Japanese History III
Winter Term 2004-05
Steele
1st period: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
A History of
Modern Japan 1840s-1940s
Requirements: Students are expected to attend
class regularly. Weekly reading
assignments will be made; usually one article each week. Students are expected to take notes on
readings and lectures. In
addition to the weekly readings, special reading assignments are scheduled for review
and discussion. Two 3-5 page reaction papers are due for each of the discussion
sessions; the reaction papers will
serve as preparation for discussion sessions on for January 19 and February 14.
Details on the reaction papers and discussion classes will be distributed
later. (60 percent of grade). There will be a comprehensive final examination.
(40 percent of grade)
Textbooks:
Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan, Oxford
University Press, 2003. Available in ICU Bookstore (2,996 yen from
amazon.co.jp)
Anne Walthall, ed., The
Human Tradition in Modern Japan, Scholarly Resources
Available in the ICU
Bookstore (1,851 yen from amazon.co.jp)
Kim, Richard, Lost Names:
Scenes from a Korean Boyhood, UC Press, reprint (optional purchase)
Kappa Sennoh, A Boy Named
H, Kondansha International, 1991
(optional purchase)
Other weekly required
readings as noted below
Learning Goals:
1. To
identify the major events, persons and ideas of the history of modern Japan.
2. To
gain an appreciation of primary sources and demonstrate their significance to an
understanding of historical problems.
3. To
apply critical and analytical skills in dealing with historical problems.
4.
To understand the influence
of the past on contemporary events and problems.
In addition, this course has some general liberal learning goals.
As a result of taking this course, students should be able :
1. To
manage information, recognize significance, and synthesize facts, concepts and
principles.
2. To
understand and use organizing principles or key concepts in the social sciences.
3. To
differentiate between facts, opinions and inferences.
4. To
frame questions and develop problem solving skills.
5. To
organize and communicate ideas clearly and concisely through both written and
oral presentations.
Students should all
be aware of the University’s policy on academic integrity (see statement on the
W3 intranet page). Needless to
say, students are expected to maintain the highest standards of responsible
scholarship. No cheating, please! If you are unsure of the meaning of
plagiarism, please consult the instructor.
Schedule
of Lectures and Readings
Dec 8 Introduction: Remember Pearl Harbor Special “video conference” of how
America and Japan justifying expansionism (imperialism) in the prewar period.
We will listen to short talks by ICU and Washington State University graduate
students. This class will be held in ILC 106 (not H-116)
Dec 10 The End of National Seclusion
Dec 13
The Tempo Reforms –
Reading: Walthall, “Nishimiya Hide,” in Human Tradition
Read
about Matsumoto Kisaburo (1826-1892) and his "Living
Dolls" (iki ningyo) -- This article gives much information about
popular culture in mid-19th century Japan. You might also want to take a tour of
the Ryogoku
area, one of the sakariba, or "hot spots" of Edo popular
culture (from Professor Gerald Figal's homepage).
Dec 15 Commodore Perry and the
Opening of Japan
Steele, “Goemon’s New World View,” Alternative Narratives in Modern Japanese History, Routlege, 2003.
Surf
John Dower's "Black Ships
and Samurai" -- from a MIT OpenCourseWare project entitled
"Visualizing Cultures"
Dec 17 Civil War:
Japan in the 1860s
Tour of Yokohama: Picturing
the Other (from Professor Gerald Figal's homepage)
Dec 20
The Meiji Restoration: the View
from Below
Reading: Steele: “Edo in 1868: the View from Below,” Alternative Narratives in Modern Japanese History, Routlege, 2003.
Listen
to the marching music of the imperial army on its way to take over Edo: "Miya
san Miya san"
Dec 22 The Meiji
Revolution
Jan 7 Bunmei Kaika:
the View from Below
A picture is worth 1000 words. View some old photographs of the Bakumatsu-Meiji Period.
Look at the short story by Kanagaki Robun on "The Beefeater." (From Gerald Figal's Electronic Reading list)
Look at the
“Program of Fools” (Baka no bansuke), perhaps compiled by Sada Kyoseki
around 1880.
Jan 12
Political Activism in Rural Japan
Reading: Steele, “The Ishizaka of Notsuda,” in Human Tradition
Jan 14 1890: The New Political System
Read the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, 1889
Take a look at the “Imperial
Rescript on Education”
Jan 17 Video:
Makiko’s New World
Jan 19 Discussion Class: Women
and the “Modernization” of Japan
Readings: Sally Hastings, “Hatoyama Haruko: Ambitious Woman,” in Human Tradition;
Yoko Iwahori, “Jogaku
Zasshi (The Women’s Magazine) and the Construction of the Ideal Wife in
the Mid-Meij Era,” in Gender and Japanese History
3-5 page reaction
paper due as preparation for the discussion; see Women in Modern Japan Project.
Jan 21 1900: Japan and the New Century
A visual
depiction of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1902
Jan 24 The Russo Japanese War and its Aftermath
Readings: Gregory Smits, Jahana Noburu: Okinawan Activist and Scholar,” and Steven Ericson, “Kinoshita Yoshio,” in Human Tradition
See
interesting website on Japanese
War Prints
Jan 26 Anti-Modernism in Modern Japan
Are
you a steam train buff? Here are some photos and information on early
trains in Japan.
Reading: Okakura Kakuzo, “The Spirit of Modern
Art” (Address given to the 1904 St. Louis Exposition); Yanagi Soetsu on Mingei.
Jan 28 The Annexation of Korea 1910
Jan 31 Taisho Democracy: the View from Below
Look
at the Suiheisha Declaration, 1922
Readings: Gail Lee Bernstein,
“Matsuura
Isami,” and Jennifer Robertson, “Yoshiya
Nobuko,” in Human Tradition
Feb 2 Yanagi
Soetsu and the Mingei Movement
Reading; Yanagi,, writings of Korea and Okinawa
Feb 4 1929: The Great Depression and the Road to Militarism
Feb 7 The Nakajima Aircraft Industry: Mitaka and the War Effort
See website "The
Nakajima Aircraft Story" for interesting details about Nakajima
Chikuhei and his airplanes
Readings: Laura Hein, “Takahashi
Masao,” in Human Tradition,
Dower, John, “Sensational
Rumors, Seditious Graffiti, and the Nightmares of the Thought Police,” in
Dower, Japan in War and Peace, New
Press, 1993.
Feb 9 The Great Japan
Co-Prosperity Sphere
Feb 14 Discussion Class: Growing up in Wartime (See Project
Description)
Reading: Richard Kim, Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood.
Kappa Sennoh, A Boy Called H
Tripartite Alliance; Military Secrets; The Founding of the Nation;
Air Raid; The Atomic Bomb; T he Potsdam Declaration Accepted
3-5 page reaction paper due. For information on the reaction
paper, see Lost Name Project.
Feb 16 The Pacific War:
The View from the Trenches and the Shelters
Reading: Reading: Igarashi Yoshikuni, “Yokoi
Shoichi,” in Human Tradition
Allan Tansman, “Misora Hibari,” in Human Tradition
Read
Emperor Hirohito's
Surrender Speech. Listen to the speech (gyokuon
hoso) [Link is at the bottom of the page]
Feb 18 Remember Hiroshima
Feb 21 The Occupation: A New Beginning?
Look
at photographs of Japan
during the Occupation era (John W. Bennett, Doing Photography and Social
Research in the Allied Occupation of Japan, 1948-1951)
Feb 23 The Legacy of the Occupation
For two recent essays on the
relevance of the Occupation of Japan for a potential "occupation" of
Iraq, please read:
Mark Selden and other
concerned scholars: "The
Japanese Model for Iraq Revisited"
John Dower: "A
Warning from History: Don't Expect Democracy in Iraq"
This year's exam will follow
the same format as in previous years. Use the 2000
Exam as a good study guide.
