Restoration and Reform in Modern Japan

Spring 2000 Professor: Thomas Wilson

Class: MW 1-2:15 in KJ 107 Office: WF 2:30-3:30 in KJ 122

* Required Texts

* Mikiso Hane, Modern Japan, A Historical Survey: required reading

* Gail Berstein, Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945

* Ryusaku Tsunoda, Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2 (SJT)

* Soseki Natsume, Kokoro

* Stefan Tanaka, Japan's Orient, Rendering Pasts into History

*on reserve in library; /to be provided; optional reading

1. Orientalism 9/5

2. Toward Unification: From Shogun to Daimyo 9/10

Names & Terms: Shoen estate, Bakufu, Shôgun, daimyô, samurai (warrior), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98)

* Hane, Modern Japan, 1-22

/ Arai Hakuseki (1657-1725), Lessons from History, ix-xv, 3-5, 9-11, 73-83, 290-301

3. Tokugawa Peace: Confucianism and Unification 9/17

Names & Terms: Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), Edo, Baku-han, shizoku ("former samurai"), ronin ("masterless samurai"), Neo-Confucianism, Fujiwara Seika (1516-1619), Hayashi Razan (1583-1657), Yamazaki Ansai (1618-82), Ancient Learning (kogaku),Yamaga Soko (1622-85), Ito Jinsai (1627-1705), Tokugawa Yoshimune, Kyoho reforms (1716), Kabuki, Bunraku * Japan: Legacy of the Shoguns

* Hane, Modern Japan, 23-41

* Jennifer Robertson, "The Shingaku Woman" (Recreating Japanese Women), 88-107

* Anne Walthall, "The Life Cycle of Farm Women" (Recreating Japanese Women), 42-70

/ Hosoi Heishu, "The Popularization of Samurai Values," 393-413

/ Ogyû Sorai (1666-1728), "A Discourse on the Way"

Masahide Bito, "Ogyô Sorai and the Distinguishing Features of Japanese Confucianism" (Japanese Thought in the Tokugawa Period), 153-160

4. Late Tokugawa 9/26

Names & Terms: Kansei reforms (1787-1801), roju (chief councilor), Nativism (kokugaku [National Learning]) and the Shinto revival, Kaitokudo Merchant Academy, discourse on political economy (keisei saimin)

* Hane, Modern Japan, 42-64 * Kurosawa, "Yojimbo" (1961)

* Kamo Mabuchi (1697-1769), SJT, 1-15

* Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843), SJT, 35-46

/ The Kansei Edict

/ Motoori Norinaga (1730-1817), "The Way of the Gods," 21-41

5. Restorationism, 1840-1868 10/8

Names & Terms: Tempo reforms (1841), extremist samurai (shishi), Mito School, Aizawa Seishisai (1782-1863), "New Discussions" (shinron), Sakuma Shôzan (1811-64), Commondore Perry, Treaty of Kanagawa (1854), Satsuma

* Hane, Modern Japan, 65-83 * Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian

* Tanaka, Japan's Orient, 1-67

* Aizawa Seishisai (1782-1863), SJT, 85-96

Mid-term examination 10/17

6. Japanese Nationhood during Meiji, 1868-1912 10/22

Names & Terms: Fujita Toko (1808-1855), Shinto, "temple" (tera, ji) vs. "shrines" (jinja, miya), Saigô Takamori (1827-77), Okubo Toshimichi (1830-78), popular rights (minken), charter oath (1868), Peerage (1884), Privy Council, The Diet, Zaibatsu

* Hane, Modern Japan, 84-131 * The Meiji Transformation

* Fukuzawa Yukuchi (1834-1901), "Autobiography," SJT, 116-130

* Kido Kôin (1833-1877), SJT, 131-147

* Soseki, Kokoro, begin reading

* Tanaka, Japan's Orient, 67-114

* Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909), SJT, 156-172

Essay proposal (half typed page) due 10/29

(please consult with instructor before submitting proposal)

7. Meiji: Socio-economic impact on women 10/29

Names & Terms: Tale of Genji, Thrice Following, Geisha

* Hane, Modern Japan, 132-191 * A Proper Place in the World

* Sharon Nolte, "The Meiji State's Policy Toward Women" (Recreating Japanese Women), 151-174

* Miram Silverberg, "The Modern Girl as Militant" (Recreating Japanese Women), 239-266

8. Colonialism and Taisho Democracy, 1912-1925 11/5

Names & Terms: Zaibatsu, Citizens (kokumin), Russo-Japanese war (1904-5), Japanese colonialism, Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922), Katsura Tarô (1847-1913), elder statesmen (genrô), Katô Komei (1859-1926), Yoshino Sakuzo (1878-1933), Japanism (Nihon shugi)

* Hane, Modern Japan, 192-244

* Yoshino Sakuzo (1878-1933), "On the Meaning of Constitutional Government," SJT, 217-239

* SJT, 249-251

* Tanaka, Japan's Orient, 115-187

/ Kevin Doak, "What Is a Nation and Who Belongs? National Narratives and the Ethnic Imagination in Twentieth-Century Japan" (American Historical Review April 1997): 282-309

* Laurel Rodd, "Yasano Akiko and the Taishô Debate over the 'New Woman' (Recreating Japanese Women), 175-198

9. Imperialism & Resurgent Militarism 11/12

Names & Terms: Manchurian Incident (1931), The Cherry Blossom Society Ishiwara Kanji (1886-1949)

* Hane, Modern Japan, 245-272 * Nancy Tong, "In the Name of the Emperor"

* Minobe Tatsukichi (1873-1948), "Defense of the 'Organ' Theory," SJT, 239-246

* Kita Ikki (1884-1937), "Plan for the Reorganization of Japan," SJT, 268-277

* Hashimoto Kingoro, "The Need for Emigration and Expansion," SJT, 289-291

* Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945), "The Problem of Japanese Culture," SJT, 350-365

* Kawakami Hajime (1879-1946), SJT, 313-325; 365-373

10. The Pacific War, 1937-1945 11/19

Names & Terms: May 15^th Incident (1932), Imperial Way & Control Faction, Minobe Tatsukichi (1873-1948) and the Organ Theory, February 26^th Incident (1936), Marco Polo Bridge (July 7, 1937), Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

* Hane, Modern Japan, 273-340 * Ichikawa Kon, "Fires on the Plane"

* SJT, 291-298

* Mark Selden, The Atomic Bomb, 3-23, 55-85, 173-81, 219-33

Term essay due 12/3

11. Post-War Japan 12/3

* Hane, Modern Japan, 341-404 * Postwar Japan: 40 Years of Change

* Carol Gluck, "The Past in the Present" (Postwar Japan), 64-95

* Gary Allinson, "The Structure and Transformation of Conservative Rule" (Postwar Japan), 123-144

* Tampopo

FINAL EXAMINATION (t.b.a.)

final course grade determined on the basis of the following:

class participation 15%

mid-term exam 25%

term essay 30%

final exam 30%

Useful web pages

Library of Congress Country Study of Japan: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html

East Asian Libraries Cooperative WWW http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Japan/Japan.html

Japanese Information http://www.ntt.co.jp/japan/index.html

Asahi.com (English language newspaper on Japan) http://www.asahi.com/english/english.html