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The plan highlights the film’s significance as an early work incorporating accurate JSL, while also addressing critiques from Deaf people and concerns about problematic gender dynamics. It guides undergraduate discussion through learning objectives, course placement ideas, required materials, content warnings, and structured questions.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-silent-voice-deafness-japanese-sign-language-and-pop-culture-lesson-plan/142634/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-silent-voice-deafness-japanese-sign-language-and-pop-culture-lesson-plan/142634.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Gloria","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-28","2026-08-25",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What makes A Silent Voice an important case study for disability and pop culture discussions?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It combines a Deaf main character with issues of bullying and mental health, and it is among the early Japanese animated works to incorporate accurate Japanese Sign Language. The plan also uses it to discuss how Deafness and disability are represented amid praise and criticism from Deaf perspectives, as well as gender dynamics concerns.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What content warning does the lesson plan include?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The lesson plan warns about depictions of bullying and contemplations of suicide.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What discussion topics does the lesson plan ask students to consider?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Students are prompted to analyze the relationship between the two main characters and how bullying is depicted, evaluate whether deafness is a central or minor theme, examine the portrayal of Japanese Sign Language in both film and manga, and compare visual and narrative depictions of mental health with representations of deafness.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},142634,1787685206,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":143},2336474459895,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000baeef7a5ed0655?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786071322749376916","A Silent Voice: Deafness, Japanese Sign Language, and Pop Culture  \nLesson Plan: A Silent Voice: Deafness, Japanese Sign Language, and Pop Culture  \nCreated by: Andrew Campana, Cornell University  \nCreation date: December 19, 2023  \nKeywords: Anime, Pop Culture, Deafness, Japanese Sign Language  \nA Silent Voice: Deafness, Japanese Sign Language, and Pop Culture  \nTarget Audience:  \nUndergraduate students  \nDuration:  \n1 or 2 class sessions (add one more if the film is screened in class)  \nLearning Objectives:  \nThe 2016 animated film A Silent Voice was quite successful in Japan and received much global attention, particularly for its portrayal of a Deaf main character, as well as issues related to bullying and mental health. It is also one of the first animated Japanese works to incorporate accurate Japanese Sign Language, serving as the first exposure to JSL to many outside of Japan. It is also a fraught work, having been both praised and  \n[08/25/2026 1/5 japanpastandpresent.org](08/25/2026 1/5 japanpastandpresent.org)  \ncriticized for its depictions of Deafness by Deaf people in Japan, as well as its problematic gender dynamics. This makes it an excellent case study to prompt conversations about Deafness and disability in relation to the continued extraordinary global influence of Japanese pop culture (especially anime, manga, and games), as well as the politics of Japanese Sign Language itself and its depictions in media.  \nPotential Courses to Include this Lesson in:  \n Japanese pop culture, anime, film, or media courses  \n Japanese literature courses (especially if also looking at the manga version)  \n Modern Japanese history courses  \n ASL and/or Deaf culture-related courses  \nRequired Materials:  \n A Silent Voice (Koe no katachi), a 2016 animated film directed by Yamada Naoko. Released on Blu Ray/DVD; also digitally rentable on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, etc.  \nContent warning: depictions of bullying and contemplations of suicide.  \nPotential Readings/Viewings:  \nA 6-part YouTube series by DeafJapan TV.  \n A wonderful explanation of all the instances of JSL inA Silent Voice; explanations are in ASL with English subtitles.  \nThe Silent Voice manga, volume 1.  \n Useful if you want to consider questions of adaptation/differences between the experience of the film and the original comic.  \nYuta Kaminishi, \"Inclusive Media Mix: Shaping Communication through A  \n[08/25/2026 2/5 japanpastandpresent.org](08/25/2026 2/5 japanpastandpresent.org)  \nSilent Voice,\" The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies 4 (2023): 1-30.  \n An exploration of the cross-media nature of A Silent Voice—this is the usual content strategy for Japanese pop cultural franchises, but A Silent Voice is distinct in its collaboration \"with actors across the public sector such as schools, local governments, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), to enhance inclusive education in Japan.\"  \nYoshiko Okuyama, \"Portraying Deaf Characters,\" in Reframing Disability in Manga (University of Hawai'i Press, 2020) .  \n An important exploration of Deaf characters in manga, both A Silent Voice and otherwise; delves into the particularities of rendering Deafness and JSL in this medium.  \nKaren Nakamura, \"The Politics of Japanese Sign Language,\" in Deaf in Japan: Signing and the Politics of Identity (Cornell University Press: 2006) .  \n Still the most significant English-language academic work on Deaf communities in Japan and Japanese Sign Language; this chapter provides excellent context for the stakes of sign language and should be read by the instructor even if not assigned for the students. (The rest of the book also offers extremely valuable history of Japan's Deaf communities.)  \nArran Stibbe, \"Disability, Gender, and Power in Japanese Television Drama,\"Japan Forum, vol. 16, no. 1 (2004), pp. 21–36.  \n An excellent article about the portrayal of Deafness and coded femininity in Japanese TV dramas from the 2000s and earlier.  \nBackg","cbCail6A0HEWaZ2l","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCail6A0HEWaZ2l","pdf",105828,"English","# Learning Objectives\n## Why the Film Matters for Pop Culture and Disability Studies\n# Potential Course Placement\n# Required Materials and Content Warning\n# Potential Readings and Viewings\n## Academic and Cross-Media Scholarship\n## Manga and Media Adaptation Considerations\n# Discussion Questions\n## Relationships and Bullying in the Film\n## Sign Language Representation\n## Mental Health Depictions","[{\"question\":\"What makes A Silent Voice an important case study for disability and pop culture discussions?\",\"answer\":\"It combines a Deaf main character with issues of bullying and mental health, and it is among the early Japanese animated works to incorporate accurate Japanese Sign Language. The plan also uses it to discuss how Deafness and disability are represented amid praise and criticism from Deaf perspectives, as well as gender dynamics concerns.\"},{\"question\":\"What content warning does the lesson plan include?\",\"answer\":\"The lesson plan warns about depictions of bullying and contemplations of suicide.\"},{\"question\":\"What discussion topics does the lesson plan ask students to consider?\",\"answer\":\"Students are prompted to analyze the relationship between the two main characters and how bullying is depicted, evaluate whether deafness is a central or minor theme, examine the portrayal of Japanese Sign Language in both film and manga, and compare visual and narrative depictions of mental health with representations of deafness.\"}]","A Silent Voice - Deafness, Japanese Sign Language, and Pop Culture - Lesson Plan | PDF",13]