This course provides a critical introduction to postwar Japanese society. Readings will examine the impact of postwar social, economic, and political changes on the lives of different social groups, including salaried workers, women, ethnic minorities, activists and youth. Using a sociological angle, we will explore power, ideology, and social change in postwar Japanese society. This course may be counted toward a major in Asian studies or special major in Japanese.

Dower, John. 1999. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: W.W. Norton.

Partner, Simon. 1999. Assembled in Japan: electrical goods and the making of the Japanese consumer. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Ogasawara, Yuko. 1998. Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Allison, Anne. 1994. Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Turner, Christena. 1995. Japanese Workers in Protest. Berkeley: University of California Press.

White, Merry. 1993. The Material Child: Coming of Age in Japan and America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Readings on course website

Recommended:

Gordon, Andrew. 2003. A modern history of Japan: from Tokugawa times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press.

Discussion paper

Each week, two students will present on the topic of the day and lead the discussion. Presentations should be based on a five-page discussion paper, which outlines and critically assesses the main argument of the readings. You should not merely summarize the readings in your paper. The discussion paper is due on the day of your presentation.

Midterm take-home exam

Topics for the midterm take-home exam will be distributed in class two weeks prior to the due date. In your essay, you will be asked to discuss central problems raised by the assigned readings and lectures so far. The essay should be double spaced and five pages long.

Literature review

You should write a five-page literature review on a topic related to your research paper. In your review, you should provide an overview of the existing literature on your topic of research and outline the main arguments advanced by different authors. The literature review is due November 8th.

Research paper:

A one-page proposal, which states your topic and major question, as well as a short bibliography is due October 25. The final paper should be 12-15 pages long. Drafts of final papers will be discussed in class on November 22 and 29.

Attendance, class participation, and webmemos:

You should attend all class meetings, read the assigned materials in time for class and actively participate in class discussion. You should also make weekly postings on the course website, in which you reflect on the readings of that week. Postings are due at 8am on the day of class. The discussion board for the postings is located under `communication' - `discussion boards.'

Evaluation:

Discussion paper - day of presentation 20%

Midterm essay - Oct. 4 20%

Literature review - Nov. 8 10%

Research paper - Dec. 10 30%

Attendance, class participation, webmemos - weekly 20%

Late papers will result in a reduction of your grade.

Course website:

You can access the course website by clicking on "blackboard" under "finding what you need" on the library homepage (http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/). Your login for Blackboard is your username preceded by sc. (e.g. sc.username). If you don't know your password, use the `forgot your password?' function. The title of the course should appear on the upper right hand side after you login. To access required readings, click on "Course Documents" on the course website.

POSTWAR JAPAN: AN INTRODUCTION

August 30

1. Introduction

September 6

2. New beginnings: War and Occupation

Film screening: Occupied Japan: An Experiment in Democracy, Oregon Public Television (1996, 60 min)

Dower, John. 1999. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: W.W. Norton, chapters 1-4

September 13

3. Democracy and postwar reconstruction

Dower, John. 1999. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: W.W. Norton. Chapters 6-9, 12-14, 17 & Epilogue

September 20

4. Japan's Economic Miracle and the New Middle Class

Partner, Simon. 1999. Assembled in Japan: electrical goods and the making of the Japanese consumer. Berkeley: University of California Press. Introduction, chapters 1-5

Recommended:

Gordon, Andrew. 2003. A modern history of Japan: from Tokugawa times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press, chapter 14

September 27

5. Office Ladies, salarymen, and the company system

Ogasawara, Yuko. 1998. Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

October 4 - Midterm essay due

6. Corporate entertainment and the construction of gender identities

Allison, Anne. 1994. Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Library research session

OCTOBER HOLIDAY

POLITICS AND PROTEST

October 18

7. Protest and democracy

Turner, Christena. 1995. Japanese Workers in Protest. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Recommended:

Gordon, Andrew. 2003. "Political Struggles and Settlements of the High Growth Era,"A modern history of Japan: from Tokugawa times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 15

October 25 - Research paper proposal due

8. Women and politics

Pharr, Susan J. 1981. "The Background to the Contemporary Struggle: Gaining Political Rights in Japan." Political Women in Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Uno, Kathleen S. 1993. "The Death of the "Good Wife, Wise Mother"?" Pp. 293-322 in Postwar Japan as History, edited by A. Gordon. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Hastings, Sally. 1996. "Woman Legislators in the Postwar Diet." Pp. 271-300 in Re-Imaging Japanese Women, edited by A. Imamura. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Steinhoff, Patricia G. 1996. "Three Women Who Loved the Left: Radical Women Leaders in the Japanese Army Movement." in Re-Imaging Japanese Women, edited by A. Imamura. Berkeley: University of California Press.

INEQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND SOCIAL CHANGE

November 1

9. Race and ethnicity

Ryang, Sonia. 2000. Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin. New York: Routledge. Chapters by

Sonia Ryang, "Introduction: resident Koreans in Japan"

Chikako Kashiwazaki, "The politics of legal status: the equation of nationality with ethnonational identity"

Koichi Iwabuchi, "Political correctness, postcoloniality, and the self-representation of `Koreanness' in Japan"

Jeffry T. Hester, "Kids between nations: ethnic classes in the construction of Korean identities in Japanese public schools."

Recommended:

Hiromitsu Inokuchi, "Korean ethnic schools in occupied Japan, 1945-1952"

November 8 - Literature review due

10. Youth

White, Merry. 1993. The Material Child: Coming of Age in Japan and America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Recommended:

Rohlen, Thomas P. 1983. Japan's High Schools. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Conclusion

November 15

11. Japanese popular culture at home and abroad

Kinsella, Sharon. 2000. "Adult Manga and the Regeneration of National Culture." Adult Manga: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japanese Society. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Chapter 3

Allison, Anne. 2000. "Sailor Moon: Japanese Superheroes for Global Girls." Pp. 259-278 in Japan Pop!, edited by T. J. Craig. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe.

Shiraishi, Saya S. 2000. "Doraemon Goes Abroad." Pp. 287-307 in Japan Pop!, edited by T. J. Craig. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Iwabuchi, Koichi. 2004. "How "Japanese" is Pokemon?" Pp. 53-79 in Pikachu's Global Adventure, edited by J. Tobin. Durham: Duke University Press.

Recommended:

Schodt, Frederik L. 1996. Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. Chapter 1

November 22

12. Gender and sexual identities

Film: Shinjuku Boys, directed by Kim Longinotto, Jano Williams, and John Mister (1996, 53 min)

Lunsing, Wim. "Japan: Finding Its Way?" in Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak, and Andre Krouwel (eds.), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics, pp. 293-325, (Phiadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999).

Lunsing, Wim. 2003. "What masculinity?: transgender practices among Japanese `men'." Pp. 20-36 in Men and masculinities in Contemporary Japan, edited by J. E. Roberson and N. Suzuki. New York: RoutledgeCurzon.

Research paper presentations

THANKSGIVING BREAK

November 29

13. Postwar Japan: a reassessment

William W. Kelly, "Finding a Place in Metropolitan Japan," in Andrew Gordon (ed.), Postwar Japan as History, pp. 189-216 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993)

Research paper presentations

A final draft of your research paper is due December 10, 2004