Course credit
3 credit hours
Course description
Introductory study of Japan: geographical setting, historical background, cultural heritage, social and political systems, and economic development and importance.
Delivery
This course is available in a web-based format, utilizing web pages and WebCT, a computer conferencing program. WebCT requires Internet access and a web browser — no additional software is required. Students may need access to someone who can assist with computer set-up.
Prerequisites
none
Instructor
Dr. Taifa Yu, Associate Professor of East Asian Politics
Since beginning to teach at the University of Northern Iowa in 1988, I have taught World Politics, Comparative Foreign Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy toward East Asia, East Asian Politics focusing on China and Japan, and Political Economy of East Asia, which includes Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries in addition to China and Japan. Japan figures prominently in the courses that I have taught.
My interest in Japan grew out of a puzzle over the divergent paths of development that China and Japan undertook in response to challenges posed by the Western imperialist powers. Although confronted with the same challenge, China and Japan found different solutions: communism for China and a proper mix of Westernization and Japanese tradition for Japan. Discrepancy in the outcome of developmental strategies they had adopted is glaringly transparent with Japan leading China in every category of development. Japan, the student that was on the receiving end of the Chinese culture, has excelled over its teacher, China. Developmental gap with Japan is being narrowed only in recent years after China no longer stubbornly cleaves to communism or Maoism as a developmental model and actively incorporates “Western management methods.” Japan’s economic “miracle”—particularly in view of its meager natural resources—has prompted many countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, and India to look east mainly at Japan as a model for emulation.
Eager to gain a better understanding of Japan’s national strength, I self-financed a three-month sojourn in its cultural capital, Kyoto and, with the help of a scholarship from a Japanese university, lived also for three months in Tokyo. On-the-spot observation complements my knowledge obtained though reading books, journals, and newspapers. I have been studying Japanese language for years sometimes with the help of a tutor and sometimes on my own. My Japanese has not yet progressed to the point of native proficiency, but it is good enough to allow me to enjoy Japanese TV dramas and soap operas and read mainstream Japanese newspapers such as Asahi and Yomiuri without much difficulty. Obtaining native fluency in Japanese—needless to say, a daunting task—remains my goal to be accomplished in the very near future.
Evaluation
12 assignments, 4 exams
Course overview
The course is designed to acquaint students with major Japanese cultural traits and its modern history that begins with the Meiji revolution resulting in the creation of a modern Japanese state and that ends in the downfall of the Liberal Democratic Party and other political changes in recent years. Enjoy the course!
This course, Non-Western Cultures: Modern Japan, satisfies the non-Western requirement in the Liberal Arts core. It seeks to introduce several aspects of Japanese cultures—group consciousness, gender roles, customs, and other cultural traits—to students and to familiarize them with contemporary Japanese history that began in 1600. Japan’s impressive economic development, which is envied and emulated by many developing countries, is often attributed to its cultural tradition and its national character. True or not, this view highlights the importance to understand Japanese culture and its finer points, with the goal to compare and contrast cultural differences, to enhance awareness of cultural diversity, and to promote better cross-cultural understanding. During the period between 1600 and the present, several epoch-making events have taken place: the transformation of Japan’s feudal society into a modern state (1868-1912); imperialism that culminated in the drop of two atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in its defeat, and in the discredit of the military; rapid and swift economic recovery during the post-war years and its emergence as the world’s second largest economy; and the end of the hegemonic role of the Liberal Democratic party that retained power for over 50 years. We need to pay attention to the forces that shape Japan’s history at each critical moment of transition.
Written assignments
For each unit, there is a written assignment. Students should limit each answer to two pages.
Each written assignment is worth 5 percent of your grade; together all twelve assignments account for 60 percent of your final grade.
Examinations
Each exam will cover three assignment units and have 25 multiple choice questions. Altogether there are four examinations, which account for 40 percent of your final grade. That is, each examination accounts for 10 percent of the grade.
Grading
Textbook(s)
Roger Davies and Osamu Ikeno. Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture. Boston: Tuttle Publishing Company. 2002.*
Andrew Gordon. A Modern History of Japan: from Tokugawa Times to the Present. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003.**
*Read the questions at the end of each chapter, and some questions cannot be answered without having the opportunity to observe and interact with the Japanese. Many of those questions sensitize us to cultural differences and diversity, however.
**The author has developed study questions for the entire book. They are available on line: www.oxfordjapan.org. Reading those questions will help you understand the key points in each chapter.
Texts are available from www.bookfinder.com
University Book and Supply carries most books used in guided independent study.
To search for textbooks by course, click on "Select a Campus Term" and select Univ.Northern Iowa - Guided Independent Study
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For more information
Cindy Klodt, Guided Independent Study
UNI Continuing and Distance Education
319-273-2123 or 800-772-1746
ContinuingEd@uni.edu