AST 399

Modern Japan

This course reviews Japanese history from the Yamato state to the collapse of the bubble economy (500-1900s). We first examine how Japanese native culture and government interplayed with imported elements from China and Korea, forming its own distinctive political structure and society in the Tokugawa era (1600-1868). We focus on Japan's modern experiences-state-led nationalism and modernization since Meiji restoration, investigating how Western influence transformed Japanese state, society, culture, and values. We explore the origin, development, and the defeat of Japanese imperialism and militarism, analyzing how race, gender, and nationalities were constructed and manipulated within Japanese empire in the wartime era (1931-45). Finally we examine postwar Japanese democracy and economic prosperity

Units: 3.0