EAJ 384/ HIS 384

History of Japan I

Fall 2007, Call #8428

Instructor: Prof. David Eason

Class Meetings: MWF 11:30-12:25pm, Humanities Room #123

Office Hours: MWF 10:30-11:30am and by appointment

Office: Humanities 254D

Phone: TBA

Email: TBA

Overview

This course provides an overview of Japanese history spanning from the earliest known human settlements on the archipelago up until the year 1600. The major goals of the class include providing students with a basic background in Japanese history, particularly the many unique social, intellectual, and institutional developments that characterize this dynamic period. The transition from centralized aristocratic rule to a system of authority involving warriors, the court and major temple complexes will be explored in depth, as will the issue of ongoing contacts between Japan and the rest of the world.

Required Texts

Hane, Mikiso. Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey. Boulder, CO: Westview Press,

1991.

McCullough, Helen Craig. Genji and Heike: Selections from the ‘Tale of Genji’ and

the ‘Tale of Heike.’ Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994.

Berry, Mary Elizabeth. The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto. Berkeley, CA: University

of California Press, 1997.

l Please note that all other required readings will be made available via the library’s Electronic Reserve.

General Education Credit

This course fulfills the general education category for Regions Beyond Europe: Such courses “focus on specific cultures (other than those of the United States and Europe) or the world’s regions. Courses emphasize the features and processes whereby cultures and regions gain their specific identity. Approved courses will offer an explicitly historical organization, and will balance topic focus with chronological breadth. Courses may also engage students in considerations of the ‘local’ as opposed to the ‘global.’”

Course Requirements

Map Quiz – 5%

Reading Quizzes – 5%

Class Participation – 10%

First Paper (4-5 pages) – 15%

Second Paper (5-6 pages) – 20%

In-Class Midterm – 20%

In-Class Final – 25%

l Note that attendance is mandatory and will be taken on a regular basis. Unannounced reading quizzes will be given periodically to make certain that everyone is keeping up with the assigned reading. Please be aware that neither the map quiz nor subsequent reading quizzes can be made up in the case of an unexcused absence.

Grading Policies and Guidelines

1) Letter grades are assigned in accordance with the following scale:

93-100=A; 92-90=A-; 87-89=B+; 83-86=B; 80-82=B-; 77-79=C+; 73-76=C; 70-72=C-; 67-69=D+; 63-66=D; 60-62=D-; 0-59=E.

Work not turned in will be counted as a zero (0).

2) Late papers will be marked down a grade for each day late (i.e. an “A” paper turned in two days late will become a “B+”).

3) There is no extra credit offered for this course.

4) “Incompletes” will only be given in the case of an emergency (sudden death in the family, serious illness) and require thorough documentation.

5) Plagiarism is a serious offense. Students who use the words and ideas of others in their written work without providing citations to the original source will be

given a zero (0) for the assignment and may face other, more extensive forms of disciplinary action for having committed academic dishonesty.

Class Schedule

l All assigned readings are listed on the right-hand side of the schedule below.

T designates material contained in one of the required texts

ER indicates material that is available through the library’s Electronic Reserve

Week #1 – Beginnings

8/27 Mon. Introduction and Methodology ER Kojiki, pp. 17-27, 71-78

8/29 Wed. Basic Geography, Creation Myths ER Kaner, “Beyond Ethnicity and

8/31 Fri. Earliest Archeological Evidence Emergence in Japan,” pp. 46-59

Week #2 – Prehistory and the Archeological Record

9/3 Mon. No Class T Hane, pp. 5-24

9/5 Wed. People and Pottery of the Jomon Period ER Farris, Sacred Texts and

9/7 Fri. Transitioning to the Yayoi Period Buried Treasure, pp. 9-54

Week #3 – Earliest Recorded History

9/10 Mon. Chinese Models and The Yamato Polity T Hane, pp. 25-43

9/12 Wed. The Introduction of Buddhism {Map Quiz} ER DeBary, “Nara Buddhism,”

9/14 Fri. No Class pp. 100-121

T McCullough, pp.

Week #4 – Nara and the Early Heian Period

9/17 Mon. Temples and Tribute T McCullough, pp.

9/19 Wed. Purity and Pollution ER Naumann, “The State Cult of

9/21 Fri. Relocating the Capital the Nara and Early Heian

Periods,” pp. 47-67

Week #5 – The Heyday of Heian-kyô

9/24 Mon. An Overview of Courtier Culture T Hane, pp. 44-60

9/26 Wed. Advancement, Factionalism and the Fujiwara T McCullough, pp.

9/28 Fri. Finance, Revenue and the Provinces

Week #6 – The Rise of the Warriors

10/1 Mon. Frontier Wars and Rebellion T McCullough, pp.

10/3 Wed. The Taira and the Minamoto

10/5 Fri. The Genpei War

Week #7 – The Early Kamakura Period

10/8 Mon. Jito, Shugo and Shôen T Hane, pp. 61-85

10/10 Wed. Kamakura “Justice” ER Dobbins, “Envisioning Kama-

10/12 Fri. Kamakura Buddhism {First Paper Due} kura Buddhism,” pp. 24-42

Week #8 – Reforms and Unrest

10/15 Mon. Mongol Invasions and the Kamikaze ER Ishii, “The Decline of the

10/17 Wed. The Short-lived Kenmu Restoration Kamakura Bakufu,” pp. 44-90

10/19 Fri. In-Class Midterm

Week #9 – The Uneasy Ashikaga Years

10/22 Mon. Two Courts T Hane, pp. 86-110

10/24 Wed. Warfare in the Fourteenth Century ER Conlan, State of War,

10/26 Fri. Warriors, Temples and the Nobility pp. 12-47

Week #10 – The Height of Ashikaga Rule

10/29 Mon. Yoshimitsu, “King of Japan” ER Varley, “Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

10/31 Wed. Poets, Painters and Playrights and the World of Kitayama,”

11/2 Fri. Drama and Social Critique pp. 183-204

Week #11 – An Age of Transition

11/5 Mon. Assassinations and Provincial Upheavals T Berry, pp. 11-54

11/7 Wed. The Ônin War ER Davis, “Ikki in Late Medieval

11/9 Fri. Daimyo and Defensive Leagues Japan,” pp. 221-47

Week #12 – Daily Life in the Early Sixteenth Century

11/12 Mon. Proprietors, Villagers and Local Warriors T Berry, pp. 106-70

11/14 Wed. The Urban Landscape ER Tonomura, “Forging the Past,”

11/16 Fri. Disputes in an Age of War pp. 69-96

Week #13 – The Sengoku Daimyo Takes Center Stage

11/19 Mon. The Four-Stage Daimyo Model ER Hall, “Foundations of the

11/21 Wed. No Class Modern Japanese Daimyo,”

11/23 Fri. No Class pp. 65-77.

Week #14 – “The Three Unifiers”

11/26 Mon. Oda Nobunaga, “Anti-Buddhist Demon” T Hane, pp. 111-29

11/28 Wed. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, “The Monkey Regent”

11/30 Fri. Tokugawa Ieyasu, “The Old Badger” {Second Paper Due}

Week #15 – Arriving at the Year 1600

12/3 Mon. Sekigahara and Tokugawa Hegemony ER Ooms, Tokugawa Ideology,

12/5 Wed. Looking Forward and Looking Back pp. 18-62

Final Exam: Monday, December 17, from 10:30-12:30pm in Humanities 123