Tokugawa shrine at Nikko
Dr. Thomas Lairson
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Tokugawa shrine at Nikko |
Dr. Thomas Lairson
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Japan is an extraordinarily important country for the United States. It is our second largest trading partner, serves as a major source of savings for the U.S. economy, and is the second largest foreign investor in the U.S. Perhaps more significant, Japan has emerged as one of the world's most competitive manufacturing nations and as one of the main sources of capital. However, the image of Japan as economic juggernaut has recently given way to deep concern over Japan's anemic economy. This dramatic swing from invincible to invalid is in need of analysis and understanding. Of further interest, the financial collapse in the US echos the same events in Japan almost two decades ago. Will Japan's economic fate now befall the US? Only 130 years ago, about the time of the U.S. Civil War, Japan was an economic and military midget. Its economy, level of technology, and military capabilities were distinctly inferior to those in the West. Japan was, in today's parlance, a Third World country. Even 50 years ago, Japan lay devastated from U.S. bombing and was forced to surrender to an occupying alien power. From the perspective of the social scientist and historian, Japan is an exceptionally interesting case study. It presents us with an amazing array of contrasts: The change, over the past 130 years, from a near-feudal economic and political system; the experience of political revolution; the fact that Japan was both the object of and perpetrator of imperialism; rapid economic growth; the episodes of fascism and democracy; military aggression, war and defeat; economic resurgence to the top of the world economy; and now economic basket case again are some of the many aspects of Japan that demand study and explanation. Japan is often cited as the best example of an alternative form of capitalism. What this means and its significance will occupy much of our attention. This course provides
an overview of the historical, political, social, and economic
development of Japan since 1850. About one-third of the course
is devoted to the pre-1945 period. We will concentrate on the
revolutionary impact of the West from 1853-1868, the Meiji Restoration,
the political, economic, and social transformation from 1868-1900,
and the conjunction of imperialism, democracy, fascism, aggression,
and war between 1894-1945. Our post-1945 focus is the unusual
system of political economy that many believe is responsible
for Japan's economic success and for its economic failure. We
will consider the nature of business-government relations, the
character of Japanese enterprise, the level of technological
capabilities, Japan's foreign relations, the recent economic
and political crisis, and Japan's future direction.
Grade for the Course: There is no curve for the grade in this course; that is, you must meet an absolute standard set by me to succeed in the course. This means everyone can obtain an "A" but everyone can also receive an "F."
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CLASS
The schedule for the essay exams is indicated below. MAKEUP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN ONLY FOR A DOCUMENTED MEDICAL EXCUSE OR OTHER SIMILAR DOCUMENTED REASON. YOU SHOULD MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO CONTACT ME BEFORE THE TIME FOR THE SCHEDULED EXAM TO ARRANGE A MAKEUP. (The easiest way is tlairson@rollins.edu )THE DUE TIME FOR THE FINAL EXAM CANNOT BE CHANGED. NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED BEYOND THE TIME AND DATE DUE. A LATE PAPER RECEIVES A ZERO. Class attendance is mandatory; participation in class is strongly encouraged and is evaluated as a large proportion of your grade. I am interested in your asking and answering question, raising issues for discussion, and commenting on the ideas of others. Unexcused
absences (excused absences are a rare and exceptional thing)
beyond three (3) will result in a very serious penalty: 1/12
of your final course grade per missed class. Rollins College has adopted an academic Honor Code. Students are expected to conduct themselves with complete honesty in all academic work and activities in this course. Violations of the Honor Code include plagiarism, cheating, unauthorized collaboration, submitting work prepared for another course, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty by another student, and violation of test conditions. It is your obligation as a student in this class to learn what these violations entail and to behave accordingly. Ignorance is an unacceptable defense. Violations of the honor include failure in the course and potential dismissal from the college.
January
April
May
Paper Descriptions: The two papers are related to each other. The general area for the paper topics have already been defined, along with part of the readings for the topics. The first paper involves picking an area for research, reporting on these readings and developing ideas for the second paper. The second paper involves defining more precisely a topic for the paper, conducting additional research and writing a paper around a clear thesis that you have developed. Paper #1 You are to choose from the topics and readings below and write a 5-6 page paper discussing in detail the reading(s) assigned. The discussion must include: the thesis of the reading and its major arguments; the topic from this reading that you want to write about; and a statement of the main things you need to learn about and know in order to write paper #2. After completion, you will need to schedule a meeting with me to discuss this paper and the follow-on paper. March 5 First paper due by 5pm
Paper Topics and Readings: Meiji Personalities: Nishikawa Shunsaku, "Fukuzawa Yukichi,"
Technology and Meiji Economic Growth Tessa Morris-Suzuki, The Technological Transformation of Japan (Cambridge, 1994) Chapters 3-4.
Technology and Contemporary Japan
The Nanjing Massacre Kazuhiko Togo, "A Moratorium on Yasukuni Visits"
Issues in Japanese Political Economy Michael Porter, "Fixing What Really Ails Japan"
JPRI Occasional Paper No. 22 August 2001
Japanese Culture and Politics Gavan McCormack, JPRI Occasional Paper No. 17 (September
2000)
Japan and Asia JPRI Working Paper No. 95, November 2003 Japanese Security Colum
Murphy, "Testing Japan's Pacifist Resolve"
Energy Michael Penn, "Oil and Power: The Rise and Fall of the Japan-Iran Partnership in Azadegan" Is Japan a Leader in Combating Global
Warming? The Wind-Power Problem
Women in Japan (any four) Japan's
Hybrid Women
Inequality in Japan
Lean Production
Additional bibliography on Meiji era Japan is here Paper #2 This paper needs to build on paper #1. That is, you need to develop a paper that uses the ideas from paper #1 but discussed in a more focused way. You will need to define a topic for this paper, conduct the research, define a thesis, and write the paper. Your sources must be mostly academic (not popular) - there must be a minimum of two . This paper is to be about 10 pages and may incude no more than 10% of paper # 1. April 17 Second paper Due by 5pm
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