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21F.064: Introduction to Japanese Culture

21F.064: Introduction to Japanese Culture. Prof. Ian Condry Lecture 1: September 10, 2002. “The” Japanese. "Japan". What is culture? Humanist Arts and letters Anthropological Meanings and lifeways Historical Traditions, institutions. Bunraku puppet theater. Class Texts.

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21F.064: Introduction to Japanese Culture

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  1. 21F.064:Introduction to Japanese Culture Prof. Ian Condry Lecture 1: September 10, 2002

  2. “The” Japanese

  3. "Japan" • What is culture? • Humanist • Arts and letters • Anthropological • Meanings and lifeways • Historical • Traditions, institutions Bunraku puppet theater

  4. Class Texts • Goossen, Japanese Short Stories • Allinson, Japan’s Postwar History • Bumiller, The Secrets of Mariko • Allison, Nightwork

  5. Reading Packet • Donald Keene, Japanese Aesthetics • Samurai readings • Ian Reader on Japanese religion • Thomas Rohlen, “Five Japanese High Schools” • Yamaguchi on sumo Bowing before the start of class

  6. Course Dynamics • Three writing projects (Weeks 5, 8, 13) • Class presentation (Weeks 11 & 12) • Weekly email questions and discussion • Periodic microthemes, quizzes New Year's calligraphy contest Attendance is REQUIRED.

  7. Why take this course? • Japan • 2nd largest economy • Technology center • Popular culture exports • Writing / Speaking • Cultural differences central to new century Bonsai apricot tree

  8. A Brief History of Japan

  9. Japan: Traditional and Modern “Although time may pass, the important things never change. Trust. Proven results. Nichie.” -- Nichie Bank (TV commercial)

  10. Zazen meditation

  11. Geisha see also Golden Memoirs of a Geisha

  12. Shinkansen (Bullet Train) with Mt. Fuji in the background

  13. Map of the world with Europe at the center.

  14. Locating Japan in Asia

  15. Japan Geography • Four main islands • Hokkaidô (north) • Honshû (main) • Shikoku (small) • Kyûshû (southern) • also, Okinawa (small islands like Hawaii)

  16. Pre-historic Japan • first humans over 30,000 yrs ago • 10,000 - 7,000 yrs ago from Korea • Jomon up to 300 BC (pottery with cord markings, figurines) • Yayoi after site in SW Japan by 100 AD replace Jomon • 500s AD fighting men on horses, armor, swords, bows • Yamato clan, Shintô, Buddhism Jomon figurine

  17. Jômon jar3rd millenium BC

  18. Yayoi ceramic300 AD

  19. Classical age (6th-12th c.) • 710 - 794 Nara capital • Heian court in Kyoto 794 -1185 • Literacy (kanji, kana) • dueling aesthetics see also Totman (1981) Japan Before Perry

  20. 5 7 5 Yuku ware ni todomaru jou ni aki futatsu when I go and you stay autumn splits in two - Haiku by Buson

  21. Warring states period (1192 - 1600) • local warlords (daimyô) • samurai (historical change) • shifting centers of power • Kamakura 1192 - 1333 • late 1200s Mongols invade (fail) • Muromachi 1334 - 1573 etc. • Religion moves to the masses Yukio MISHIMA, 20th c. novelist, posing as a samurai

  22. Tokugawa Period (1600 - 1868) • Shogun rule Edo (Tokyo) • TOKUGAWA Ieyasu • samurai bureaucrats • rigid class structure • samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants • but power shifts to merchants • rise of mercantile culture Himeji Castle near Osaka

  23. Meiji Restoration 1868 • 1853 Commodore Perry “Black Ships” • Reformers “restore” Meiji Emperor • Modernization following Western models • Imperial aggression begins in 20th century Izumo Shrine, the Emperor as living god of Shintô religion

  24. Film: Makiko’s New World • based on Makiko NAKANO Makiko’s Diary • Kyoto in 1910, a merchant family • Western things, being a woman, everyday life Actresses taking a break

  25. Homework

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