Modern History of
Japan II
Ryoichi
Imai
Kyushu University
2021/06/12
New Schedule for Spring 2021
Contents
2. Organization,
Attendance, and Other Requirements
The course is designed to provide some introductory knowledge of Japanese history. This is a continuation of the history course I taught in the previous semester. The course will cover the history of Japan's political and economic system since World War II to the present.
Organization, Attendance, and Other Requirements
Students are expected to buy the text book.
Gordon, Andrew (2008), A Modern History of Japan. Oxford University Press.
Some lecture notes will be uploaded on this website. The course consists mainly of a series of lecture given by the instructor. Later the students present some selected reading materials. Each course attendant is required to make ONE oral presentation in the second half of the course. The presenter must make a set of PowerPoint slides. If too many students take this course, individual presentations will be replaced by group ones. There is ONE final take-home examination.
None.
Class Attendance and Discussion 20%
Presentation 40%
Final (Take Home) Examination 40%
You will get 2 credits by satisfying the course requirements specified above.
If you need to acquire three credits in accordance with the credit transfer policy of your home university, you can get three credits by making a second presentation in different topics in addition to the requirements as above.
Settlement for
the Covid-19 pandemic
Some or all the lectures
might be recorded and uploaded somewhere. Wait for the notice.
Schedule and
Readings (subject to Change)
Lecture
1 (4/12). A
Short History of Japan before the Showa Era
2 (4/19). Democracy and
Empire between the World Wars
3 (4;26). The Depression
Crisis and Responses
The Factory
Ship (Takiji Kobayashi) Manga in J
4. (5/3) Japan in Wartime
5 (5/10). Occupied
Japan: New Departures and Durable Structures
Imperial Rescript on the
Termination of the Greater East Asia War
Commonwealth of
Nations Head of the
Commonwealth
6 (5/17).
Economic
and Social Transformations
Anti-Discrimination
Initiative by Kikuchi City of Kumamoto Prefecture (J)
7
(5/24) A
Lecture on Kabuki@@Kabuki
Homepage Hakata-za
8 (5/31) Political
Struggles and the High-Growth Era
9 (6/7). Global Power in
a Polarized World: Japan in the 1980s
10 (6/14). Beyond the
Postwar Era 1
11. (6/21). Beyond the
Postwar Era 2
12. (6/28) Beyond the
Postwar Era 3
13 (7/5) Conclusion
14 (7/12) Studentsf Presentation 1
15 (7/19) Students Presentation 2
Assignments for Credits
I.
Midterm Exam Spring 2021 Due to Saturday June 5
II.
Take-home
Final Examination New ! Due Sunday July 18
III.
Presentation Slide
New ! Due
Sunday July 11
IV.
Presentation Movie (required only for Yshana and Trinh)
Course Evaluation: Click and follow the
instructions History (sample 2020)
Course Materials in the past are
below
Past Materials
Journal Resources:
Journal of Japanese Studies
Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
Social Science Japan Journal
Social Science Japan Newsletter
June 30
A. Emperor
(succession, marriage): Inaara
B. Territorial
Disputes (Russia, China): Marie
July 7
C, Korea
(Comfort Women, Abduction, Kimi Dae-Jung): Emma
D. Okinawa:
Joy
July 14
E. DPJ
government 2009-2012: Yang
F. Populist
Politics: Greg
A1:
The Emperor in the Postwar Japan
1. Review the
Succession Controversy
2. What is the
difference between the female emperor, female-line emperor, and empress?
3. Review the
succession rules of European monarchs (UK, Dutch, Denmark,c)
The Status of the Emperor
Imperial House
of Japan
Japanese
Succession Controversy
Emperor Akihito
(Japan Times)
Emperor
Naruhito (Japan Times)
A2: Marriages of the Imperial Family
1. What is the
problem about Empress Masako?
2. Explain why it
is difficult to find the next empress?
3. Review the
problem with the hopefully-upcoming marriage of Princess Mako.
Empress Masako
(Japan Times, Wikipedia)
Ben Hills
(2006) Princess Masako - Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne
B: Territorial
Disputes
1. Japan –Russia
Relationship (Why did the latest effort by PM Abe fail?
Territory
(Japan Times)
Kuril Islands
Dispute
2. Japan-China
Relationship (Chinafs strategy toward Japan under the increasing
tension with USA)
Senkaku Islands (Japan
Times)
Senkaku Video
C. Korea
1. Review the
Comfort Women Controversies
2. Review the
Kidnapping of Kim Dae-Jung (Who did it? How Koreafs government handled
it?)
3. Review the abductions
of Japanese Citizens by the North Korea
4. Review the
wartime labor problem
Japan-Korea
Disputes (Wikipedia)
Comfort
Women (Japan Times)
History
Recognition (Japan Times)
Kidnapping of
Kim Dae Jung (Wikipedia)
The Debate over Japanfs War Responsibility
Japan's History Textbook Debate
The Korean "Comfort Women": Movement
for Redress
Performing Social Reparation: gComfort Womenh And The Path To Political Forgiveness
Focusing in on Contemporary Japanfs eYouthf Nationalism
Official Site by the Japanese
Government
North
Korean abductions of Japanese
BBC News (2008) N
Korea abductions hamper Japan
Christopher Hughes (2009)
"Super-Sizing" the DPRK Threat
D: Okinawa (1)
1. Why are Okinawa people so angry?
2. Why PM Hatoyamafs relocation effort
failed?
Relocation
of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
Okinawa (Japan
Times)
Okinawa Prefecture-
Wikipedia
Shimoji Yoshio: The Futenma Base and the
U.S.-Japan Controversy: an Okinawan perspective
E: Review the
Democratic Party Government (2009-2012)
1. Evaluate the crisis
control by the Kan Cabinet to handle the Fukushima nuclear power plant
accidents in 2011
2. What is the
Comprehensive Reform of Tax and Social Security of the Noda Cabinet?
3. Why is Ozawa
considered to be responsible for the failure of the DPJ government?
Asian Survey
Govella, K., and S. Vogel (2008), Japan in 2007: A
Divided Government, Asian Survey 48(1), 97-106.
Inoguchi (2013) Japan in 2012: Voters Swing,
and Swing Away Soon
Ichiro Ozawa
Japan in 20**, Asian Survey
(2009-2013)
F: Domestic
Politics: Review Japanfs 3 Populist leaders (Why are they so popular?)
Wikipedia: Toru Hashimoto
Wikipedia: Japan
Restauration Party
Wikipedia: Yuriko Koike
Wikipedia: Yamamoto Taro
NY Times: Japan
where populism fails
Why
Japan has no Donald Trump
What
shape will populism take in modern Japan?
15 (7/13). Final Exam
Other Readings
Japanese Welfare State
Goesta Esping-Andersen (1997) Hybrid or Unique?: the Japanese Welfare State Between Europe and America
Estevez-Abe et al (2001) Social Protection and the Formation of Skills: A Reinterpretation of the Welfare State
HIWATARI Nobuhiro (2009) Review of Estevez-Abe's "Welfare and Capitalism in Postwar Japan"
MIYAMOTO Taro (2003) Dynamics of the Japanese Welfare State in Comparative Perspective
UZUHASHI Takamitsu (2003) Japanese Model of Welfare State - How was it changed through the Lost Decade of the 1990s?
Charles Weathers (2009), Nonregular Workers and Inequality in Japan
TAKAO Yasuo (2009) Aging and Political Participation in JapanNagai, Akiko (2005), Marriage for Social Recognition and Subsequent Married Life.
Miwa Satoshi (2005), Educational Homogamy in Contemporary Japan.
Mayumi Nakamura (2005), University Education for Marital Status Attainment for Japanese Women.
Social Science Japan Newsletter December 2005, 6-14, Genda, Yuji (2007), Jobless Youths and the NEET Problem in Japan, Social Science Japan Journal, 10(1), 23-40.The Politics of Economic Nationalism in Japan
Morishima, Michio (2000), The Japanese Financial System: Its Solidarity and Vulnerability, in Japan at a Deadlock, Macmillan UK.
Baumol, Litan, and Schramm (2007), Capitalism: The Different Types and Their Impacts on Growth, in Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity., Yale University Press.
Baumol, Litan, and Schramm (2007), Capitalism: The Big-Firm Wealthy Economies: Preventing Retreat and Stagnation, in Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity., Yale University Press.