AKP-Doshisha Joint Seminar

Professor Naoko Nemoto, Mount Holyoke College, AKP Resident Director
Professor Masami Izumi, Doshisha University

The Joint Seminar represents a unique opportunity to explore issues in comparative culture in a class comprised of both AKP and Doshisha students. The class format includes panel presentations, discussions, joint projects, and a series of guest lectures by Japanese and foreign experts from the Kyoto environs who will address various aspects of American and Japanese culture from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

The topic of this course is American and Japanese youth culture, a comparative exploration of contemporary youth culture, with considerable attention to trends in present-day society that inform the behavior, attitudes, and preferences of youth. By youth culture, we mean not only pop culture (manga, media, fashion), but also social views and issues (religion, politics) that are important to young people today. Questions of gender and race will be given special consideration. One of the main purposes of the course is to promote discussion on real issues, between Doshisha and AKP students. Strategies for promoting good class discussion, including pairs and small groups, will take precedence over organizational purity and continuity. There will be a course packet of readings, but no required texts for this course. Students will complete fieldwork and give a presentation in small groups, and also write a final paper.

Japanese Cinema

Professor Abraham Ravett, Hampshire College

"I think that to find what is real one must look very closely at one's world, to search for those things which contribute to this reality which one feels under the surface. These are few and one uses them to create. These are the core around which the world moves, the axis around which it turns...To be an artist means to search for, find, and look at these things; to be an artist means never to avert one's eyes."--Akira Kurosawa

"I want to portray a man's character by eliminating all the dramatic devices. I want to make people feel what life is like without delineating all the dramatic ups and downs."--Yasujiro Ozu

"My films do not treat sensational events or, for that matter, contain much drama. Depicted are images of everyday Japan and the daily lives of its people."--Sumiko Haneda

This course will involve a detailed study of the Japanese cinema. It will highlight works in the dramatic narrative, documentary and experimental traditions. The films screened will use the past to explore the meaning of the present, examine the relationships within families, investigate formal issues in cinematic construction and attempt to articulate broader social issues within Japanese society.

Class will meet once a week for three hours. Students with their own digital cameras and non-linear editing software will have the option of making a dv tape as a final project.

The Game of Go

Professor Peter Schumer, Middlebury College

Go is the most ancient of all board games and the most challenging in play. It combines the intellectual rigors of mathematics with the aesthetic appeal of music and art. Despite its complexity, it is a simple game to learn and an immediate joy to play. During the Edo Period the game was assiduously studied among four main go houses affiliated with various Buddhist temples (several were located in Kyoto). We will visit a few local Go sites of historical importance. Today there are approximately 1000 dedicated professional players throughout Eastern Asia and perhaps 40 million amateur enthusiasts around the world. I invite you to join them!

Starting from scratch, the course will involve playing with classmates and the instructor, learning the fundamentals, recording and analyzing our games, and strenghthening our problem solving skills. We will also study some of the history of go and its deep relationship to Japanese culture and arts. Writing assignments will include a Go journal, a description of the rules of Go, Go as a metaphor essay, and a research paper on a related Japanese art or tradition. In addition, we will read two novels where Go is a central motif - Yasunari Kawabata's classic "The Master of Go" and a contemporary novel "First Kyu" by Sung-Hwa Hong.

 

Pre-Modern Japanese History

Professor Neil Waters, Middlebury College

This course deals with the social, intellectual and institutional history of Japan from the earliest times through the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Major themes include adaptation and "Japanification" of Chinese institutions, evolution and limitations of the concept of imperial legitimacy, warrior ethics and other concepts and processes that either set Japan apart from other nations or situate Japan in an East Asian context.

An Introduction to Visual Culture at Buddhist Temples in Kyoto

Ms. Sharon Yamamoto, UC Berkeley and Kyoto University Graduate Research Student

The presence of temples dotting the landscape is one of Kyoto's most recognizable and endearing characteristics. Buddhist temples in Kyoto have served not only a religious purpose but also have had strong social, cultural, political, and economic roles as well. Focusing on temples originating from the ancient to the early modern periods, this course introduces Buddhist iconography, artworks and painting programs within temple spaces, and the architecture of specific temple sites. Through examination of the visual culture of Buddhist temples, we will better understand the complex roles these Buddhist institutions have played throughout Japanese history.

Our course will take place both in the classroom and at specific temple sites and will be structured to take advantage of the annual fall airings that some temples have, in which they open their doors to display their private treasures and buildings to the public. Students will write short response papers after each temple visit and will be responsible for a longer research project on a temple of their choice. No previous knowledge of Buddhism or art history is expected or necessary.

Landscape and Literature in Japan

Professor Susanna Fessler, SUNY Albany

Travel literature (kikobungaku) is an old and important genre in Japanese literature. From the poems of the Man'yoshu to the travel diaries of today, Japanese writers have established a close connection between writing and landscape in a way that no other tradition in the world has. And, contrary to most reader expectations, appreciation of Japanese travel writing depends heavily on a familiarity with place.

This class will have two venues: the classroom and the important places of travel literature. First, we will begin by reading works, both ancient and modern, that record the special characteristics of select locales. Most locales will be utamakura ("poem pillows") or meisho ("famous places"), as established in the literary tradition. We will also learn about the tradition of kikobungaku ("travel literature"), its characteristics, history, canon formation, etc. Second, we will hit the road and see these places themselves. We will have two objectives: 1) to see how much of the original place remains and in what form and 2) to see how modern Japanese respond to these places (i.e., what historical markers are erected, how the tourist industry has incorporated these locales, if at all, etc.).

After a brief introduction to the history of Japanese travel writing and the concept of utamakura, class units will be broken up by physical locales. All readings will be in English, although original Japanese texts will be examined in part. No specific level of Japanese language ability is required. Class meetings will follow a lecture/seminar format.

The Structure of the Japanese Language: "Missing" Elements in Japanese Grammar

Professor Naoko Nemoto, Mount Holyoke College

In this course, we will examine the Japanese language from a linguistics point of view, particularly in comparison with other languages such as English. We will start the course with a brief overview of the major differences between English and Japanese. We will then focus on two hot topics in Japanese linguistics: number and pronouns. First, we will explore how to express number in Japanese. It appears that the singular/plural distinction is "missing" in Japanese. It is often assumed that a bare noun can be interpreted singular, plural, or mass, depending upon the context in which it appears. We will address thorny issues surrounding this question: is a bare noun always ambiguous in terms of number? When do we need the plurality indicator? How do we mark plural in Japanese? We will also investigate the differences in numeral classifier patterns. The second major topic will focus on the use or non-use of pronouns in Japanese. Why are the subject and object in Japanese so often "missing"? Does the meaning of a sentence change whether pronouns are covert or overt? We will also take a linguistics look at the use of demonstratives in Japanese, such as the ko-series, so-series, and a-series (e.g. kore, sore, are). We will finish the course by addressing linguistics issues raised by the students' experiences in Kyoto. Students are encouraged to collect data for their projects, using Japanese written sources and/or Japanese speaking audio, video, and interviews. No prior knowledge of linguistics is required. Since this course will be taught on site in Kyoto and will make use of students' experiences there, the topics and schedule are subject to revision.

Immigration, Citizenship and Identity in Japan

Professor Terry MacDougall, Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies

Massive waves of immigration in the past half century have touched, even transformed, every region and nearly every country of the world. A result of many factors, this "global migration crisis" has linked developed and developing countries, challenged the ability of nations to control their borders, activated international organizations, NGOs and other advocates of human rights, and brought into question many of the premises and policies of the modern nation-state and liberal democracy. Today, formerly "homogeneous" countries find themselves with significant minorities of diverse national, ethnic and religious origin. The new, or newly recognized, reality of diversity has resulted in a questioning of prevailing notions of citizenship based on ethnicity or a community of closely held values. Liberal democracies (including Japan) in particular discuss and debate, often in highly contentious terms, how to respond to these challenges.

This course examines the Japanese immigration case in the context of broader changes in the world, especially in North America and Europe, and examines both immigration and immigrant (integration) policy. This broad perspective on the Japanese case is essential because shaping forces are not confined within Japanese borders; and the experiences of other nations inform the debate within Japan. In addition to introducing some critical questions regarding immigration and immigrant policy more generally, this course seeks to inform the students of the specific challenges facing Japan, issues as perceived by various institutional and group actors, the obstacles and opportunities for change, what progress has already been made, and what factors most critically affect the policy options and choices for Japanese authorities, national and local.

The course will include several field trips and guest speakers. Among places we might visit are a major human rights center, Korea Town, other communities of both Japanese and foreign minorities, and a NGO that assist migrant laborers, trafficked persons, etc. Osaka is home to the largest concentration of Koreans in Japan, the largest concentration of Okinawans outside of Okinawa, and the largest number day laborers and burakumin. Hence, nearby Osaka provides particularly useful opportunities for group observation and individual research.

Japan and Its People in Modern Times

Professor James Baxter, International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken)

This course will analyze change and continuity from the early nineteenth century to the present. We will adopt a "national history" approach to the story of modern Japan, but we will stress the variety of experiences of Japanese as individuals and as members of groups, communities, and other organizations. It will be our practice to cast doubt on the authority of any narrative that ascribes unitary qualities to "Japanese" thought or behavior. We will also challenge the notion that the Japanese experience has been unique. National history narratives--standard fare in school history books and in widely viewed treatments of the past on television and in other media--are alluring because they seem to promise comprehensive, easily understood explanations for a manifold and turbulent past, but they are problematic on numerous counts. Some topics we will investigate are highly contested today; particularly notable are the history of Japan's colonial ventures and military expansion in the first half of the twentieth century and the treatment of that history in school textbooks, and the background and meaning of Article 9 of the 1946 constitution, renouncing war as a sovereign right and repudiating the maintenance of war potential. As I write this course description in the spring of 2005, hardly a day goes by without an acrimonious exchange between Chinese and Japanese or Korean and Japanese government spokespeople about history and historiography, and proposals for revision of the constitution are being seriously deliberated by senior government officials and political party leaders. Modern Japanese history is, this demonstrates, topical and consequential.

Japanese Economic History

Professor Thomas Schalow, Kobe University of Marketing and Distribution

This class will provide students with the basic knowledge and analytical framework necessary to understand the development and current state of the Japanese economy. Students will explore the Japanese model of economic development and the assumptions and economic theories used to fashion that model; examine how changes in demographics and to Japan's industrial base have influenced Japan's growth, labor market and movement to higher levels of value-added production; evaluate the role of foreign trade in promoting economic development; appraise the role of foreign trade, monetary policy; and verify the importance of government regulations and policies in creating an optimal environment for economic development. Particular emphasis will be placed on analyzing the development of the bubble economy during the 1980's, its deflation in the 1990's and other current problems facing the Japanese economy.