History 459/659                                                                                                           Prof. Constantine Vaporis
Spring 2002, ACIV011                                                                                                 Office: Adm. 723 (455-2092)
Class hrs.: Tu Th 1:00-2:15                                                                                            Office hrs. Tu Th 2:15-3:00
email: vaporis@umbc.edu                                                                                              www.research.umbc.edu/~vaporis

Guide to this Webpage:
Course Description
Required Texts and Other Readings
Organization
Grading and Course Requirements
Term Paper
Note on Plagiarism
Graduate Student Requirements
Note on Bibliographic Tools
Japan and the Web
Lectures and Readings
Web-based syllabus

Course Description:
Many have called Japan’s dramatic rise from the ashes of WWII a “miracle.” Our purpose here is to examine the Japanese achievement in an historical context, with the goal of trying to understand how the miracle came about and what has happened to it in the last decade or so. Beginning with Japan’s early modern past and the country’s forced emergence from relative isolation, the course will explore Japan’s rise as a modern state, its plunge into militarism and war, its subsequent emergence as one of the world’s leading nations and its more recent attempts to reform government and to revive the economy. Some of the more specific topics of interest we will cover include new interpretations of the role of Emperor Hirohito, the postwar legacy of WWII in Japan, and the impact of Japanese colonialism-imperialism in Asia.

Required Texts and Other Readings:
Marius Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (2001)
Peter Duus, The Japanese Discovery of America. A Brief History With Documents (1997)
Laura Hein and Mark Selden, ed., Censoring History. Citizenship and  Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States
    (2000)
Richard Kim, Lost Names. Scenes From a Korean Boyhood (reprint  of 1988 edition)
Herbert Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (2001)  **Winner of the Pulitzer Prize**

Organization: Lecture and discussion format, supplemented with educational videos. In addition to the readings listed here, various types of documents will be introduced during the class period and serve as the basis for discussion. A Writing Journal, consisting of extemporaneous, short writing assignments in class as well as reflective entries written at home, will play an important part in the course. This will help you come to class prepared to discuss your ideas and give you training in communicating effectively on-the spot, an important skill to possess regardless of your future profession.

Grading and Course Requirements:
Midterm exam (3/14), 20%
Term paper (due 5/9), 15%
Participation, 10%
Writing Journal, 20%
Comprehensive final exam (5/16), 35%

Regular class attendence is a must, as participation and in class writing exercises (part of the writing journal) are important components of the class.

Term Paper
You will have some choice in the type of term paper or exercise you select. In all cases the paper should be 9-10 pages in length (using 11- or 12-pt. fonts) and must adhere to the department style sheet, copies of which are available at Adm. 731 or on-line on the History Department's web site. Texts must be approved by the professor before you begin to write. Unless otherwise specified below, all submissions are due in my box (in Admin 732) by 3/12. All papers are due 5/9.

You may adopt Plan A, consisting of a comparative book review. Select two books on the same topic and compare the approaches, substance, and conclusions made. A guide to writing book reviews will be handed out in class. A list of suggested topics may help you to make your selection. A Book List is also appended here,

Plan B: Using the same list of suggested topics you may opt to write a more topical, thematic paper, without the emphasis on the books as texts (as in Plan A). You should use at least three monographs for this option.

Alternatively, you may select your own topic, using either approach listed above (Options C and D). There are limitless possibilities here for you to develop a topic of interest. You may center your project on a protest movement, an industry, one or more works of art or buildings, a city, a natural or human-made disaster, etc. Students selecting Plans C and D  must begin to think about your topic early in the semester and submit a one-page proposal by 3/5, one week earlier than under Plans A and B. This extra time may be necessary to refine or redirect your project. In all cases, the sooner you develop your proposal, the better.

Please note: the internet may not be used as a substitute for written sources!

Note on Plagiarism: Plagiarism will result in automatic failure in the course. Due to recent cases of plagiarism at UMBC and in the media (particularly the case of Stephen Ambrose), you are required to complete Kuhn Library's tutorial on plagiarism before beginning to research your term paper. Double clicking on the hot link in the previous sentence will bring you to Unit 5: Citing & Copyright. Click on "Start Here" and begin the 22-page module which consists of lessons and quizzes. Move from lesson to lesson by clicking on the "Next" arrow. Read the lessons and complete the quizzes, then write about half a page on what you have learned about plagiarism as a result of the exercise. Both the tutorial and your comment on it must be completed before I approve your paper topic and you begin to research your paper.

Graduate Student Requirements: are required to fulfill all the course requirements noted above; term papers, however, should be of a length of 20-25 pages (again, text only), the topic for which should be chosen in consultation with the professor.

Note on Bibliographical Tools:
Janet Hunter, Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History (REF  DS881.9.H86 1984) is quite useful and offers short     bibliographies for many entries.

Janet E. Hunter, The Emergence of Modern Japan. An Introductory History Since 1853 (1989) offers a topical approach to Japanese history (e.g., chapters on “Japan and Asia,”“Restoration and Occupation,” “Men and Women.”)

John Dower with Timothy S. George. Japanese History and Culture From  Ancient to Modern Times: Seven Basic Bibliographies, 2nd. Ed. (1995)  REF S835.D676 1986

Harry Wray and Hilary Conroy, ed., Japan Examined : Perspectives on  Modern Japanese History (1983) consists of short historiographic essays on selected topics. Although many of the essays are far too short, this is a good starting point for examining various debates in  Japanese history.

Cambridge History of Japan, esp. Vols. 3-6.

Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (2 sets of this 9-volume work, one in  Reference and one in Stacks Folio, both referenced at DS805.K633)
 

Major Journals:
Journal of Asian Studies, Monumenta Nipponica,Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies--available on JSTOR (go to UMBC Library webpage and search under "Databases" for JSTOR)
Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars
Journal of Asian History, Modern Asian Studies
The Journal of Japanese Studies

Japan and the Web:
As you can imagine, the number of sites pertaining to Japan on the web is seemingly limitless. This syllabus contains several interesting suggestions for you. In addition, listed below are a few sites for English-language periodic publications on contemporary Japan:
Weekly Post [Tokyo; weekly] : http://www.weeklypost.com
Japan Echo [Tokyo; bi-monthly]: http://www.japanecho.com (translated commentaries by Japanese writers)
Japan File [Chuo-ku, Kobe; monthly]: http://www.kto.co.jp
Japan Times [Tokyo daily] http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
Asahi newspaper in English: www.asahi.com/english/english.html
Japan Insight--contemporary Japan site:  www.jinjapan.org/insight/
The self-described “Mother of All Japan Links” (science, technology, business, arts links):
     http://home.earthlink.net/~myama/japan.htm

Hot links to more specific sites of historical interest can be found below.

Web-based Syllabus: The on-line version of this syllabus will be updated periodically. Please use it as a resource. Your comments and suggestions are welcome (please email me).

Lectures and Readings:

Introduction
1/29 (Tu): no reading assignment

Early Modern Society
1/31 (Th): The Making of Modern Japan (MMJ), 32-62, 96-126
2/5 (Tu): MMJ, 63-95, 127-58; Peter Duus, The Japanese Discovery of America (Discovery), 45-48
2/7 (Th): MMJ, 159-222
Focus: What made the Tokugawa “great peace” (taihei) work?

Opening to the West
2/12 (Tu): MMJ, 223-293; Web assignment: Go through the Black Ships Scroll ("Meet Sam" and "Sam's Tour") and write a 1-2 paragraph journal entry on what these images tell us about this encounter between the Americans and the Japanese.
2/14 (Th): Discovery, 52-116
Focus: What was the Japanese perception of the Western threat? Why did Japan become of interest to the West? How did the “coming of the West” in the 1850s affect the domestic political situation in Japan?
 

Restoration and Revolution
2/19 (Th): Discovery, 117-44; MMJ, 294-332
2/21 (Tu): Discovery, 145-84; MMJ, 333-70; additional document: The (Meiji) Charter Oath
Focus: Was the Meiji Restoration a “restoration,” “renovation,” “revolution” or a case of “defensive Westernization”? What did Fukuzawa and other Japanese travelers abroad think about the West? What did they see as its strengths and weaknesses?
 

Samurai pose for "final" portrait.

Modernization and Its Social Costs
2/26 (Tu): MMJ, 371-413; Discovery,185-204;
2/28 (Th): MMJ, 456-94
Focus: What were the social costs of modernization? What role did the state play in the process?

Nishiki-e (woodblock print) of the Ginza
 

Politics, Culture and Thought
3/5 (Tu): on-line document: Meiji Constitution; Natsume Soseki, Kokoro, 1-124. (First read a brief biographical account of the author). The complete text of the book (copyright was apparently not renewed) can be downloaded as a zip file. Reading questions are posted here to assist you.
3/7 (Th): Soseki, Kokoro, 125-248. On-line document: The Rescript on Education
Focus: How would you characterize the Meiji Constitution: democratic? authoritarian? Or what? What rights do the people have? What checks and balances are built in? In what ways did the constitution encourage or hinder the growth of parliamentary democracy?

Optional Writing Journal Assignment (1): Visit the Meiji Mura (Meiji Village), a Jurassic Park type theme park of Meiji period buildings moved from all over Japan to this remote area in central Japan, and write 1-2 paragraphs about the experience. (Of particular note is the front lobby to Frank Lloyd Wright's Tokyo Imperial Hotel.) Examine the variety of buildings in different sections of the park. How have Japanese and Western cultures been accomodated in the buildings?

Optional Writing Journal Assignment (2): Write 1-2 paragraphs about the impact of Western culture on Japanese art after having visited the website "Japanese Art and Western Influence."
 

Early Imperialism
3/12 (Tu): MMJ 414-55; Tayama Katai, “One Soldier,” pp. 142-58  (handout)
Focus: What was the nature of Japanese expansionism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? What were the principal forces propelling it?
 

3/14: Midterm Examination
 

Taisho Democracy and the Interwar Society
3/19 (Tu): MMJ, 495-575
3/21 (Th): Herbert Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (Hirohito), 1-123.
Focus: How "democratic" was Taisho Japan? What forces in Japanese society and in theworld climate worked against democracy? How did the cultivation of the Emperor-to-be ( Crown Prince Hirohito) fit into the larger picutre of  political pluralism?

Spring Break: No class 3/26, 3/28

The Making of an Emperor and the Road to War
4/2 (Tu) and 4/4 (Th): Hirohito, 127-232
Focus: What is Bix’s revisionist perspective on the Showa Emperor? (How do his views compare with Jansen’s (MMJ)? What forces were responsible for the creation of this “new monarch”?
 

Japanese Colonialism and the Dark Valley
4/9 (Tu) and 4/11 (Th): Richard Kim, Lost Names. Scenes From a Korean Boyhood, complete--Reading questions for Lost Names
Focus: How repressive was the wartime state? How would you interpret the 1930’s: militarism? fascism? conservatism?

Japan in China
4/16 (Tu): MMJ 576-624; Hirohito, 387-437
Focus: What kind of “new order” did the Japanese want to construct? How and why did Japan get involved in (and then bogged down in) China?

Click here to read about a new Japanese documentary, "Japanese Devils" (2000), on Japanese actions in China. The film highlights the confessions of fourteen veterans.
 

The Pacific War: From Pearl Harbor to the Atomic Bomb
4/18 (Th): MMJ, 625-74
4/23 (Tu): Hirohito, 439-530
Focus: Did the Japanese or Anglo-Americans bear greater responsibility for the outbreak of the Pacific War? Was the “road to Pearl Harbor” inevitable? What was the role of Emperor Hirohito in the war’s end?

Optional assignment: read portions of Douglas MacEachin, The Final Months of the War With Japan, CIA Intelligence Monograph, 1999, and write a Journal entry on how this declassified material adds to our understanding of the end of the Pacific War.
 

Occupation and Reconstruction
4/25 (Th): MMJ,  675-714; Hirohito, 533-79; document: The Postwar Constitution
4/30 (Tu): Hirohito, 582-646
Focus: What were the aims and goals of the Occupation? Did it alter the course of Japanese history? (How different are prewar and postwar Japan?) To what extent did the Japanese influence or shape the process?

Journal entry: Compare the two constitutions. How much did the new constitution meet the realities of postwar Japan?
 

The Ginza Today

Postwar Society
5/2 (Th): MMJ, 715-65
5/7 (Tu): Laura Hein and Mark Selden, Censoring History. Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States (Censoring), 3-44, 53-93
5/9 (Tu): Censoring, 203-22, 258-85, 150-171
5/14 (Th): Censoring, 127-46

Focus: How have Japanese remembered the war? What have they forgotten? What has impeded their memory, and in what way have politics and historical memory become entangled? How have other nations (U.S. And Germany) constructed  or institutionalizedtheir own memories of war?
 

Optional internet assignment(1) (on the Rape of Nanjing): Read a portion of Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking (1998) and/or listen to her speech--links are available through:   http://ase.tufts.edu/asian/neaas/changlinks.htm--
and consider it in light of Japanese revisionist accounts. Write an entry in your journal on your reactions.
You may also use the on-line site "The Nanjing Atrocities" and do the same.

Optional internet assignment (2): Read the official homepage of Yasukuni Shrine. In your Writing Journal, describe the shrine and the position of its officials on the textbook controversy.
 

FINAL EXAM: 5/16 (Th), 1-3
Summer Vacation!