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Open research questions in Asian Culture and Media Studies

58 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 2,230 Asian Culture and Media Studies papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • 10043 Published online by Cambridge University Press 208 Ayumi Inouchi historically recurrent feminization of Korea in representations in Japan needs to be further examined.

    Koreaish: Aesthetics, Qualia, and the Sensory Emergence of Korea Among Young Japanese Women · 2026 · DOI

  • Future Research Prospects Given the limitations of this study, future research can be expanded and deepened from multiple dimensions to improve the empirical research framework in this field. Second, the quantitative analysis dimensions are insufficiently comprehensive; the study solely conducted statistical analyses on content themes, titles, hashtags, and high-frequency keywords, without systematically quantifying audience comment sentiment long-term dissemination resulting in inadequate precision in evaluating effective cross-cultural metrics, or content conversion rates, communication outcomes.

    A Study on Cross-Cultural Communication in Chinese Influencers' India-Themed Short Video Accounts —A Case Study of the Top 10 Accounts on Douyin and Kuaishou · 2026 · DOI

  • in This study takes the writer Xuemo as a typical case to analyze the geographical characteristics and reception process of contemporary Chinese literature in its overseas dissemination. The research reveals a notable pattern of “geographical its propagation: differentiated dissemination models— adaptability” academically-oriented, market-community collaborative, cultural affinity-driven, and project-linked—have been formed in response to Europe’s academic tradition, North America’s market and community ecology, the cultural affinity in East and Southeast Asia, and the project-driven environment in South and Central Asia, respectively. The reception effectiveness is profoundly constrained by the complex interaction of multiple factors, including cultural-psychological distance, strategies of dissemination agents, the quality of cross-cultural textual transference, and the institutional environment of the target regions. This demonstrates that effective literary cross-cultural communication is not the replication of a single model but rather a process of strategic configuration and adjustment based on a deep logic. The global journey of understanding of the target region’s cultural contemporary Chinese literature is a long-term undertaking that requires cultural insight, strategic patience, and ecological thinking. The cross-cultural journey of Xuemo’s works provides an enlightening case study in this regard. The experiences and reflections drawn from it will contribute to exploring more effective and sustainable dissemination pathways.

    Geographical Characteristics and Reception Process of Overseas Dissemination of Contemporary Chinese Literature: A Case Study of Xuemo’s Works · 2026 · DOI

  • 4 Industry synergy: creating a closed-loop cities, limiting its generalizability; user behavior may “Online Traffic - Offline Conversion - Content deviate from reality, raising questions about the Feedback” system authenticity of online data; a 12-month observation Online traffic strategies should fully leverage period is insufficient to assess the long-term effects each platform's strengths.

    “Cultural Healing” in Virtual Spaces: A Netnographic Study of Generation Z's Participation in the Transformation of Tongcheng School Culture's Therapeutic Value—Based on Anqing's Online Revitalization Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage · 2026 · DOI

  • Despite its deep insights, this has procedural and contextbased limitations. In particular, the findings are derived from a single regional case study (Gansu Province, China), which may influence the contextual applicability of the results. The research selected seven participants, providing an the understanding, although not an evocative one, of phenomena. It depends on upcoming studies to determine how tourists, policy they expand administrators, a triangular division among content producers, viewers, and regulatory authorities. Incorporating methods and designs that unite qualitative interviews with social media analytics would bolster the validity of this study (Hennink and Kaiser, 2022). sample to algorithm include engineers, establishing the and destinations may be shaped by regional media ecosystems, cultural contexts, and platform governance structures.

    Emotional storytelling and destination branding through short video journalism: a qualitative study of Gansu, China · 2026 · DOI

  • This study has several limitations, mainly related to the use of social media data. The data is drawn from users who ac- tively post comments, which may not accurately represent the broader user base or the general population (Inara Rodis 2021). Those who express their views online may tend to have more liberal, individualistic attitudes, potentially skew- ing our conclusions toward a more pessimistic view of repro- duction. Therefore, the findings reflect only the content pub- licly discussed on these platforms and should not be gener- alized to the overall population in these countries. However, we still consider this analysis important as the information left by potentially highly selective user groups remains to be consumed by all users on social media platforms and can have a great impact on the general public who spend increas- ingly more time online. Additionally, we lack information about the commenters’ personal details, such as their gen- der and age, apart from their provincial-level geolocation in China. This limits our ability to analyze how gender and age dynamics influence the discourse. However, according to the TikTok business report, we know that the majority of users are young and of prime childbearing age. The second limi- tation is that the IP geolocation data on Douyin is limited to the provincial level within China. Considering the huge pop- ulation size of each province, subtle regional differences that play a role in shaping public discourse might be overlooked. Finally, while the use of LLMs offers more nuanced labels with the complex sentiments embedded in these discussions, LLMs are known to produce different results each time they perform the task, which can hinder replication. Notably, the same issue exists for human annotators, and the performance stability of the LLM, in terms of accuracy level, is good in our case. Nevertheless, although LLM accuracy is high and comparable across the three languages, residual language- specific bias cannot be entirely excluded. CONCLUSIONS Online discussions about childbirth and parenthood focus on childrearing costs, the utility of children, and tensions between individualistic values and traditional family and gender norms. Notable country differences emerge, with comments from China reflecting the highest levels of anti- natalism and significant concerns about income and child- rearing costs. Views in Japan and South Korea are more bal- anced. Additionally, sentiment in comments is influenced by various short video characteristics, with its stance pos- ing the strongest impact. Comments from areas with higher economic development and gender equality also show more neutral or pro-natalist sentiments. These insights offer an important contribution to the field of social media analysis, particularly in understanding the formulation and spread- ing of views towards childbirth and parenthood on an algorithmic-led video sharing platform. ETHICAL STATEMENT Data is from publicly avail- able platforms. We removed user names and stored the link to short videos separately. Regarding the provincial-level geo-location information for Chinese comments, given that even the smallest province has at least one million peo- ple, it is unlikely that the universal disclosure of users’ IP geo-location will enable the identification users. All data re- mained anonymous with a 10% random sample published in our repository with three variables–comments, topic label, and sentiment label. This project is approved by our Institu- tional Review Board (IRB XXXX).

    Unpacking Discourses on Childbirth and Parenthood in Popular Social Media Platforms Across China, Japan, and South Korea · 2026 · DOI

  • Additionally, facilitating strategic partnerships between Korean brands and local businesses through business incentive policies would broaden Indonesia's popular culture- based creative industry ecosystem and create opportunities for domestic products to compete in the fast-growing merchandise market Research Limitations In order to inform future research, it is important to recognize the limitations of this study.

    The Influence of Lifestyle, Korean Wave, and Brand Image on Merchandise Purchase Decisions at Kwangya Café (Case Study: Lotte Shopping Avenue, South Jakarta)” · 2026 · DOI

  • Their responsiveness to their domestic industries and audiences, and willingness to implement a range of strategies in their producing, means the labels of "McTheatre" (Rebellato 39) and "Broadway-style" (Savran), introduced by Dan Rebellato and David Savran to discuss trends in musical theatre outside the Anglophone world, are insufficient descriptors of each woman's portfolio of productions.

    "A New Path to the Future": Women Producers of Border-Crossing Musical Theatre in Japan, South Korea, and China · 2023 · DOI

  • This article addresses this gap in literature and explores the ways in which Zhang Ziyi has reinvented her image using emerging media practices, including making use of television genres, Weibo entries, and WeChat public accounts.

    Crossover stardom on small screens: the case of Zhang Ziyi · 2022 · DOI

  • While direct interconnections between the punk scenes of China and Indonesia are relatively sparse, this exercise in comparative analysis grounds the locally lived experience of punk in a "global punk" framing, which is essential to understanding punk cultural production, activism, and resistance in these "other" punk places.

    Punk Activism and Its Repression in China and Indonesia: Decolonizing "Global Punk" · 2022 · DOI

  • The global diffusion of #MeToo has sparked case studies and scholarly discussions (Fileborn and Loney-Howes 2019; Lee and Murdie 2020; Noel and Oppenheimer 2020), but the East Asian experience remains understudied, especially from a comparative perspective within and outside the region.

    #MeToo in East Asia: The Politics of Speaking Out · 2021 · DOI

  • This article, by comparing “Diors image” in Chinese Diors series with “loser image” in western loser series, the typical post-modern visual image, takes the post-modern context as the focal point and makes a further study of “Diors culture” or “loser culture”, which is formed in the phenomenon of post-modern culture, and thus explores narrative ethics and ethical values in post-modern visual culture.

    Narrative Ethics of Post-Modern Visual Culture between Chinese “Diors Series” and Western “Loser Series” in Comparative Perspective · 2019 · DOI

  • Then, in consideration of this point, what do we really know about Korean communication at the moment? Communication, Digital Media, and Popular Culture in Korea: Contemporary Research and Future Prospects aims to offer an in-depth answer to that question for readers who would like to know about what has been examined so far and what remains to be explored further in the scholarship of Korean communication, Korean Studies © 2020 by University of Hawai‘i Press.

    Communication, Digital Media, and Popular Culture in Korea: Contemporary Research and Future Prospects, edited by Dal Yong Jin and Nojin Kwak. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018. 532 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4985-6203-4. $140.00 hardback. · 2019 · DOI

  • Using “refraction” as a mode of thinking about inter-Asian circulation of pop culture, this essay considers the flash mob performed in Dhaka, Bangladesh as an important yet underexplored case study that shows different performative practices associated with “Gangnam Style” deeply rooted in historicity of colonialism and nationalism.

    “Gangnam Style” in Dhaka and inter-Asian refraction · 2018 · DOI

  • This article investigates the discourse of masculinity in contemporary Chinese popular culture by critical readings of TV drama serials ( dianshi lianxuju), a crucial and underresearched site for the study of ideology, shown on prime-time national channels in recent years (2003—2007).

    Chinese Masculinities Revisited: Male Images in Contemporary Television Drama Serials · 2010 · DOI

  • It remains to be seen, however, if this would set a precedence to protesters in future WTO rounds as they are keen to mobilize their causes in different locales.

    <i>Daejanggeum</i>as ‘affective mobilization’: lessons for (transnational) popular culture and civil society · 2009 · DOI

  • Before 1997 a number of social, political and academic movements combined to present a more negative image of luuk tung (Thai country music) than was warranted and as a result, the genre was understudied.

    Sorapet Pinyoo and the status of<i>pleeng luuk tung</i> · 2009 · DOI

  • Our hope is that this collection will encourage further research on Korean popular culture within sociolinguistics and lin- guistic anthropology, and conversely, that it will invite scholars of media and cultural studies to engage more deeply with linguistic and semiotic approaches.

    From Global Expansion to Localization: Recontextualization of the Korean Wave · 2026 · DOI

  • K-pop concert tourism has grown rapidly in Malaysia, yet the psychological mechanisms shaping fans’ concert experiences remain insufficiently understood.

    Driven by fandom: how fan motivation shapes K-pop concert experiences in Malaysia · 2026

  • Scholarly inquiry into how diasporas construct cultural and gendered identities via social media remains scarce, particularly within dance, a medium embodying the dialectics of gender, diplomacy, and national identity.

    Dancing Diplomacy in the Digital Era: A Qualitative Content Analysis of @ktti.kbriseoul’s Cultural Narratives · 2026 · DOI

  • The broader impact and reach of fanbase support activities (streaming, voting, donations) on the idol's actual career outcomes is not empirically validated.

    Interaction and Support from Haechan NCT Fans Through the Fanbase Instagram Account @Haechanoonaa · 2026 · DOI

  • The research does not explore differences in engagement patterns, symbolic interpretation, or participation levels across different demographic segments of the fanbase (age, nationality, tenure as fan).

    Interaction and Support from Haechan NCT Fans Through the Fanbase Instagram Account @Haechanoonaa · 2026 · DOI

  • The study does not examine potential negative aspects or conflicts within the fanbase community, such as toxic behavior, gatekeeping, or disagreements among followers.

    Interaction and Support from Haechan NCT Fans Through the Fanbase Instagram Account @Haechanoonaa · 2026 · DOI

  • The limited research on pornography represents a critical omission given the widespread popularity of such content among the global youth and the imperative to comprehend the migration patterns of problematic or illicit cultural production across borders.

    Uncovering the Migration of Illicit Cultural Production: a Digital Ethnography of the jav Industry and Fan Communities in China · 2025 · DOI

  • Future research should explore emerging digital platforms, conduct cross-cultural comparisons and employ mixed-methods approaches to further understand the complexities of sports-related nationalism.

    Digital nationalism: analyzing the role of sports in Thai identity through social media · 2025 · DOI

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58 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 2,230 Asian Culture and Media Studies papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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