EAJ 385 (7751) / HIS 385 (7788)

History of Japan II

Spring 2006

 

Meets TuTh 11:45 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. in Business Administration 130.

 

Associate Professor Anthony DeBlasi

Office: Humanities 210

Phone: 442-5316

E-mail: deblasi@albany.edu

Office hours: TTH 10:00-11:30 a.m. and by appointment.

 

This course is a survey of modern Japanese history. It covers the period from the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate to the present day. The focus is on the interconnections between political, social, and intellectual history during Japan’s emergence as a world power.

 

Texts available for purchase at the campus bookstore and Mary Jane Books:

Hane, Mikiso. Modern Japan: A Historical Survey. 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001.

Keene, Donald, tr. Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu. New York: Columbia University Press. 1961.

Katsu, Kokichi. Musui’s Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai. Reprint. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 1991.

Natsume, Sōseki. Botchan. New York: Kodansha America. 1972.

Takeyama, Michio. Harp of Burma. Trans. Howard Hibbett. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, Inc. 1966.

 

Requirements:

This is a course that makes use of various methods to help you acquire knowledge of modern Japanese history. In addition to lectures, there are periodic discussions of assigned readings. Because I believe firmly that writing sharpens our thinking and ability to analyze complex phenomena, there is a required research paper. There will also be an in-class midterm and a cumulative final examination. Quizzes will help you gauge your mastery of the reading material.

 

Attendance is required at all lectures and discussions. You are responsible for any material covered in class. This includes class announcements as well as handouts. Missing a class (even if excused) is not a justification for not knowing what went on in class while you were out. Feel free to ask me if you are uncertain about whether you missed anything.

 

The graded assignments (see grading policies below) are weighted in your final grade as follows:

Midterm Examination                                                    20%

Research Paper (10 pages)                                           30%

Final Examination                                                          30%

Map Quiz                                                                       5%

Reading Quizzes                                                             5%

Class Participation                                                        10%

(Examination essay questions and an identification term list will be distributed prior to the final examination).

Grading policies:

Please note the following policies:

1. Letter grades are assigned according to the following scale: A=93-100, A-=90-92, B+=87-89, B=83-86, B-=80-82, C+=77-79, C=73-76, C-=70-72, D+=67-69, D=63-66, D-=60-62, E=less than 60. Please note that work never turned in counts as a zero (0).

2. Late papers lose one grade step for each day late (thus a B+ that is two days late receives a B-).

3. I do not give make-up quizzes unless you have an acceptable and documented excuse (for example, a medical excuse signed by a physician).

4. I will not consider requests for incompletes without a clearly documented and acceptable reason.

5. Plagiarism is taking (which includes purchasing) the words or ideas of another and passing them off as one's own work.  If in a formal paper a student quotes someone, that student must use quotation marks and give a citation.  Paraphrased or borrowed ideas are to be identified by proper citations.  Plagiarism will result, at the minimum, in a zero (0) for the assignment.

 

General Education:

This course fulfills the “Regions Beyond Europe” General Education category. In addition to other, specific course goals, Regions Beyond Europe courses have the following learning objectives. To get the most out of your General Education experience, you should make a determined effort to accomplish them.

 

Courses in the Regions Beyond Europe category enable students to demonstrate:

  1. knowledge of the distinctive features (e.g. history, institutions, economies, societies, cultures) of one region beyond Europe or European North America
  2. an understanding of the region from the perspective of its people(s)
  3. an ability to analyze and contextualize cultural and historical materials relevant to the region
  4. an ability to locate and identify distinctive geographical features of the region

 

Class Schedule:

 

DATE

TOPIC

ASSIGNMENT

1/24 (Tu)

Course Introduction

 

1/26 (Th)

The Tokugawa Shogunate and its Institutions

Hane, pp.25-40.

1/31 (Tu)

Ideology in Early Tokugawa Japan

 

2/2 (Th)

Social Structure under the Bakufu

 

2/7 (Tu)

Economic Development in the 17th Century

Lu, “Commerce as a Calling,” Japan: A Documentary History, pp.239-241.

2/9 (Th)

Discussion: Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu

                       

Keene, tr. Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu, entire.

Reading quiz

2/14 (Tu)

Crisis and Reform in the 18th Century

Hane, pp.40-62.

Map Quiz

2/16 (Th)

National Learning and the Shintō Revival

Hane, pp.62-68.

Lu, “Japan’s Creation by Amaterasu,” Japan: A Documentary History, pp.266-269.

2/20-2/24

WINTER BREAK

 

2/28 (Tu)

Discussion: Musui’s Story

Katsu, Musui’s Story, entire.

Reading quiz

3/2 (Th)

Agrarian Distress and the Emergence of Opposition

 

3/7 (Tu)

The Arrival of Perry and its Aftermath

Hane, pp.70-85.

3/9 (Th)

MDTERM EXAMINATION

 

3/14 (Tu)

The Meiji Restoration

Hane, pp.85-118.

3/16 (Th)

Political Reform in the Meiji Period                  

Hane, pp.119-141.

 

3/21 (Tu)

Cultural Change in the Meiji Period

Hane, pp.141-162.

Lu, “Good-bye Asia (Datsu-a), 1885,” Japan: A Documentary History, pp.346-47 and 351-353.

Paper proposal and preliminary bibliography due.

3/23 (Th)

Japan’s Emergence on the World Stage: 1895 and 1904            

Hane, pp.162-203.

3/28 (Tu)

Discussion: Botchan

 

Natsume Sōseki, Botchan, entire.

Reading Quiz

3/30 (Th)

Parliamentary Government in the Taishō  and Shōwa Era

 

4/4 (Tu)

Militarism and the Approach of War    

 

Hane, pp.262-290.

4/6  (Th)

NO CLASS

 

4/10-4/14

SPRING BREAK

 

4/18 (Tu)

World War II in the Pacific

Hane, pp.292-329 and 353-362.

Lu, “Imperial Rescript on Surrender, 1945,” Japan: A Documentary History, pp.457-458.

4/20 (Th)

Discussion: Harp of Burma

 

Takeyama, The Harp of Burma, entire.

Reading quiz

4/25 (Tu)

The American Occupation                   

                       

Hane, pp.364-408.

Lu, “The Shōwa Constitution,” Japan: A Documentary History, pp.469-475.

4/27 (Th)

Politics in Postwar Japan: The LDP Takes Charge

Research paper due.

5/2 (Tu)

The Economic “Miracle” and Japanese Society

Hane, pp.408-448.

5/4 (Th)

From No. 1 to the Burst Bubble: Japan in the 1980's

Lu, “The Japan that Can Say No,” Japan: A Documentary History, pp.557-562.

5/9 (Tu)

Japan in the 1990's and Beyond

 

 

FINAL EXAMINATION: Monday, May 15, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. in BA 130.