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 HIS 373/573,
CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
CLASS SCHEDULE
EDUCATION, THE ECONOMY AND POLITICS
IN TODAY'S JAPAN  
(THREE CLASS SESSIONS)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2005:  
EDUCATION IN JAPAN  

DISCUSSION: Education in Contemporary Japan

READING:

 ARTICLES:
  • "Japan's Education Factory" (Business Tokyo, April 1990: 5 pages)
  • "In Japan, They even have Cram Schools for the Cram Schools" (Wall Street Journal, January 13, 1988: 2 pages)
  • "Japan's Schools: Why Can't Little Taro Think?" (The Economist, April 21, 1990: 3 pages)
  • "True or False: The Japanese Have Exams for Everything" (The New York Times, March 10, 1997: 1 page)
    •
ROLE PLAY AUTOBIOGRAPHY DUE
ROLE PLAY SURVEY QUESTIONS DUE  

INTERNET DISCUSSIONS SEVEN, EIGHT AND NINE CLOSED

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2005: 
PATTERNS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Doing Business in Japan --Corporate Life and the "Salary Man"

READING:

"Fake Foreigners" in IMAGES, pages 151 - 166

James Brookes, "Tokyo Fears China May Put an End to 'Made in Japan'", The New York Times, November 21, 2001.

ARTICLES:
    • "Japanese Managers: Are They Really Better?" (Machine Design, April 23, 1986: 5 pages)
    • "Japan's Got Us Beat in the Service Department, Too" (Wall Street Journal, 1985:1 page)
    • "Cutting Itself Down to Size: Japan's Inferiority Complex" (The New York Times, February 6, 1994: 2 pages)
    • "Fortress of Mercantilism Still Wary of Competitors" (Insight, July 18, 1988: 3 pages)
    • "Don't Blame the Japanese" (The New York Times Magazine, April 19, 1986: 4 pages)

QUIZ FOUR (EDUCATION) DUE  

INTERNET DISCUSSION TEN (ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL LIFE) OPEN

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2005:
POLITICAL LIFE IN TODAY'S JAPAN  

LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Political Life, Past and Present  

READING:

ARTICLES:
  • "The Tremor" (The New Republic, August 9, 1993: 4 pages)
  • "Japan's Powerful Pencil-Pushers Are on Defense" (The New York Times, May 8, 1997: 4 pages)
    •
RESEARCH ESSAY DUE
  CLASS SCHEDULE:
| THINKING ABOUT JAPAN | CODES OF CONDUCT | SOCIETY | POPULAR CULTURE | CULTURAL HERITAGE | THE POSTMODERN | EDUCATION, THE ECONOMY AND POLITICS | CONCLUDING THE COURSE OF STUDY |
This site has been prepared by Lee A. Makela for the use of students at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, who are enrolled in HIS 373/573, Contemporary Japan in Historical Perspective during the Fall Semester of the 2005 - 2006 Academic Year; please contact him with any comments by email at l.makela@csuohio.edu.  
 last revised: November 29, 2005