This course introduces various aspects of Japanese culture, including history, geography, religion, government, politics, customs and traditions. After a broad historical overview beginning in prehistory, this course focuses on the Tokugawa period as the bedrock for understanding modern Japanese society as a mass society. Taught in English.
This course satisfied MLO2: Culture. This course looked at Japanese history, civilization, and culture from the prehistoric Joumon period up until the beginning of the Edo period, when Japan closed itself off from the world. The class largely gave equal weight to each period and we examined aspects of culture from each one. In the Joumon period we looked at their pottery and examined how most of their pottery vessels had been marked with ropes to create patterns, which is what led to the name for the period. 縄文, the name for the era written in kanji, when broken into its two seperate kanji, means straw rope art. The first kanji means straw rope, while the second kanji can mean art, style, or culture. We also looked recreations of their settlements. Then we moved onto the mysterious Yayoi period, of which very little remains. We learned that they came from mainland Asia, via the Korean peninsula and with them brought the knowledge of bronze making as well as rice cultivation. Rice cultivation changed the face of Japan and today its effects are still largely present and felt. We also learned about the semi-mythical figure, the Empress Himiko, the first recorded emperor or empresses in Japan. We then moved onto the Kofun period. We did not stay as long in this period to give deference to the classical periods following it, but we did study their large keyhole shaped tombs.
In the Asuka era we learned about Prince Shoutoku who championed Buddhism in Japan and also established the first constitution of Japan, known as the Seventeen-article constitution. The Asuka also saw the first use of the word 日本 to refer to Japan, the name it still uses for itself today. We then moved onto the Nara period, which became known as such because the capital of the country moved to where the present-day city Nara is. This period produced both Kojiki and Nihon Shoki books that told stories of early Japan and solidified the creation myth of the country. The Manyoushuu was also compiled in this period, which is a collection of what was considered the best of poetry of the country and is still highly regarded today. In class we read excerpts that had been translated into English from all of these books. We also learned about how near the end of the period Emperor Shoumu decided to spread Buddhism even further in Japan and ordered the construction of Toudai-ji. Afterwards we learned about the Heian period. In the Heian period, what is largely considered the first novel ever written was created. This novel was Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji. We read some chapters from it and examined the ways of life and culture of the Heian court. Today the book is still considered a masterpiece of Japanese literature.
Afterwards we moved onto studying feudal Japan. We learned how after the decline of the Heian court the centralized governing power fractured and was scattered throughout the land. The emperor though still in existence no longer held the same power that he once did. Instead two powerful families rose to prominence, the Taira and the Minamoto. Their bloody struggle was known as the Genpei War. Later their struggle was recorded down as epic novel The Tale of the Heike. The Tale of the Heike is regarded alongside The Tale of Genji as being the two most important pieces of ancient Japanese literature. We read chapters from it as well and like in the other, had to learn to keep track of all the different names for the same people and families. We then studied the what is often known as the Warring States period with special attention paid to the ending of it. We studied how Oda Nobunaga worked to reunite the country and though he did not see his vision come to pass, his follower Toyotomi Hideyoshi was able to realize his goal, but upon his death the shogunate did not go to his son as intended but to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
This course satisfied MLO2: Culture. This course looked at Japanese history, civilization, and culture from the prehistoric Joumon period up until the beginning of the Edo period, when Japan closed itself off from the world. The class largely gave equal weight to each period and we examined aspects of culture from each one. In the Joumon period we looked at their pottery and examined how most of their pottery vessels had been marked with ropes to create patterns, which is what led to the name for the period. 縄文, the name for the era written in kanji, when broken into its two seperate kanji, means straw rope art. The first kanji means straw rope, while the second kanji can mean art, style, or culture. We also looked recreations of their settlements. Then we moved onto the mysterious Yayoi period, of which very little remains. We learned that they came from mainland Asia, via the Korean peninsula and with them brought the knowledge of bronze making as well as rice cultivation. Rice cultivation changed the face of Japan and today its effects are still largely present and felt. We also learned about the semi-mythical figure, the Empress Himiko, the first recorded emperor or empresses in Japan. We then moved onto the Kofun period. We did not stay as long in this period to give deference to the classical periods following it, but we did study their large keyhole shaped tombs.
In the Asuka era we learned about Prince Shoutoku who championed Buddhism in Japan and also established the first constitution of Japan, known as the Seventeen-article constitution. The Asuka also saw the first use of the word 日本 to refer to Japan, the name it still uses for itself today. We then moved onto the Nara period, which became known as such because the capital of the country moved to where the present-day city Nara is. This period produced both Kojiki and Nihon Shoki books that told stories of early Japan and solidified the creation myth of the country. The Manyoushuu was also compiled in this period, which is a collection of what was considered the best of poetry of the country and is still highly regarded today. In class we read excerpts that had been translated into English from all of these books. We also learned about how near the end of the period Emperor Shoumu decided to spread Buddhism even further in Japan and ordered the construction of Toudai-ji. Afterwards we learned about the Heian period. In the Heian period, what is largely considered the first novel ever written was created. This novel was Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji. We read some chapters from it and examined the ways of life and culture of the Heian court. Today the book is still considered a masterpiece of Japanese literature.
Afterwards we moved onto studying feudal Japan. We learned how after the decline of the Heian court the centralized governing power fractured and was scattered throughout the land. The emperor though still in existence no longer held the same power that he once did. Instead two powerful families rose to prominence, the Taira and the Minamoto. Their bloody struggle was known as the Genpei War. Later their struggle was recorded down as epic novel The Tale of the Heike. The Tale of the Heike is regarded alongside The Tale of Genji as being the two most important pieces of ancient Japanese literature. We read chapters from it as well and like in the other, had to learn to keep track of all the different names for the same people and families. We then studied the what is often known as the Warring States period with special attention paid to the ending of it. We studied how Oda Nobunaga worked to reunite the country and though he did not see his vision come to pass, his follower Toyotomi Hideyoshi was able to realize his goal, but upon his death the shogunate did not go to his son as intended but to Tokugawa Ieyasu.