BASIC INFORMATION:
Thursday, 6:10p.m.-9:00p.m.
Hickman Hall Rm. 113
Instructor: Christopher Gunson
TAs: David Mislan, Tamiko Yamamoto

SITES OF INTEREST

NEWS
News on Japan
Yomiuri Shinbun
The Japan Times
Mainichi Shinbun
Asahi Shinbun
Asia Times
Yahoo! Asia News
Far Eastern Economic Review

BLOGS
Philosopher's Walk
Tokyo Times
Translator's Notes
Alive in Kyoto
Aranami
Donkey Mon
Dottokomu

COURSE BOOKS
The Cartoon History of the Universie, Volume III
The Clash
The Pacific War
The Rape of Nanjing
An Ocean Between Us

OTHER
Debito

Oct. 7: Course Introduction; Overview of Japan's People, Geography, Language, and Religion

Oct. 14: Japan Opens Up: Foreign Relations from 1870 to 1940
+++ First Reading Quiz: Questions and Answers Available +++
***FIRST SATELLITE LECTURE, 8:00p.m. - 9:00p.m.***
Reading for this class: Exerpt from The Cartoon History of the Universe, Volume III (4 pages); League of Nations article (3 pages); excerpt from The Clash (40 pages)

Oct. 21: English Education; Japan's bet in the US Presidential Election; WWII Issues
+++ Second Reading Quiz: Questions and Answers Available +++
Reading for this class: excerpt from The Pacific War and The Rape of Nanking, Slate.com article (1 page), two other articles sent by email.

Oct. 28: Political Economy: The Construction State; Explanation of Final Project
Reading for this class: Reading: The Economist: What ails Japan?, Consensus and Contraction, Corruption, Construction, Conservatism (3 pages each); Financial Times Article (3 pages); Slate.com article (2 pages)
++OPTIONAL FOLLOWUP READING++: Atlantic Monthly article on the Pacific War and Why Japan Prefers Bush

Nov. 4: Identity and Internationalization; Technology Presentation; Visit from the Alumni Association
Reading for this class: Essays from www.debito.org: How to Naturalize, and information on the The Otaru Lawsuit, Also make sure to read this Slate.com article (2 pages) and check out the Dottokomu blog.

Nov. 11: Party Politics; Japan's Relations with China, Russia, Korea, and the world
Reading for this class: three Wikipedia articles on the LDP, the JSP, and the DPJ. Economist article (2 pages); Asia Times article (3 pages); Slate.com article (2 pages); Asia Times article (3 pages); Stratfor.com article (3 pages); UCLA Institute article (3 pages); IHT Article (2 pages).

Nov. 18th: Class Dinner
For the past three years, Dean Seth Gopin has taken the class out for a sushi dinner. Unfortunately, due to scheduling problems, we will probably miss it this year. However, if you'd still like to go out for sushi, we will meet up at 7pm in front of Scott Hall on College Ave (opposite the Grease Trucks). I expect the meals will cost about $15-20 per person. RSVP to chris @ cgunson.com please!

Nov. 23rd: Extra Meeting
***SECOND SATELLITE LECTURE, 8:00p.m. - 9:00p.m.***
There is no reading for this class: please meet at 7:30pm in the language lab on College Ave to present your final project.
***FINAL PROJECT DUE***

Dec. 2: Modern Japan-US Relations
Reading for this class:
Japan's National Security: "USS-Japan" (3 pages); another Stratfor.com article (2 pages); and yet another Stratfor.com article (2 pages); Mainichi Article (1 page);
Japan's Neighbors: China's viewpoint (3 pages); North Korea's viewpoint (2 pages)
Military Restructuring: New York Times article (3 pages); Stratfor.com on Shimoji (2 pages), Stratfor.com on China-Japan-US (2 pages)
Energy & the Middle East: Asia Times Article (2 pages); Stratfor.com article (2 pages)
Mr. Jenkins: FEER Interview (5 pages)

All readings not available on this website will be handed out in class.