[PLEASE NOTE: The content found in the print out may significantly change during the course of the semester. Please check the web site version for more up-to-date information. The full print out runs to FIVE pages and includes the SYLLABUS and COURSE SCHEDULE (with ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES).]

HIS 372 / 572, THE HISTORY OF EARLY MODERN JAPAN

SPRING SEMESTER 2008

INSTRUCTOR: Lee A. Makela

OFFICE: RT (Rhodes Tower) 1642
OFFICE HOURS: TTh 12:00 noon - 12:30 p.m. and by appointment

PHONE: 216.875.9684 (OFFICE)
EMAIL: l.makela@csuohio.edu

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

HIS 372 / 572, THE HISTORY OF EARLY MODERN JAPAN, undertakes a representative and thematic exploration of aspects of political, economic, social, cultural, religious and intellectual life in Japan during the Tokugawa Period between 1600 and 1868. Emphasis is placed on the initial establishment of the Tokugawa state system, its subsequent growth and change and the circumstances leading to its eventual demise in the nineteenth century. The period is interpreted as representative of both the "late traditional" and the "early modern" in the long process of Japanese historical development.

The course has been purposefully designed to provide a background against which both modern and contemporary Japan might be better understood and appreciated. Course content stresses the transformative and cumulative changes taking place in the various systems and institutions (social, political, economic and cultural) emergent in the early modern period. The modernization process and the fate of traditional institutions, systems and customs will receive particular attention. Strong consideration will also be given both the social and urban dimensions of the historical process at work during the Tokugawa era.

The following is a list of major course objectives for HIS 372 / 572, THE HISTORY OF EARLY MODERN JAPAN: at the end of fifteen weeks of instruction and study, students enrolled in this course should be able to—

  1. Identify and explain the historical significance of basic terms, personalities, events and concepts associated with the study of the Tokugawa Period in Japanese history;
  2. Discuss with insight and illustrative detail selected patterns of economic, political, social and cultural modernization occurring in Japan between 1600 and 1868, accounting in the process particularly for the impact on those patterns of past Japanese tradition, the policies and practices of the Tokugawa and the role of internally-generated innovation;
  3. Assess insights into early modern Japanese culture gained from an independent exploration of the role of a single individual against the backdrop of urban cultural change and development between 1600 and 1868;
  4. Research, analyze and evaluate the impact of the modernization process in early modern Japan within a specific and focused area of personal interest, assessing the interaction between such influencing factors as maintained tradition and purposeful innovation;
  5. Describe the lingering effects of Tokugawa era policies, formulas and institutions on both modern and contemporary Japanese life and institutions.

The major content in HIS 372 / 572 will be delivered by means of lecture and in-class discussion following the appended list of topics. Class discussion on any topic under consideration is both welcomed and encouraged. REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT LECTURE AND DISCUSSION MEETINGS IS A BASIC COURSE REQUIREMENT.

No examinations will be given in the course. Students will be asked to complete a series of Journal Assignments scheduled for submission at regular intervals throughout the semester. A close examination of selected readings as assigned in the class schedule will be the basis for some of the journal assignments (and for associated in-class discussions). Both a short research essay (HIS 372: 3 - 5 pages: HIS 572: 5 - 7 pages) on an assigned topic and a longer research essay (HIS 372: 9 - 12 pages: HIS 572: 12 - 15 pages) on a subject of the student’s choice will be developed over the semester. Reading, journal and research essay due dates (together with other preparatory assignments) are noted in the class schedule on the date each is due. LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION BY THE INSTRUCTOR.

SYNOPSIS OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS
  1. In addition points will be awarded for completion of the following ungraded course requirements. [A total of 135 points is currently available; this total may change as the course proceeds.]
    • regular class attendance . [20 points with 5 points subtracted for each absence, excused or unexcused; note that deductions may exceed twenty points if more than four absences are recorded.]
    • in-class participation [up to 5 points as determined by the instructor]
    • email contact with the professor agreeing to COURSE ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS (5 points)
    • submission of five Internet web assignments (5 points each for a total of 25 points]
    • submission of an acceptable Writing Skills Assessment survey no later than the due date assigned in the COURSE SCHEDULE. [20 points.]
    • submission of a properly completed annotated working bibliography of resources to be consulted as part of the assigned extended research essay (10 points) and a preliminary draft of the extended research essay submitted no later than the due date assigned in the COURSE SCHEDULE. (20 points).
    • participation in online Internet Discussions. [1 point for each significant contribution -- as determined by the instructor - to a maximum of 20 points.]
    • submission of an analytical review of representative contemporary Japanese feature film. [10 points.]

    The average of completed graded assignments will be multiplied by the points earned over the course of the semester to obtain the final course grade

ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS

Often individual student expectations vary substantially from those of fellow students and from those of the course instructor. The following paragraphs are intended to clarify what is assumed and expected of students enrolled in this course. These guidelines are meant to provide a common ground upon which to build and to avoid misunderstandings that might otherwise arise. Please read through the guidelines carefully and then indicate at your (via an EMAIL to the instructor at l.makela@csuohio.edu) your understanding and acceptance of these standards.

This course has been designed with the following set of assumptions and expectations in mind:

This is not the only course in which you are enrolled. In fact it is assumed each student is typically taking a twelve semester hour course load, is employed twenty hours per week, and has significant social and family obligations beyond the university and academic community.

Regular and consistent course attendance and participation is a basic core requirement. Students whose usual personal schedules preclude on-time arrivals and for whom regular departures must occur prior to the scheduled conclusion of class time are encouraged to find a more appropriately scheduled course.

As a four credit course, each classroom hour is expected to be combined with three hours of preparatory reading, writing and reflection, requiring a commitment of twelve hours weekly (as part of an assumed total of thirty-six hours of weekly academic involvement for a full-time student taking twelve credits per semester).

If you fit the above profile and are willing to make the commitment, you should find the course challenging but manageable.

If not (you may be working more hours per week, have a set of demanding family obligations beyond the ordinary, be enrolled for more than twelve hours this semester or regularly arrive in class after the start of lecture), you should carefully calculate the cost of trying to work this course into your existing schedule—ask yourself, for example, if you are willing to accept a lower (or failing) grade for not having the time available to be in class or to devote to course expectations and requirements

Unlike other courses you might have taken in the past, this course of study is not oriented towards the more-or-less passive acquisition and mastery of a set body of information as outlined by a specific text or in instructor-defined lecture materials. Instead the course of study opens a subject matter area—the history, civilization and culture of Early Modern Japan—within the context of a "learning community".

In this setting students are expected to work actively to define personally-defined interests and to explore them adequately using the ways and means established by the course structure—assigned reading, independent research, written journal entries, long and short essays, oral discussion, formal lectures, video and film presentations.

Students will not be expected nor required to march as part of a single group in lock step towards a predefined set of goals. Instead each will be asked to define personal learning objectives, to chart an independent course towards their achievement and to demonstrate mastery of the general subject matter of the course in a variety of ways to the satisfaction of the instructor. If you are unwilling—or unable -- to undertake this self-motivated, independently-directed, individually - monitored, active approach to learning, you might be better off in an alternative course offering utilizing a more compatible and comfortable educational setting.

As an upper division History Department offering, this course assumes students have taken advantage of their earlier fourteen years of schooling to acquire the essential academic skills needed to assure success.

Specifically these skills include an ability to read a variety of materials with comprehension and understanding, to write clear and accurate prose, to structure written and oral communication in an appropriately organized and documented fashion and to participate willingly and profitably in oral and written discussion. The course provides an opportunity to hone these skills but not to acquire them.

As a WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM offering, this course also assumes mastery of the basics needed for successful academic writing. This proposition is tested with a WRITING SKILLS ASSESSMENT PROJECT due early in the semester; the failure to successfully complete this project by the assigned deadline will be grounds for dismissal from the course at the discretion of the instructor.

(You might want to check out the project requirements just to make sure you can handle the assignment.)

Access to email and the world wide web—as well as a basic level of computer literacy—also is assumed

Most students already possess word processing skills (or know someone who does). Furthermore every enrolled student at CSU has an assigned email address (usually [given name initial].[family name] @csuohio.edu); the restricted course materials portion of the web site also features an internal email system making possible direct contact with the instructor and fellow students enrolled in this course.

On-campus labs, the university library and many other Cleveland area libraries have public access computers available with Internet connections. If you own (or have access to) a personal computer with a modem, you can gain free access to CSU computers by contacting the Office for Computer Facilities on the eleventh floor of Rhodes Tower. If, however, these facilities are inconvenient or inadequate to meet your own personal needs and/or schedule, please consider the impact these circumstances might have on your ability to meet course expectations and requirements and take steps accordingly

If any of these essential skills are particularly weak, you must be prepared to devote extra time and effort to their remediation in order to accomplish fully what the course requires of you.

EMAIL THE INSTRUCTOR
at l.makela@csuohio.edu
NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, January 17, 2008
TO INDICATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE
OF THESE EXPECTATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS .

PLEASE INCLUDE IN THE MESSAGE YOUR CURRENTLY PREFERRED EMAIL ADDRESS

CLASS SCHEDULE
SPRING SEMESTER 2008

UNDERLINED PHRASES IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE REPRESENT LINKS TO WEB-BASED RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON THE COURSE INTERNET WEB SITE


Building an Effective Launch Pad:

Tuesday, January 15, 2008:
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE OF STUDY
BASIC COURSE CONCEPTS AND THEMES

Thursday, January 17, 2008:
JAPAN TODAY: AN ILLUSTRATED OVERVIEW
IDENTIFYING INTERESTS

Since our in-class attention was focsued on several illustrative studies of the Japanese people, you might want to expand your inquiries into the nature of contemporary Japanese life by examining the built environment as explored in Osaka 2001: at the Dawn of a New Millennium (http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa/lectures/osaka/index.html). [As suggested in the Introduction, be sure to print out and complete the first part of the survey (http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa/lectures/osaka/survey.html) BEFORE beginning to explore the various portions of the web site.]

As you examine these sets of photographs, think particularly about how they might be changing your preconceptions and ideas about Japan.

A more up-to-the-minute impressionistic view of contemporary Japanese life can also be found in a series of travel reports (http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa/lectures/travel.html) direct from the scene filed beginning in 1999 by Dr. Makela during annual visits to this island nation.

ATTITUDE SURVEY DUE
ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS EMAIL DUE

KISSATEN DISCUSSION: Impressions of Japan

Tuesday, January 22, 2008:
PHYSICAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

VISUAL LITERACY EXERCISE (http://www.csuohio.edu/history/exercise/vlehome.html) ASSIGNMENT DUE

KISSATEN DISCUSSION:
The Role of Geography in Japanese Historical Development

Thursday, January 24, 2008:
RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS: SHINTO AND BUDDHISM

AN INTRODUCTION TO JAPAN (http://www.csuohio.edu/history/lectures/IJ/intjpn01.html) ASSIGNMENT DUE

Tuesday, January 29, 2008:
FAMILIAL JAPAN AND THE NATIVE TRADITION

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT ONE DUE
THE NATIVE TRADITION (http://www.csuohio.edu/history/lectures/FJ/fjpn_3.htm) ASSIGNMENT DUE

KISSATEN DISCUSSION:
Premodern Patterns of Historical Development in Japan Before 1600

Thursday, January 31, 2008:
ARISTOCRATIC JAPAN AND THE RULE OF TASTE

THE RULE OF TASTE (http://www.csuohio.edu/history/lectures/AJ/arsjpn01.html) ASSIGNMENT DUE

Tuesday, February 5, 2008:
MILITARY ARISTOCRATIC JAPAN AND THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR

THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR (http://www.csuohio.edu/history/lectures/MAJ/majjpn01.html) ASSIGNMENT DUE

Thursday, February 7, 2008:
A THEMATIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TRADITIONAL JAPANESE LIFE AND CULTURE BEFORE 1600

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT TWO DUE


Establishing the Tokugawa System:

Tuesday, February 12, 2008:  
ESTABLISHING THE TOKUGAWA STATE: THE ROLE OF MILITARY AUTHORITY
ANDTHE SYSTEMATIC ORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL POWER

KISSATEN DISCUSSION:
Establishing "Centralized Feudalism" in Japan

Thursday, February 14, 2008:
 CONTROLING THE SOCIAL ORDER
AND ESTABLISHING ECONOMIC SUPPORT AND CONTROLS

WRITING SKILLS ASSESSMENT PROJECT DUE

Tuesday, February 19, 2008: 
DISCUSSION: THE PHILOSOPHICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR TOKUGAWA POWER 

RESEARCH ESSAY TOPIC CHOICE DUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Minear, Richard H. "A Closed Society: 1600 - 1853", "The Old Values" and "Fuji-ichi the Tycoon" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeaw.pdf) in Through Japanese Eyes, Volume 1, New York: The Center for International and Education, 1987, pages 41 - 59. 

Tucker, Mary Ellen. "Kaibara Ekken's Precepts on the Family"(http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebd.pdf) , Reading 2 in Tanabe, Jr., (ed), Religions of Japan in Practice, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000, pages 38 - 52.


Exploring Early Modern Japan:

Thursday, February 21, 2008:
POLITICAL GROWTH AND CHANGE IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN:
THE EMERGING SAMURAI-BUREAUCRAT IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT THREE DUE

KISSATEN DISCUSSION:
Moving from "Late Traditional" to "Early Modern"

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Ikegami Eiko. "Themes of Control and Change" http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeat.pdf), Chapter 16 in The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan, Cambridge: University of Harvard Press, 1995, pages 329 - 369.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008:
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CHANGE IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN: THE IMPACT ON RURAL LIFE

Thursday, February 28, 2008:
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CHANGE IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN: THE EMERGING URBAN SCENE

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Hall, John. "The Castle Town and Japan's Modern Urbanization" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeba.pdf), Chapter 10 in Hall and Jansen, eds., Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968, pages 169 - 188. 

Moriya Katsuhisa. "Urban Networks and Information Networks" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebb.pdf), Chapter 4 in Nakane and Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990, pages 97 - 123.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008:
SOCIAL GROWTH AND CHANGE IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN

Thursday, March 6, 2008:
 RELIGION, EDUCATION AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT FOUR DUE

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Kaempfer, Engelbert. "The Sangu, or Pilgrimage to Ise" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeax.pdf) from Book 3, Chapter 4 of Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey's Kaempfer's Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000, pages 117 - 121. 

Reader, Ian. "Legends, Miracles, and Faith in Kobo Daishi and the Shikoku Pilgrimage" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeau.pdf), Reading 34 in in Tanabe, Jr., (ed), Religions of Japan in Practice, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000, pages 360 - 369.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008:
SPRING BREAK HOLIDAY

Thursday, March 13, 2008:
SPRING BREAK HOLIDAY


The Floating World:

Tuesday, March 18, 2008:
THE EMERGENCE OF THE URBAN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Teruoka Tasutaka. "The Pleasure Quarters and Tokugawa Culture" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebc.pdf) in Gerstile (ed), 18th Century Japan, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1989, pages 3 - 32. 

Nakano Mitsutoshi. "The Role of Traditional Aesthetics" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeay.pdf), Chapter 8 in Gerstile (ed), 18th Century Japan, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1989, pages 124 - 131.

Thursday, March 20, 2008:
THE KABUKI THEATER

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Shively, Donald. "Bakafu versus Kabuki" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebe.pdf), Chapter 13 in Hall and Jansen (eds), Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968, pages 231 - 261.

Gerstile, C. Andrew. "Flowers of Edo: Kabuki and its Patrons" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebg.pdf), Chapter 2 in Gerstile (ed), 18th Century Japan, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1989, pages 33 - 50. 

Gunji Masakatsu. "Kabuki and Its Social Background" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebf.pdf), Chapter 8 in Nakane and Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990, pages 192 - 212.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008:
THE GEISHA: ICONS OF FASHION AND BEAUTY

Thursday, March 27, 2008:
THE WORLD OF UKIYO-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Guth, Christine. "Mapping the Artistic Landscape" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeca.pdf), "The Artist and the City" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makecb.pdf) and "Edo Artists" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makecc.pdf), Introduction, Chapter One and Chapter Three in Art of Edo Japan: The Artist and the City, 1615 - 1868, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996, pages 9 - 49 and 89 - 125. 

Akai Tasuro. "The Common People and Painting" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeas.pdf), Chapter 7 in Nakane and Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990, pages 167 - 191.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008:
DEVELOPMENTS IN LITERATURE AND POETRY

FLOATING WORLD RESEARCH PROJECT DUE

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Bowring, Richard. "Impact, Influence and Reception" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebh.pdf), Chapter 4 in Landmarks of World Literature: Murasaki Shikibu - The Tale of Genji, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, pages 81 - 102.


The Collapse of the Tokugawa and the Meiji Restoration (1868):

Thursday, April 3, 2008:
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN TOKUGAWA JAPAN: DISCUSSISON

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT FIVE DUE

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Tsuneo Sato. "Tokugawa Villages and Agriculture" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeav.pdf), Chapter 2 in Nakane and Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990, pages 37 - 80.

Nakane Chie. "Tokugawa Society" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeaz.pdf), Chapter 9 in Nakane and Oishi, eds., Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic Antecedents of Modern Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990, pages 213 - 231.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008:
DEFINING "TRADITIONAL JAPAN"

Thursday, April 10, 2008:
CHALLENGES TO THE TOKUGAWA SYSTEM: ONE

JAPAN ON THE EVE OF WESTERNIZATION (http://www.csuohio.edu/history/lectures/JEW/jewjpn01.html) ASSIGNMENT DUE
KISSATEN DISCUSSION:
Evaluating the Role of "Centralized Feudalism" in Early Modern Japan

Tuesday, April 15, 2008:
CHALLENGES TO THE TOKUGAWA SYSTEM: TWO

BLACK SHIPS AND SAMURAI: COMMODORE PERRY AND THE OPENING OF JAPAN (1853 - 1854) (http://www.blackshipsandsamurai.com/compsite/bss_menu.html) is an Internet-based product of the MIT OpenCourseWare project which aims to "make all MIT course materials available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. The OCW initiative continues a tradition of open dissemination of educational materials and modes of thought, leading to fundamental changes in the way universities utilize the Web for education." The online exhibit, the work of Professors John Dower and Shigeru Miyagawa, supports a traveling museum display of images from both Japanese and American sources detailing the initial encounter between Japan and the United States taking place in the mid-nineteenth century. These materials also form a core for an MIT course on Visualizing Cultures (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-027JVisualizing-CulturesSpring2003/CourseHome/index.htm) and constituted a major lobby exhibit for the 2004 Broadwayt revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Pacific Overtures" directed by Amon Miyamoto. Examining the images and taking time to read the accompanying narrative analysis should help you better understand and appreciate the nature of the cultural similarities and dissimilarities with which the two cultures confronted one another almost a century and a half ago.

Thursday, April 17, 2008:
THE COLLAPSE OF THE EARLY MODERN STATE: ONE

Tuesday, April 22, 2008:
THE COLLAPSE OF THE EARLY MODERN STATE: TWO

LAST DATE ON WHICH PRELIMINARY DRAFTS OF RESEARCH ESSAY WILL BE ACCEPTED

Considering Historical Continuities:

Thursday, April 24, 2008:
MEIJI ERA (1868 - 1912) CONTINUITIES and CHANGES: ONE

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT SIX DUE

READING ASSIGNMENT:

Ikegami Eiko. "Themes of Control and Change" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makeat.pdf), Chapter 16 in The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan, Cambridge: University of Harvard Press, 1995, pages 329 - 360 only.
KISSATEN DISCUSSION:
Links to the "Early Modern" in Modern Japanese History

Tuesday, April 29, 2008:
MEIJI ERA (1868 - 1912) CONTINUITIES and CHANGES: TWO

RESEARCH PROJECT DUE

Thursday, May 1, 2008:
CONTEMPORARY JAPAN AND THE "EARLY MODERN"

READING ASSIGNMENT:
Gluck, Carol. "The Invention of Edo" (http://ecr.ulib.csuohio.edu/cgi-bin/ecr.cgi?x=2/make/makebi.pdf), Chapter 17 in Vlastos (ed), Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998, pages 262 - 284.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 (FINAL EXAMINATION WEEK: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.):
EVALUATING THE COURSE OF STUDY

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT SEVEN DUE
COURSE EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE DUE