JPN225 Japanese Society

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Ing. Ivo Plšek, M.A., M. P. P., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Ivo Plšek, M.A., M. P. P., Ph.D.
Japanese Studies Centre – Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Japanese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 10:00–11:40 K24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course is designed for the students of the bachelor program who are interested in deeper understanding of modern Japanese society, including its broader cultural and historical framework. The students will learn how to interpret the various social processes which have occurred in the last 150 years occurred in Japan.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will be able to
define general principles of functioning of modern Japanese society
explain how Japanese society functions in a historical context.
recognize major trends and breaks in the historical development of Japan sine the Tokugawa period
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the study of japanese modern society
  • 2.Tokugawa Shogunate: Shogun, Emperor and the Bakuhan system
  • 3.Tokugawa Shogunate Part 2: Sankin Kontai, Kokudaka and Social Structure
  • 4.Tokugawa Shogunate Part 3: Christian century and international relations
  • 5. The Bakumatsu period (1854 - 1868)
  • 6. Meiji Revolution Part 1: Leaders and the Iwakura mission
  • 7. Meiji Revolution Part 2: Reforms, Outcomes
  • 8. Imperial Japan: Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars
  • 9. Taiwan and Korea under the Japanese rule
  • 10. Taisho Democracy
  • 11. Militarism in Japan and the Pacific War
  • 12. American occupation of Japan 1945 - 1952
  • 13. Japan 1952 - 1989
Literature
  • Japan (Orig.) : Dějiny Japonska [Reischauer, 2000]. info
  • Reischauer, Edwin O., The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity, Tokyo, Charles E Tuttle 1990
  • Nakane, Chie, Japanese Society, Berkeley : University of California Press, 1970
  • KINGSTON, Jeff. Contemporary Japan : history, politics, and social change since the 1980s. 1. ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, ix, 313. ISBN 9781405191937. info
  • Sources of Japanese tradition. Edited by Andrew E. Barshay - Wm. Theodore De Bary - Carol Gluck - Arthur E. Tie. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005, xlvi, 1399. ISBN 9780231129848. info
  • DOWER, John W. Embracing defeat : Japan in the wake of World War II. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999, 676 stran. ISBN 0393046869. info
  • DUUS, Peter. Modern Japan. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998, xv, 376. ISBN 0395746043. info
  • Asia in western and world history : a guide for teaching. Edited by Carol Gluck. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1997, xviii, 101. ISBN 1563242648. info
  • The Cambridge history of Japan. Edited by Peter Duus. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, xviii, 866. ISBN 9780521657280. info
  • DOWER, John W. War without mercy : race and power in the Pacific war. Toronto: Pantheon books, 1986, 398 s. ISBN 0394751728. info
  • GLUCK, Carol. Japan's modern myths : ideology in the late Meiji period. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985, xi, 407. ISBN 0691008124. info
  • NORMAN, E. Herbert. Origins of the modern Japanese State. Edited by John W. Dower. New York: Pantheon Books, 1975, vii, 497. ISBN 039449413X. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussions, self-study.
Assessment methods
Multiple choice final exam.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo japanistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2023/JPN225