HISTORY OF JAPAN 2

This is one of the main courses within the "Japan" curriculum of the degree programme in "Lingue, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea".
The course contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the Corso di Laurea in the area of humanities.
The main goals of the course are: to provide knowledge on the history of Japan from the Meiji period to the end of the Cold War; to provide tools for the analysis and discussion of political, economic and social phenomena; to develop autonomous judgement and the skills to produce interpretive discourse on the themes of the course.

Knowledge and understanding:
- knowing and understanding the main phases and phenomena of the political, economic and social history of Japan from the Meiji period to the end of the Cold War
- acquiring the tools needed to put in their historical context other teachings in the degree programme (e.g. literature, arts)

Applying knowledge and understanding:
- recognising historiographical themes autonomously
- distinguishing bewteen immediate and underlying causes of historical events
- navigating the specialised literature

Making judgements:
- to produce judgments on the political, economic and social phenomena discussed in the course
- to examine critically various types of sources
- to develop the ability to criticise essentialist and stereotyped discourse on "Japanese culture"

Communication:
- to express and re-elaborate the contents of the programme in written form, in a synthetic and effective way
- to formulate consistent judgments, avoiding the oversimplification resulting from rote memorisation

Lifelong learning skills:
- to know how to combine the study of different materials (books, academic articles, resources from the internet)
- to learn independently notions not covered in detail in class
- to refine the ability to study texts in English
- to refine the ability to use the online teaching platform

Successful completion of the course "History of Japan 1"

The course covers the history of political institutions and socio-economic structures in Japan from the Meiji period to the end of the Cold War. Discussion focuses on the relationship between national and international dimensions, as well as on the themes of modernization and popular representation.

Lesson 1: introductory remarks on themes and objectives of the course
Lessons 2-4: the first half of the Meiji period; the constitutional government system
Lessons 5-6: the late Meiji period
Lessons 7-11: from the First to the Second World War
Lessons 12-15: from the occupation to the 1980s

Required readings:
Revelant, Andrea. 2018. 'Il Giappone moderno: dall'Ottocento al 1945'. Torino: Einaudi. [chps. 2-8]
Gordon, Andrew. 2013. 'A Modern History of Japan'. New York: Oxford University Press. [chps. 13-17]
Revelant, Andrea. 2016. 'Sviluppo economico e disuguaglianza. La questione fiscale nel Giappone moderno, 1873-1940'. Venezia: Cafoscarina. [chps. 1, 8-9]
Constitution of 1889: ndl.go.jp / constitution / e / etc / c02.html
Constitution of 1946: ndl.go.jp / constitution / e / etc / c01.htm

Suggestions for further reading:
Berger, Gordon. 1988. ‘Politics and Mobilization in Japan, 1931-1945’. In Peter Duus (ed.), The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 6, pp. 97-153. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Francks, Penelope. 2006. Rural Economic Development in Japan. From the nineteenth century to the Pacific War. London, New York: Routledge.
Fukui Haruhiro. 1988. 'Postwar Politics, 1945-1973'. In Peter Duus (ed.). The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 6, pp. 154-213. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Saaler, Sven; Christopher W.A. Szpilman (eds). 2018. Routledge Handbook of Modern Japanese History. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.
Sims, Richard. 2001. Japanese Political History since the Meiji Renovation, 1868-2000. London: Hurst & Company.
Mitani Taichiro. 1988. ‘The Establishment of Party Cabinets, 1898-1932’. In Peter Duus (ed.). The Cambridge History of Japan, vol. 6, pp. 55-96. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Nakamura Takafusa. 1998. A History of Showa Japan, 1926-1989. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Tipton, Elise. 2011. Il Giappone moderno. Torino: Einaudi.

A list of digital resources for further study is available on the Moodle platform.

Written test (30 mins):
- 10 multiple choice questions
- 10 brief open-ended questions (e.g., answer with a name or year)
- 1 long open-ended question (e.g., explain the causes of a war or the consequences of a treaty)
Each of the three parts has the same weight. The final grade is the average of marks obtained in the three parts. In any case, the student will fail the exam if at least 4 out of 10 answers in the first part are not correct, or if the space for the final question is left blank.

The questions are meant to assess the general level of competence in the discipline and the critical and methodological skills acquired.
The assessment will consider the student's:
- general knowledge and understanding of the topics covered;
- competence in contextualizing the events in cronological terms;
- competence in the terminology associated with the subject and ability to use it effectively;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts.
Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.
Students will fail the exam if they display a severe lack of knowledge and failure to grasp key concepts, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Conventional, with materials for further study available through the Moodle platform.

-Non-attending students will take the same exam as other students.
-The exam programme will not change for the whole academic year 2023/24.

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