[The PRINT OUT VERSION runs eleven
pages and includes the SYLLABUS, information about ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS,
a list of COURSE OBJECTIVES, REQUIREMENTS and EVALUATION CRITERIA in addition
to a full COURSE SCHEDULE (including ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES and REQUIRED READINGS).
PLEASE NOTE: This version of the course syllabus and class schedule has not
been updated since being uploaded to the course web site on January 19, 2000.
Please check the web site version for more up-to-date information.]
HIS 373 / 573, CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
SPRING SEMESTER 2000
DR. LEE A. MAKELA
OFFICE: RT 1908 (216.687.3927)
OFFICE HOURS: MWF 2:45
- 3:45 PM
AND BY APPOINTMENT
HOME PHONE: 216.561.2940
email: l.makela@csuohio.edu
http://www.csuohio.edu/history/lam.html
SYLLABUS
INTRODUCTION: HIS 373 / 573,
CONTEMPORARY JAPAN IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE represents a course of study designed
to introduce contemporary Japanese culture and civilization to an audience encountering
the formal study of Japan for the first time. An analytical examination of the
various component parts comprising life in Japan today will be conducted against
an historical backdrop and (implicitly) in comparison with contemporary American
culture and society; both visual and written resources will be used as source
material for our exploration. Students should expect to emerge from the course
with both an historical understanding of the roots of contemporary Japan and
an appreciation of the complexity of modem Japanese life and culture.
The course web site is located at the
following URL [note the second "a" in "makelaa"]: http://academic.csuohio.edu/makelaa/history/courses/his373/index.html
ASSUMPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS:
The following paragraphs are intended to clarify what is assumed and expected
of students enrolled in this course. Often individual student expectations vary
substantially from those of fellow students and from those of the course instructor.
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 earliest convenience (via an
email to the instructor) 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
fulltime 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 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 quizzes and essays, written and oral
discussion, formal lectures, video and film presentations, role-playing exercises.
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.
- 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]@popmail.csuohio.edu); the course 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.
- All upper division courses in the
Department of History are mandated to assign a minimum of 1200 pages of reading
material and to require significant work in the form of research essays, journals,
examination responses and/or other forms of written communication.
- This specific course furthermore
assumes an ability to undertake independent research on a subject of personal
interest related to the specific content of the course.
As a result you should be prepared
(with the support and aid of the instructor as needed and required) to identify
an appropriate subject matter, demonstrate the existence of sufficient specifically-applicable
materials (books, articles, internet web sites) to justify your investigation,
assemble a significantly varied supporting bibliography of consulted sources,
and prepare an appropriately annotated analytical essay discussing the application
of the descriptive results of your research effort to themes developed in
the course itself.
As this set of assumptions and standards
indicates, while this course of study does not demand or expect any prior knowledge
of Japanese history, civilization or culture, it has been built on the premise
that the student undertaking it is equipped adequately with the skills necessary
both to acquire this knowledge base and to put it to the test of analysis and
evaluation. If you meet this profile and are willing to commit yourself actively
to the achievement of the stated course objectives, welcome aboard! If not, you
might more profitably look elsewhere for the educational challenge you seek.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the end
of fifteen weeks of instruction, students enrolled in HIS 373 / 573, CONTEMPORARY
JAPAN IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE should be able to --
- identify and explain the significance
of basic terms, personalities and concepts associated with the study of contemporary
Japanese civilization and culture.
- discuss with insight the major characteristics
of modern Japanese social, political, economic and religious systems, institutions
and beliefs.
- discuss with insight aspects of
contemporary Japanese popular culture, the traditional Japanese fine arts
and literature as maintained in Japan today and the impact of the postmodern
on both popular and traditional cultural constructs.
- characterize the impact of both
past traditions and the modern West on contemporary Japanese life and culture
- discuss with insight contemporary
affairs, issues and problems (both internal and external) involving Japan.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: REGULAR CLASS
ATTENDANCE, PARTICIPATION IN DISCUSSION AND ON-TIME SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS
ARE BASIC COURSE REQUIREMENTS as is the completion of the reading assigned in
the accompanying class schedule. Assigned reading for the course includes Patrick
Smith's Japan: A Reinterpretation; Mak, Sunder, Abe and Igawa, eds., Japan:
Why It Works, Why It Doesn't; Karl Taro Greenfeld's Speed Tribes: Days
and Nights with Japan's Next Generation; Stephen Addiss' How to Look at
Japanese Art; and the collection of articles and excerpts on reserve in the
Cleveland State University library.
In addition the class will be asked
to complete two research assignments: the first, an interpretive essay discussing
- in two parts (descriptive and analytical) -- an aspect of contemporary Japanese
life in historical perspective; the second (including a written personality
profile and a series of public opinion survey questions) requiring each student
to assume a contemporary Japanese personality appropriate to a pair of role-playing
exercises concluding the course of study. An on-going series of journal assignments
must also be completed and shared with the instructor at intervals prescribed
in the syllabus. Students will also be given the opportunity to participate
in a series of Internet Discussions on various topics covered in the syllabus.
There will be periodic quizzes on the assigned reading but no other examinations
required in the course.
SYNOPSIS OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS (AND
EVALUATION CRITERIA):
completion of the assigned portions
of the required texts (as demonstrated in the periodic quizzes). [30% of the
final grade for the course.]
completion of an essay discussing
an aspect of contemporary Japanese civilization in historical perspective.
[40% of final course grade]
completion of a research assignment
exploring a representative social role in contemporary Japanese life and participation
in accompanying role-playing exercises. [30% of final course grade]
In addition points will be awarded for
completion of the following ungraded course requirements. [A total of 145 points
is currently available; this total may change as the course proceeds.]
- regular class attendance and in-class
participation. [20 points with 5 points subtracted for each absence, excused
or unexcused.]
- on-time submission of quizzes [2
points for each submission handed to the instructor during the class session
in which the assignment is due or prior to that course session in conjunction
only with an excused absence for a possible total of 12 points.]
- completion of a series of journal
assignments designed to access personal interests and individual insights
into course materials and class sessions. [48 points total with a maximum
of 10 for each submitted assignment and an added 2 points per assignment for
on-time submission.]
- submission of a properly completed
annotated bibliography of resources to be consulted as part of the assigned
research essay (5 points) and a preliminary draft of the research essay and
/ or the personality profile submitted a minimum of two class sessions prior
to the due date (10 points each).
- participation in online Internet
Discussions. [1 point for each significant contribution -- as determined by
the instructor - to a maximum of 20 points.]
- submission of a maximum of two analytical
reviews of representative contemporary Japanese feature films. [10 points
for each review earning a minimum of a "check" for a maximum of 20 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.
CLASS SCHEDULE
The course meets on Monday, Wednesday
and Friday afternoons between 1:30 p.m. and 2:35 p.m. in Rhodes Tower (RT) 314
from Wednesday, January 19, 2000 through Wednesday, May 3, 2000 following the
schedule listed below. All assignments are noted under the dates on which they
are due; assigned readings noted in the schedule under a particular date should
be completed BEFORE coming to class.
WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT JAPAN
(TWELVE CLASS SESSIONS)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2000: AN
INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
Distribution of Course Materials
An Introduction to the Course and the
Course Web Site
Attitude Survey and Journal Assignments
VIDEO: Portraits of Japan (excerpts)
INTERNET DISCUSSION ONE (IMAGES AND
IMPRESSIONS) OPEN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2000: COMING
TO TERMS WITH JAPAN I
DISCUSSION: Making Common Sense of
Japan -- Questions of Interpretation and Categories of Meaning
ATTITUDE SURVEY DUE
READING (all reading assignments to
be completed BEFORE class meets):
"Snix: the Otaku", Chapter XII in Karl
Taro Greenfeld's Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation
(New York: Harper Collins, 1994) [henceforth SPEED], pages 269 - 283.
Charles Yuji Horikawa, "Do the Japanese Live Better Than Americans?"
in Mak, et.al., Japan: Why It Works, Why It Doesn't (Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press, 1998) [henceforth JAPAN], pages 3 - 10.
Articles from Contemporary Japan
in Historical Perspective materials on reserve in the CSU Main Library (hereafter
ARTICLES with a designated folder number following, in this case "01"):
- "Rewriting the Book on How to
Deal with Japan" (Business Week, August 7, 1989: 1 page)
- "Book Excerpt: The Enigma of Japanese
Power" (Fortune, May 8, 1989: 4 pages)
- "Tokyo: The Hard Life" (7he
Atlantic, March 1989: 5 pages)
- "Life in a Box: Japanese Question
Fruits of Success" (The New York Times, January 2, 1994: 3 pages)
- "Japan Bashing: More Than Racism"
(Christian Social Action, May 1992: 4 pages)
- "Guns: One Nation Bars, The Other
Requires" " (The New York Times, March 10, 1997: 2 pages)
INTERNET DISCUSSIONS TWO (TERMINOLOGY
/ CHRONOLOGY / GEOGRAPHY) AND THREE (NEWS AND RESOURCES) OPEN
MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2000: COMING
TO TERMS WITH JAPAN II
DISCUSSION: Making Common Sense of
Japan -- A Continuation
READING:
Harry Oshima, "Is
Japan an Egalitarian Society" in JAPAN, pages 195 - 204
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT ONE DUE
INTERNET DISCUSSION ONE CLOSED
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2000: JAPAN'S
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
DISCUSSION: The Cultural Influences
of Geography
VISUAL LITERACY WEB EXERCISE DUE
(located at <http://www.csuohio.edu/history/exercise/vleintro.html>)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2000: OUTLINING
JAPANESE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
LECTURE: The Historical Periodization
of Japan's Past
DISCUSSION: The Uses of the Past in
the Present
READING:
ARTICLE.02:
- "Discovering Japan's Premodern
Heritage" and "In Search of the Premodern" (Japan Echo, Volume XV,
Number 4, 1988: 10 pages)
MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2000 :CODES
OF CONDUCT: LANGUAGE
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Characteristics
and Structure of Japanese as a Language (and the Cultural Consequences Thereof)
QUIZ ONE DUE
READING:
ARTICLES.03:
- "Japanese Importing English Words
with Surprising Results" (Knight-Ridder Newspapers, undated: 1 page)
- "Japanspeak: Moon Grow Over Tokyo"
(Wall Street Journal, December 11, 1984: 1 page)
- "English in Japan Not Just Language"
(Associated Press, February 1, 1986: 1 page)
- "Copywrite Japan" (letter from
Charlotte Briggs, April 1987: 4 pages)
- "Japan's Linguistic Revenge" (Nisho
Iwai Journal, Winter 1995: 5 pages)
INTERNET DISCUSSION FOUR (LANGUAGE)
OPEN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2000 :CODES
OF CONDUCT: SHINTO I
VIDEO AND DISCUSSION: Shinto: Man,
Gods and Nature in Japan
READING:
ARTICLES.04:
- "What Is Shinto?" (lecture by
Haken Eilert, January 7, 1986: 7 pages)
- "In a Computer Age, Shinto Devils
Still Prowl" (" (The New York Times, October 15, 1995: 2 pages)
INTERNET DISCUSSION FIVE (RELIGION
/ PHILOSOPHY) OPEN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2000: CODES
OF CONDUCT: SHINTO II
DISCUSSION: The Place of Shinto in
Japanese Religion and Culture
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2000: CODES
OF CONDUCT: BUDDHISM I
VIDEO AND DISCUSSION: Land of the
Disappearing Buddha
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT TWO DUE
READING:
ARTICLES.05:
- Michael Shapiro, "Japan: The Spiritual
Side" (The New York Time Magazine, November 23, 1986: 4 pages)
- excerpt from "Matters of Faith"
(CWRU: The Magazine of Case Westem Reserve University, May 1991:
2 pages)
- "Barren Ground: Christian Missionaries
Sow the Seed in Japan but Find Little Grows" (Wall Street Journal,
July 9, 1986: 1 page)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2000: CODES
OF CONDUCT: BUDDHISM II
DISCUSSION: Buddhism in Japanese Life
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2000: CODES
OF CONDUCT: NEO-CONFUCIANISM
LECTURE: Neo-Confucian Philosophy
and Ethics -- Japanese Style
READING:
Patrick Smith, JAPAN: A REINTERPRETATION,
entire.
ARTICLE.18:
- "Strict Etiquette Lives On In
Japan: Pick A Seat Wisely" (The Christian Science Monitor, March
6, 1997: 1 page)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2000: ASPECTS
OF CULTURE: CALLIGRAPHY
DISCUSSION: The Art of Calligraphy
READING:
Chapter 4, "Calligraphy" in Stephen
Addiss' How to Look at Japanese Art (hereafter ART), pages 76 - 93.
EXPLORATIONS OF JAPANESE SOCIETY
(EIGHT SESSIONS)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2000:
SOCIOLOGY OF THE FAMILY
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Family Life
RESEARCH ESSAY TOPIC AND ROLE PLAY
CHOICES DUE
READING:
"Tats: The Speed Tribes", Chapter
II in SPEED, pages 17 - 46.
Andrew Mason and Naohiro
Ogawa "Why Avoid the Altar?" in JAPAN, pages 11 - 20.
ARTICLES.06:
- "New Words Capture Image Of Japanese
Farnily" (The Japan Times Weekly, January 21 - 27, 1991: 2 pages)
- "Who Needs Love? In Japan, Many
Couples Don't" (The New York Times, 1997: 4 pages)
INTERNET DISCUSSIONS TWO, FOUR AND
FIVE CLOSED
INTERNET DISCUSSION SIX (SOCIETY)
OPEN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2000: RURAL
LIFE
VIDEO: Farm Song
READING:
ARTICLES.07:
three selections from Junichi
Saga, Memories of Straw and Silk (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1987): 7 pages
"Expert Hagiwara Vitalizes Rural
Villages" (The Japan Times Weekly, April 25 - 31, 1994: 1 page)
"Tokyo Lights Lure the Young to
Forsake Rural Way of Life" " (The New York Times, January 2, 1997:
2 pages)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2000: NO SCHEDULED
CLASS (HOLIDAY: PRESIDENTS' DAY)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2000:
RURAL LIFE II
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Life in Countryside
-- Changing Realities
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2000: URBAN
LIFE STYLES I
VIDEO: Neighborhood Tokyo
READING:
ARTICLES.08:
"Tokyo Neighborhood Offers The
Good Life" (The Japan Times Weekly, August 6 - 12, 1990: 1 page)
"Japanese Say No to Crime: Tough
Measures at a Price" " (The New York Times, May 14, 1995: 6 pages)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, ,2000: URBAN
LIFE STYLES II
DISCUSSION: : Urban Expectations and
Realities
READING:
"Izumi: The Money-Drinkers" and
"Dai: The Motorcycle Thief", Chapters I and III in SPEED, pages 1 - 16 and
47 - 84.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2000: THE JAPANESE
WOMAN: DEFINITIONS AND PRACTICES
DISCUSSION of Assigned Readings
QUIZ TWO (SOCIETY) DUE
FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2000: "DREAM GIRLS"
- A VIDEO EXPLORATION
MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2000: NO SCHEDULED
CLASS (SPRING RECESS)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2000: NO SCHEDULED
CLASS (SPRING RECESS)
FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2000: NO SCHEDULED
CLASS (SPRING RECESS)
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2000: ISSUES
OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY
RESEARCH ESSAY ISSUE DEFINITION and WORKING
BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
READING:
"Choco Bon-Bon and Emi: The Perfect
Tuna", "Keiko: The Early Breakfast Club" and "Jackie: The Hostess", Chapters
IV, V and X in SPEED, pages 85 - 114, 115 - 146 and 227 - 244.
ASPECTS OF JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE
(FOUR SESSIONS)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2000: ARTIFACTS
OF POPULAR CULTURE
DISCUSSION / DEMONSTRATION: Food,
Festivals, Popular Music, Fashion, Television Shows and Fads in Contemporary
Japan
QUIZ THREE (WOMEN) DUE
READING:
Shigeyuki Abe and James
Mak, "Why Is Pachinko So Popular" in JAPAN, pages 33 - 38.
ARTICLES.09:
- "Sex vs. Hamburgers" (The Japan
Times Weekly, January 7, 1989: 1 page)
- "Pay Now, Buy Later" (Journal
of Japanese Trade and Industry, No. 1, 1989: 3 pages)
- "Grown Men in Japan Still Read
Comics and Have Fantasies" (Wall Street Journal, July 21, 1987: 2
pages)
- "In Japan, Brutal Comics for Women"
(The New York Times, November 5, 1995:2 pages)
- "How to Tell Your Vacuum Cleaner
Sayonara" (Voices of Japan, November 1982: 1 page)
- "After a Hard Day at the Office
or the Factory, How Do the Japanese Relax?" (Asia Record, November
1982: 1 page)
- "In Japan These Days, Even Processed
Cheese Is Cute" (The Japan Times Weekly, January 28 - February 3,
1994: 3 pages)
- "Tokyo's Tips for New York" (The
New York Times Magazine, February 6, 1994: 2 pages)
- "Why Do Japanese People Rarely
Use Personal Checks?" (Japan Information Service, undated: I page)
- "Pachinko Polishes a Tarnished
Image" and "Salons Reap Chest Hair, Gross Profits" (The Mainichi Daily
News, 1994: 1 page)
- "Japan's Young Couples Discover
the Public Kiss" (The New York Times, May 29, 1995: 1 page)
- "The Pen Is Mightier Than the
Germ?" (The New York Times, July 27, 1995:1 page)
- "In Japan, Christmas Merrymaking
Is for Lovers" " (The New York Times, December 25, 1995: 1 page)
INTERNET DISCUSSISON SIX CLOSED
INTERNET DISCUSSION SEVEN (POPULAR
CULTURE) OPEN
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2000: ASPECTS
OF JAPANESE POPULAR CULTURE II
VIDEO AND DISCUSSION: The Japanese
Version
READING:
ARTICLE.10:
"Buying Culture" (Cleveland
Plain Dealer, April 6, 1994: 1 page)
MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2000: POPULAR
CULTURE: ADAPTATION AND INNOVATION
READING:
"Tusk: Twilight of the Idols", Chapter
VIII in SPEED, pages 181 - 198.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2000: POPULAR
CULTURE: THE WORLD OF MANGA AND ANIME
JAPAN'S CULTURAL HERITAGE
(SIX SESSIONS)
FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2000: THE
WORLD OF TRADITIONAL JAPANESE DRAMA
VIDEO: The Tradition of Performing
Arts in Japan
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2000: LITERARY
AND ARTISTIC IDEALS, VALUES AND SYMBOLS
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Myth, Fable
and Folklore: Symbols in Japanese Literature and Art
READING:
ARTICLE.11:
Takashina Shuji, "The Decorative
Principle in Japanese Painting", (Japan Echo, Volume XVII, Number
4, 1990: 7 pages)
INTERNET DISCUSSION EIGHT (ARTS AND LITERATURE) OPEN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2000: JAPAN'S
LITERARY HERITAGE: THE TALE OF GENJI
VIDEO: "Japanese History and Literature:
Classical Japan"
DISCUSSION: Literary Symbols in The
Tale of Genji
READING:
"Secular and Zen Painting" and "Woodblock
Prints" in ART, pages 54 - 75 and 94 - 115.
ARTICLE.12:
- selection from The Tale of
Genji: 14 pages
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2000: JAPAN'S
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
SLIDE LECTURE: Traditional Architecture
in Japan
MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2000: JAPAN'S CONTEMPORARY
ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2000: THE
JAPANESE GARDEN
SLIDE LECTURE: "BEYOND MOSS AND STONE"
VIDEO: Dream Window
READING:
"Gardens", Chapter 6 by Audrey Yoshiko
Seo in ART, pages 116 - 135.
THE POSTMODERN COMES TO JAPAN
(THREE SESSIONS)
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2000: DEFINING
THE POSTMODERN IN JAPANESE CULTURE
DISCUSSION: From Traditional to Postmodem
in Japanese Culture
VIDEO: "Struggle for Hope" (excerpt)
QUIZ FOUR (CULTURE) DUE
INTERNET DISCUSSION NINE (POSTMODERN
CULTURE) OPEN
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2000: THE POSTMODERN
IN LITERATURE
DISCUSSION: A Postmodern Short Story
by Haruki Murakami
RESEARCH ESSAY PRELIMINARY DRAFT DUE
READING:
ARTICLE.13:
Haruki Murakami's short story
"Barn Burning" from his collection The Elephant Vanishes: 18 pages
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2000: ASPECTS
OF THE POSTMODERN IN POPULAR CULTURE
EDUCATION, THE ECONOMY AND POLITICS
IN TODAY'S JAPAN
(FOUR SESSIONS)
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2000: EDUCATION
IN JAPAN
DISCUSSION: Education in Contemporary
Japan
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT THREE DUE
READING:
"Hiro and Yoshihara: The Best and
the Brightest", Chapter VI in SPEED, pages 147 - 164.
Shigeyuki Abe and Kazuhiro
Igawa, "Why Go to School after School?" in JAPAN, pages 21 - 26.
ARTICLES.14:
"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)
INTERNET DISCUSSIONS SEVEN, EIGHT AND NINE CLOSED
MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2000: PATTERNS
OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Doing Business
in Japan --Corporate Life and the "Salary Man"
READING: James Mak and Shyam
Sunder, "Why Are There So Many Small Shops in Japan? in JAPAN, pages 45
- 50.
QUIZ FIVE (EDUCATION) DUE
INTERNET DISCUSSION TEN (ECONOMIC
AND POLITICAL LIFE) OPEN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2000: JAPAN'S
ECONOMY IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
VIDEO: The Colonel Comes to Japan
DISCUSSION: U.S. and Japanese Economic
Relations
ROLE PLAY SURVEY QUESTIONS DUE
READING:
Susumu Honda, "Why
Is Rice So Expensive in Japan?" and Gary Kikuchi, "What are Keiretsu
and Why Do Some U.S. Companies Dislike Them?" in JAPAN, pages 149 -
156 and 185 - 194.
ARTICLES.15:
- "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)
FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2000: POLITICAL
LIFE IN TODAY'S JAPAN
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION: Political
Life, Past and Present
READING:
Akihiko Kawaura and Sumner LuCroix,
"Why Do Doctors Prescribe So Many Pills? and Matthew Loke and James Mak,
"How Can the Japanese Spend So Little on Health Care?" in JAPAN,
pages 131 - 136 and 157 - 166.
ARTICLES.16:
- "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)
ROLE PLAY AUTOBIOGRAPHY DUE
CONCLUDING THE COURSE OF STUDY
(FOUR SESSIONS)
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2000: ROLE
PLAYING EXERCISE: CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2000: ROLE
PLAYING EXERCISE: SEARCHING FOR ROOTS
QUIZ SIX (ECONOMICS AND POLITICS)
DUE
INTERNET DISCUSSION ONE REOPENED
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2000 (1:00 PM - 3:00
PM): COURSE EVALUATION SESSION
DISCUSSION: Japan 2000 in the Light
of History
RESEARCH ESSAY DUE
READING:
ARTICLES.17:
The '90s and Beyond" (The Wall
Street Journal, January 30, 1989: 3 pages)
"Japan's Unmelted Minority Talks
Up" (The New York Times, May 5, 1986: 1 page)
"Foreign Students Sense Discrimination"
(Voices of Japan, January 1983: 1 page)
"Japan Isn't Ready for Illegal
Aliens But It Has I 00,000" (The Wall Street Journal, undated: 2
pages)
"Prejudice and Black Sambo" (Time,
August 15, 1988: 1 page)
"Racism in Japan" (Emerge,
July / August 1993: 2 pages)
"Invisible Class" (The Wall
Street Journal, June 2, 1992: 2 pages)
"Working Their Way to a Sudden
Death" (Japan Times Weekly, January 14 - 20, 1991: 1 page)
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT FOUR DUE
INTERNET DISCUSSIONS ONE, THREE AND
TEN CLOSED