Dr. Jayson Makoto Chun is a Professor of History at the University of Hawaii – West O‘ahu, where he specializes in East Asian popular culture and the transnational history of entertainment across the Asia-Pacific region. His research examines how popular culture crosses borders and connects audiences throughout Asia and beyond. He is the author of A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots?: A Social History of Japanese Television 1953 – 1973, a book on Japanese television and has published articles on J-pop and K-pop. He is the co-editor of The Pop Pacific (https://blog.iias.asia/pop-pacific), a blog dedicated to transnational popular culture
Ph.D. University of Oregon, 2004
M.A. University of California, Santa Barbara, 1993
B.A. Georgetown University, 1989
Fall 2014-Present: Professor, Humanities Division
University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu, Kapolei, HI
Summer 2004-Present: Instructor, Asian Studies Program
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
Fall 2003: Graduate Lecturer, Department of History
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Fall 2002-Spring 2003: Lecturer, Department of History
Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR
- HIST 151 World to 1500
- HIST 152 World since 1500
- HIST 241 Civilizations of Asia
- HIST 243 Asia Cool: Modern Asia & Pop Culture
- HIST 306 History of Southeast Asia
- HIST 311 Chinese Culture
- HIST 312 Modern China
- HIST 318 Asian American History
- HIST 321 Japanese Culture
- HIST 322 Modern Japan
- HIST 325 (crosslisted with BUSA) Asian Economies, Business and Consumers
- HIST 326 Japan Cool: Anime, Manga, and Film
- HIST 328 Modern Korea
- HIST 369 The Pop Pacific: South Korean and Japanese popular music and society
- HUM 300 Humanities Seminar
Chun, Jayson M and Eunbin Suk,"Ambassadors of K-Culture Korean Americans, Korea, and K-pop," The Newsletter 93 Autumn 2022 by International Institute for Asian Studies. https://www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/ambassadors-k-culture-korean-americans-korea-and-k-pop
Chun, Jayson M, “The Pop Pacific: Japanese-American Sojourners and the Development of Japanese Popular Music“, Introducing Japanese Popular Culture. Ed. Alisa Freedman and Toby Slade. New York: Routledge, 2017.
Chun, Jayson M. “Bubble Pop: K-pop stars, fans and gender in America,” Proceedings of Media Text vs. Audience of K-pop, the Mini-Conference Project on Create Asia December 19. Nagoya University, 2016.
“Pro Wrestling and Crying Cowboys: American Influence on Early Japanese Television.” Modernization, Nation-Building, and Television History. Ed.Stewart Anderson and Melissa Chakars. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Chun, Jayson M, “Learning Bushido from Abroad: Japanese Reactions to the Last Samurai.” Japanese Cinema (Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies). Ed. Nikki J. Y. Lee, and Julian Stringer. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Chun, Jayson M, A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots?: A Social History of Japanese Television 1953-1973. New York: Routledge, December 2006.
Chun, Jayson M. "A New Kind of Royalty: The Imperial Marriage in Postwar Japan." Japan Pop! Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture. Ed. Tim Craig. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2000. 222-244.
- Postwar Japanese popular culture and social history
- Korean and Japanese popular music (K-pop and J-pop)
- Japanese anime history
- Media studies
- Modern East Asia
- Asian American and Hawai‘i history
- Using popular culture in the classroom
Chun, Jayson Makoto. "From Spirited Away to Death Note: Kami in Popular Anime." Public lecture presented at JAPAN AND KAMI 4, Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, July 17, 2025. https://youtu.be/D4_DNykyJ2E.
Chun, Jayson. "Japan Cool: Animation and Rise of J-Culture,”" Presentation at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, Kahului, HI, Oct 29, 2022. Recording at https://youtu.be/rNFlMt76gXc.
Chun, Jayson. "Voices of a Relationship Past: BTS, Japan, and the Historical Context of K-Pop in Japan" Presentation at the Third BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference, Seoul, Korea, July 14, 2022.
Chun, Jayson and Eunbin Suk. "The Korean American DNA of K-pop: Korean Americans, Sojourners and the Transpacific Construction of Korean Popular Music" Presentation at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Honolulu, HI, March 25, 2022.
Studied at Hiroshima University and University at Tokyo. Attended language school in Seoul, Korea for a total of 9 weeks, and in Beijing, China for one month.
Coordinator, Asian Studies Certificate.
Advisor Tea Ceremony Club, K-pop Dance Club