1 Risk and Potential: Establishing Critical Pedagogy in Japanese Popular Culture Courses Sally McLaren and Alwyn Spies ,QWURGXFWLRQ T his chapter problematizes the teaching of Japanese popular culture through a survey of recent research and by drawing on observations DQG UHﾀHFWLRQV IURP SHUVRQDO H[SHULHQFHV RI WHDFKLQJ LQ D YDULHW\ RI programs and universities. Essentially, we are aiming to explore how research on the teaching of Japanese popular culture can be developed and strengthened. We identify tensions surrounding Japanese studies and Japanese popular culture courses in the academy caused by lingering issues with area studies, as well as the current trend toward teaching and research on “Cool Japan,” which has a propensity to ignore historical, gender, and labor issues and precludes discussions of diversity and dissent inside Japan. Persistent problems with orientalism, self-orientalization (Nihonjinron), and the othering of “exotic” Japan continue to haunt Japanese popular culture programs. We examine and identify risks and potentials, with possible pitfalls, in various ideological and methodological approaches to teaching Japanese popular culture. We also point out that if future discussions of pedagogical methods are to move beyond descriptions RI FRQWHQW ZH DV D ﾀHGJOLQJ DVVRFLDWLRQ RI VFKRODUV RI WHDFKLQJ DQG