naiwa 2026-04-18

The iconic genre becomes a subject of systematic academic study for the first time in the university's history.



Tokyo's Keio University — one of Asia's oldest private universities, founded in 1858 and ranked in the global QS top 220 — is launching a fundamentally new academic course. The discipline titled “Anime and the World” will begin in April 2026 as part of the spring semester at the Mita campus: classes will be available to 500 undergraduates. The course is implemented by the X Dignity Center of Keio’s Global Research Institute in collaboration with Netflix.The academic program is structured around several key themes. Students will explore the global economic and cultural impact of anime, its historical narratives — particularly the depiction of World War II and the Cold War — as well as the genre’s connection to the “soft power” of states and international cultural diplomacy. Special lecture blocks will focus on how anime is perceived in Latin America and Asian countries, and on the collaborative creativity between Japanese authors and the global fandom.The course instructors are practitioners from the anime industry and experts in international communications. The university positions anime as a “common language” capable of uniting representatives of different cultures and generations, aiming to train specialists ready to apply this knowledge professionally.