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J50 JAPANESE CIVILIZATION FALL 2013

Instructor Torquil Duthie Email: duthie@humnet.ucla.edu
Office Hours: TR 2-3 pm, in 272A Royce

Teaching Assistants Matthew Hayes Email: matthewh28@ucla.edu
Office hours: TBA

Hanmee Na Kim Email: hanmeena@ucla.edu
Office hours: TBA

Tommy Tran Email: jinmunhak@gmail.com
Office hours: TBA

Aki Yamada Email: akiyamada124@gmail.com
Office hours: TBA

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND FORMAT
This course is a survey of Japanese civilization structured chronologically from prehistoric
times to the present. Students will learn how Japanese cultures developed historically in
relation to their political and socioeconomic contexts, as well as in relation to continental
East Asia and the rest of the world. The course will highlight historically significant events
and figures as well as major literary and artistic themes. No prior knowledge of Japan or
Japanese is necessary to enroll. The class meets for two 75 minute lectures per week--
which are designed to provide an overall picture of each historical period--and one 50
minute discussion section (in a smaller group of 25 students), which focuses on one or two
specific readings from that period.

Lectures: TR 12:30-1:45pm Haines 39 (Duthie) Starts R 9/26

Sections: 1A: Fri 8:00-8:50am Royce 148 (Matt Hayes) Starts F 10/04
1B: Fri 9:00-9:50am Royce 148 (Matt Hayes) Starts F 10/04
1C: Fri 9:00-9:50am Royce 156 (Aki Yamada) Starts F 10/04
1D: Fri 10:00-10:50am Royce 148 (Aki Yamada) Starts F 10/04
1E: Fri 12:00-12:50pm Royce 148 (Tommy Tran) Starts F 10/04
1F: Fri 1:00-1:50pm Royce 148 (Tommy Tran) Starts F 10/04
1G: Fri 11:00-11:50am Pub Aff 1246 (Hanmee Kim) Starts F 10/04
1H: Fri 12:00-12:50pm Rolfe 3108 (Hanmee Kim) Starts F 10/04

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

1) Written tests on the content of textbook and lectures: a) Midterm exam (35% of
final grade), b) Final exam (35% of final grade). Class lectures will explain and elaborate
on the material in the textbook. The lectures require you to use and develop the ability to
1) take written notes based on the instructors oral presentation, 2) determine which
information is more and which less important, 3) summarize the most relevant points in
the lecture in order to prepare for the midterm and final. Some students are more
proficient at these skills than others, but all of you need to develop it: the ability to listen
to someone speaking, take notes, and summarize the main points of what they have said
is a skill that will be very useful for the rest of your undergraduate years and for many
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professions and disciplines after you graduate. I use some PowerPoint slides to outline the
main points of a lecture, but the slides do not contain all the relevant information and they
are not made available outside of lecture.
The midterm and final exams will consist of 1) giving short answers (8-10 lines) to both
general and specific questions on topics that have been covered in the textbook and in
lecture, 2) a series of identifications of major figures, places, topics, and 3) identification of
written passages from the primary texts assigned for lectures and discussion sections.

2) Class Participation and Response Papers for Discussion Sections (30% of final
grade). You should read the assigned material and prepare thoroughly for and participate
actively in discussion section. You will also be required to post short response papers on
Courseweb before each discussion section. Response postings should be concise (about
one or two well-written paragraphs, approximately 300 words in total) and reflect a
thoughtful engagement with the assigned texts. Response papers are graded on a four
point scale, as follows:

0=posting not submitted (equivalent to an F). Note that late postings are not allowed.
1=posting is poor, i.e., very short and of low quality (equivalent to a C grade). You have
missed the main points of the reading/the posting is too short/it is poorly written.
2=posting is acceptable (equivalent to a B grade). You have understood most of the reading,
but not fully/your writing is a little unclear.
3=posting is good/very good (equivalent to an A grade). You have understood the main
points of the text, have addressed the topic thoughtfully, and expressed yourself
eloquently.
4=posting is excellent (equivalent to an A grade + bonus point). Your posting goes beyond
what is required for the class (this is a rare grade).

Please note that writing longer postings does not guarantee any extra points. In fact,
postings that are too long (over 500 words) will be penalized. The best way to improve your
postings is by listening carefully and participating actively in discussion section, where
you will become aware, thanks to the points made by other students and by the TA, of how
you might have misunderstood the reading, or failed to make yourself clear in your posting.

At the end of the quarter your posting scores will be added up and will make up 15% of
your grade. Another 15% will be made up from class participation points during your
discussion sections (there are eight in total). You can earn 3 points per section (total of 24
points). If you dont attend class, you will receive 0 points for that class. The simple act of
attending will earn you 1 point. The other 2 points you have to earn by participating in the
discussion. You will not earn points if you are inattentive, dont participate, fall asleep, do
work for other classes, or access social media during section. If you have a genuine reason
for missing class and present written documentation to that effect to your TA, we will not
count that class when we average your scores.

OFFICE HOURS
Students are encouraged to visit the instructors or their TAs office hours. If office hours
conflict with another of your classes, please email us and we will arrange another time to
meet. If you have a question about lecture, you should go the instructors office hours. If
your question is about discussion section or response postings, go to see your TA. If you
have to miss lecture for a compelling reason and would like to find out what was covered
in lecture, you are welcome to visit the instructors office hours, but please make sure that
you read the material for the lesson you missed beforehand. Remember that we are here to
help you, but we cant help you if you dont come to us.
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REQUIRED TEXTS (AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE)
Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie and Suzanne Gay. A Brief History of Japanese
Civilization. Second, Third, or Fourth Editions. Cengage, 2006-2013.
All other course readings are available as pdf files in the Course Materials section of
Courseweb.


SCHEDULE

Week 0:
9/26: Introductory session: Structure and objectives of course.


Week 1: Early Japan (up to 794)

10/01: The Jmon, Yayoi, and Tomb periods.
Main Topic: The archaeological record of prehistoric Japan.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 1 (2
nd
ed., pp. 3-16; 4
th
ed., pp. 3-15).
Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians, in DeBary et al., ed. Sources of
Japanese Tradition, Vol. I (Columbia University Press, 2001), pp. 6-10.

10/03: The Asuka and Nara periods.
Main Topics: The formation of the early Japanese state.
Relations with Korea and China.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 2 (2
nd
ed., pp. 19-46; (4
th
ed., pp. 18-43)


10/04: Discussion Section: Selections from Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki, 712).


Week 2: Classical Japan (794-1185)

10/8: The Heian Period.
Main Topics: Courtier society and political system; Heian Buddhism; Heian poetry,
diaries, and fiction: imperial salons.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 3 (2
nd
ed., pp. 49-77; 4
th
ed., pp. 47-69)
Selections from the Ancient and Modern Collection (Kokinsh, 905).

10/10: NO LECTURE

10/11: Discussion Section: The Pillow Book (TJL, pp. 247-57, 275-81)


Week 3: Medieval Japan I (1185-1333)

10/15: The Kamakura period.
Main Topics: The breakdown of the imperial order and the rise of warrior class.
Medieval Buddhism.
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Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 4 (2
nd
ed., pp. 79-99; 4
th
ed., pp. 71-90)
Selected setsuwa tales.

10/17: The Kamakura Period.
Main Topics: Recluse literature; the representation of war.

Readings: Selections from Tales of the Heike

10/18: Discussion section: Kamo no Chmei, An Account of my Hut (Hjki, 1212)


Week 4: Medieval Japan II and the Warring States Period (1336-1600)

10/22: The Muromachi period.
Main Topics: The Northern and Southern courts and the Ashikaga shogunate.
Medieval Shint; Literary culture and patronage; nin War and social
disorder.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 5 (2
nd
ed., pp. 101-19; 4
th
ed., pp. 91-110)

10/24: The Momoyama Period.
Main Topics: The three unifiers.
The Christian missionaries.
The Way of Tea.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 6 (2
nd
ed., pp. 123-141; 4
th
ed., pp. 113-128)
Hideyoshi (SJT I, pp. 458-63) and Korea day by day (SJT I, pp. 467-
72)

10/25: Discussion section: Lazy Tar (Monogusa Tar)


Week 5: Midterm Exam

10/29: Midterm exam (in lecture)

10/31: Special lecture.

11/1: No discussion sections

Week 6: Early Modern Japan (1600-1800)

11/5: The Early to Mid Edo Period
Main topics: The bakufu government.
Tokugawa ideology.
The city: samurai culture and merchant culture.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 7 (2
nd
ed., pp. 143-166; 4
th
ed., 130-150)

11/7: Early to Mid Edo Period
Main Topics: Literary culture and the city: Haikai and popular fiction
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Theater and the pleasure quarters; samurai ideals

Readings: Chikamatsu, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki shinj, 1703)


11/8: Discussion section: Selections from Japans Eternal Storehouse (Nippon Eitaigura,
1688)


Week 7: Modern Japan 1 (1800-1894)

11/12: Late Edo, Early Meiji periods
Main Topics: The decline of the bakufu government
Perrys black ships
The Meiji restoration.

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 8 (2
nd
ed., pp. 169-191; 4
th
ed., pp. 153-173)


11/14: Meiji Period
Main Topics: The Meiji Constitution
Meiji Society and Culture
The Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 9 (2
nd
ed., pp. 192-215; 4
th
ed., pp. 175-195)

11/15: Discussion section: Mori gai, The Dancing Girl (Maihime) (1890).


Week 8: Modern Japan 2 (1895-1945)

11/19: Taish and Early Shwa periods
Main topics:
Japanese national identity
Literary and cultural currents

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 10 (2
nd
ed., pp. 216-239; 4
th
ed., pp. 197-219)


11/21: Early Shwa period
Main Topics: Imperial Japan, The Fifteen Year War

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 11 (2
nd
ed., pp. 240-257; 4
th
ed., pp. 221-234)
Ishibashi Tanzan writings.
Konoe Fumimaro writings.

11/22: Discussion section: Ishikawa Tatsuz, Soldiers Alive (1938).


Week 9: Thanksgiving

11/26: Special lecture.
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11/26: Thanksgiving Holiday.


Week 10: Postwar and Contemporary Japan (1945-)

12/3: Postwar Japan.
Main Topics: The postwar reconstruction and economic boom.
Japans postwar position in the world
Postwar identity

Readings: A Brief History, Chapter 12 (2
nd
ed., pp. 258-286; 4
th
ed., pp. 236-261)
The 1947 Constitution.
Japan-US Security Treaty.
e Kenzabur, Growing up during the Occupation.

12/5: Contemporary Japan
Main Topics: History and textbooks; Japanese national identity.

Readings: A Brief History, end of Chapter 12 and Afterword (2
nd
ed., pp. 287-297;
4
th
ed., pp. 262-276)
A High-School History Textbook: Writings by Ienaga Sabur, Fujiwara
Akira and Kobayashi Yoshinori.

12/6: Discussion section: Amino Yoshihiko Deconstructing Japan.



Final exam: Friday, December 13, 2013, 11:30 PM - 2:30 PM



If you wish to request an accommodation due to a suspected or documented
disability, please inform your instructor and contact the Office for Students with
Disabilities as soon as possible at A255 Murphy Hall, (310) 825-1501, (310) 206-
6083(telephone device for the deaf). Website: www.osd.ucla.edu