the roles played by monsters, magic, and supernatural creatures in Japanese popular culture, with attention to their treatment in Buddhism, Shinto, Daoism, and folk practices. Topics include modern-day creations such as Godzilla and Pokemon and traditional beings such as deities, ghosts, angry spirits, goblins, and shapeshifters.

Prerequisites

None listed.

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it50% easy100% useful

From 4 ratings and 1 comment on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

By far one of the best courses I have taken at Waterloo. Dr. Wilson created an engaging course, each class builds off of each other as we engaged with the material. The readings and in class viewings of tv shows were excellent, and the evaluations we were assigned were very helpful in preparing you for the following essay or analysis. I found the sequence of topics intuitive and thoughtful. I learned a lot from this course, way more than I thought I would do. As a first year course, I highly recommend it just so you have chance to build skills that will serve you later in other courses.

Nov 2022 · liked itOn UW Flow Remove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

2 posts and comments in 2 threads mention RS 123, September 2016 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Winter 2017

Jan 4, 2017 EASIA 120R/RS 123 1 point, 2 comments

u/sabariesanp: “Has anyone taken the monsters in japanese culture class with Jeff Wilson? What's the marking scheme like, is it easy?”

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Fall 2016

Sep 15, 2016 Anyone here taken RS 123? 2 points, 1 comment

u/LazyGamerATN: “I randomly found it while looking for electives. It's titled "Monsters and Magic in Japanese Popular Culture". As someone who enjoys anime and manga, it seems interesting, but since it's a Religious Studies course I wanted to find some other opinions.”