H199	POSTWAR JAPAN: Feminism and Protest Movements	Spring 2024
R. Loftus, Walton 147
x6275	Class Times: T-Th, 9:40-11:10 am Loc: Eaton 211	Main Office Hours: T-Th 8:30-9:30 am 12:00-1:00 pm

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):

So, the goals of a History Course are to foster:

1. A working knowledge of several different historical eras and locales

2. The ability to make interpretive sense out of a large body of historical data

3. The ability to articulate a clear and original historical interpretation in both written and oral form

4. The ability to identify multiple positions within a historiographical debate and assess the strengths and weaknesses of those positions

5. The ability to usefully apply their historical understanding to themselves and the time in which they live

Since we will be looking at Japan and its close relationship with the US as well as it's Asian neighbors, Objective Number 1 will be taken care of quite naturally. We will also be looking at a lot of historical data, both primary and secondary sources, so Objective Number 2 will likewise be easily fulfilled. We will constantly be engaging in historical intepretation, so No. 3 will clearly be met as well! And 4 and 5 look pretty relevant and easily incorporated also. If we cannot look at the historical experiences of other people, in other times and places, and see at lesst part of ourselves in their circumstances and their struggles, then perhaps we are not looking hard enough.

I might add some of the following course-specific observations:

a) We will be looking closely at how individual human consciousness, action and agency are interrelated, and how they are embedded in such key historical moments as the decision to use atomic weapons against Japan, popular opposition to the US-Japan Security Treaty (Ampo/An'po) in 1960, and the rise of a feminist consciousness in the 1970s;

b) Since we will be immersing in how select Policies during the Allied Occupation of Japan affected not only historical change affected people--individuals and movements--at their deepest levels, something which teaches us a great deal about how past and present interact to create historical experience. And we have the advantage of being able to draw upon the personal narratives--the autobiographies and memoirs of Japanese women, to provide valuable insight into the experiences of historical actors;

c) We will be watching a number of Japanese films from or about the era, so they can also tell us much about how the screen writers, the directors and the audiences were experiencing postwar history both directly and indirectly;

d) Finally, an important focus of this course is how the position of women changed in postwar Japan and how the "Women's Liberation Movement" of 1970 affected women's lives as captured in memoirs as well as feature length and documtary films. These materials can add to our understanding of how historical subjects are constructed and how they navigate the complex landscape of social and intellectual experience.

 

Course Description:

This is a course about Postwar Japan so it naturally affords the opportunity to explore how the ending of the Pacific War, the Dropping of the Atomic Bombs, the nature of the Allied Occupation, and the creation of a new constitution all shaped Japan's sense of its self and its past.  Historians would want to understand:

--How did the presence of militarism and war in the 1930s affect the ability of individuals to act and have agency?

--How did questions about the prewar Emperor System and War Responsibility shape postwar Japanese political discourse?

--How did economic recovery and the reconstruction affect the Japanese outlook on the world?

--What is the meaning of the "postwar economic miracle," and the remarkable period of "high-speed economic growth" in the 1960s and 1970s?

Since this class is concerned with the themes of "Feminisms and Protest," it will examine specifically how women responded to the end of the war and to being granted the right to vote in the early postwar years, and how they found their collective voice and became active on a variety of political and economic stages.  In 1960, some 16 million Japanese citizens engaged in a political protest movement against government policies, especially the Cold War Alliance with the US, known as "An'po" or Ampo."  One immediate consequence of this movement was the introduction of second-wave feminism in 1970 with the appearance of the “women’s lib” movement. 

Therefore, there will be a critical nexus in this course where we focus on how the "Lib Movement" shaped the consciousness of modern Japanese women as measured by their writing and their activism. How deep and sustained was the Lib movement?  How did it change people's lives? Also, how did some of the most powerful currents in modern Japan's cultural and social history, such as movements against nuclear arms testing, the era of high-speed economic growth, the emergence of environmental concerns, etc., affect ordinary people?

NOTE: For every class hour, there is an expectation of 2-3 hours work outside of class.  Since our class meets twice a week for 90 minutes, you should expect to do 6 hours outside of class engaged in course-related activities such as reading the textbooks, or articles in PDF format from the WISE site, or perusuing the online materials related to the course that are linked directly from this syllabus.

Also, please NOTE: As an instructor, I am committed to creating a climate of mutual respect and encouraging full participation by students in my classes. My goal is to create a learning environment that is equitable, inclusive and welcoming. If there are elements of the instruction or design of this course that create any barriers to your full participation or completion of assignments, please come and talk to me and share your concerns. Students with disabilities are also encouraged to contact the Accessible Education Services office in Smullin 155, 503-370-6737 to discuss a range of options to removing barriers in the course, including accommodations.

FINALLY, something about myself. Though born in Washington, D.C., I grew up mostly outside the USA because my Economist father served in various capacities around the world as an educator, a Foreign Service Office and an Adviser. Specifically, we lived in New Delhi, India, Paris, France, Bologna, Italy and Bangkok, Thailand. We lived in Bangkok the longest, six years, and I graduated from high-school there.

My education, then, was a bit unique and uneven: an English Boarding School, Woodstock, in India until a group of parents formed a one-room schoolhouse with materials ordered from the states; an International School in France, a local Catholic School in Bologna--all in Italian--and anothr International School in Bangkok. When I returned to the US for college, I really did not know my own country that well. Yes, films, popular music, news...but we lived in other counties for 12 out of the first 17 years of my life. Somehow, I came out of all this with a strong interest in languages, other cultures, history and Asia in particular. Obviously, this upbringing shaped who I am.

My undrgraduate education was so-so in that I was neither focused nor attentive, but my Master's in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS was great and my Ph.D. in History from Claremont Graduate School was good and incorporated intensive language study both at Stanford and in Japan to get me properly prepared. I love studying, teaching and learning about Japan, be it History, Literature or Film, and I taught them all here at Willamette for 35 years. I officially retired in 2018 but have come back several times to teach a course or two. I am pleased to have the opportunity.

I lived in Japan for about five years after deciding to specialize in Japanese history; then, after I began my teaching career, I took frequent summer trips back to Japan for research. I have published three major books over my career. Two focus on women's Autobiographical (or Self-) Writing: Telling Lives dealing with prewar women, and the one we are using in this class, Changing Lives, which includes memoirs and autobiographies by ordinary postwar Japanese women. My third book returned me to my original Dissertation topic: the experience of becoming modern as seen through the eyes of a single literary and social critic, Taoka Reiun. I recently appeared in a Blog on White Elephant that you might find interesting. My last book is called The Turn Against the Modern (2017). Here is a link to a Podcast for the New Books Network (NBN) I did when I was in Japan back in 2017.

A wise Zen Master once said,

"There is no perfect teacher...The point is to make a sincere effort to become a perfect student of an imperfect teacher."

I always try to make a sincere effort to learn from the historical record, from my students, and from the whole process of teaching and learning. I hope you will find a way to learn from the materials we will explore in this course, the conversations we will have, and the short writing exercises we will undertake.

Principal Readings:

Jeffrey Kingston, Japan in Transformation 1952-2020, 3rd edition (2022) The Chapters tend to be very short but the book also contains: a) a detailed Chronolgy of the Postwar Period in the Beginning; and b) 32 useful Documents in Part IV
Ronald Loftus, Changing Lives: The 'Postwar' in Japanese Women's Autobiographies and Memoirs (AAS, 2013) Also, relatively short at 185 pp + Notes.

In addition to these two books, though, many PDFs on WISE (Resources) and other relevant Online Materials linked to this Syllabus will be regularly incorporated into weekly reading assignments.

Some generally useful online materials:

See the Japan sections of the Internet East Asian History Sourcebook This site contains some excellent links!

See also the Library of Congress, Asian Reading Room which has some relevant sections.

There is a very good site on Occupation Era Photography posted by an occupation participant. See also the Pennino collection at the Univerisiy of Hawai'i.

Here are some General Japan Links; and useful electronic sources on the Japanese Economy

 

Class Organization/Structure:

This class will be conducted in a seminar/discussion stye which means that we will discuss readings together in class rather than have formal lectures. Accordingly, for almost every class, there will be at least one primary Reading assigned for discussion. These readings will be the focus of the class.

On regular occasions, students will sign-up and assume primary responsibility for leading and conducting the discussion by preparing readings to summarize and present to the class.

FILMS!

There are a number of excellent documentaries as well as some great Japanese feature films from this era that we will view in order in order to acquire a sense of both popular culture and issues that were important to filmmakers and the public in the postwar years. The films--I am hoping to show 5 Feature-length films--are points of departure for us to respond as historians might, thinking about the implications of the films we watch.

Requirements:

1. Regular attendance (3-absences max) and class participation including short presentations on assigned readings (15%); and

2. 6 short response or reaction papers (3-4 pp) on films and readings (60%); note: the 6th paper could be a transition toward your final paper

3. 1 medium-length Final paper (8-10 pages) (25%) Due Monday May 8, 3:00 pm**

Regarding the medium-length final paper, I am envisioning here not a formal "research" paper, but rather a discussion paper on a topic of your choice likely drawn from Kingston or Loftus in one of their chapters, or any of the assigned articles and PDFs; but for this paper you may wish to find some additional sources that shed light on your topic. In other words, use the materials we have talked about together in class but also build and develop your discussion beyond the class readings as appropriate. Which probably means visiting the library.

The final paper will be a slightly longer paper (8-10 pp), dealing with issues like war memories and reconciliation, women's liberation and feminism in the 1970s, specifically, the stories of women found in Changing Lives, the comfort women issue, the Asian Women's Fund, the Kono Statement, PM Abe's equivocating about it, the postwar economic miracle, the demographic time bomb, the bursting of the economic bubble, the issue of the Comfort Women, historical memory and the Yasukuni Shrine, US bases in Okinawa, the controversy over the fate of Okinawan civilians during the Battle of Okinawa, etc.

The Documents in the Kingston book are also very relevant here. Please come talk to me about your ideas.

A very brief in-class presentation of your final paper topic is required during the final week of classes.

**Some more elaboration of possible paper ideas can be found at the end of this syllabus. Willamette has a clearly articulated policy on cheating and plagiarism. Please appreciate that Plagiarism and cheating are offenses against the integrity of the courses in which they occur and against the college community as a whole. Plagiarism usually consists of representing ideas that are not your own as your own so the simple solution is to attribute, i.e., provide clear indications of where you obtained your ideas or information. Students are not allowed to use advanced automated tools (artificial intelligence or machine learning tools such as ChatGPT or Dall-E 2) on assignments in this course. Each student is expected to complete each assignment without substantive assistance from others, including automated tools. 

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Reading and Discussion Schedule

January 16 Class Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather

Jan. 18 Endings...and Beginnings: August 15, 1945

Introduction to the Course

 

Video "Reinventing Japan"

Other Surrender Documents

Introduction to Video, ABC News Report on "Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped" (67 minutes)

See interesting article by John Dower on Japan's Occupation of Manchuria

Truman Announcement on the Bomb

The Potsdam Declaration---->Excerpts

Szilard Petition July 17, 1945 against using the Bomb

Jan. 23 How the War Began and Ended: The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb I

In-class: Finish viewing ABC News Report on "Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped" (67 minutes)

More on Introduction; 

More from "Reinventing Japan" Video (some Notes)

Some Perspectives on the End of the War

Check out this Topic of an Upcoming Talk

"Ultimate Objectives"

Readings for next class period (Jan. 25):

John Dower, "The Most Terrible Bomb in the History of the World," on WISE, Resources, "John_Dower.pdf" (student-led discussion)

Reference: Takaki, Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Bomb, Chapter 3 (30 pp) (see "Takaki" folder on Resources section on WISE for Takaki 3. pdf

You can concentrate on 3 main points:

pp. 22-25, 34-38, and 46-50

 

More Useful Info

Jan. 25 Ending the War, War Responsibility, and the Decision to Drop the Bomb

Discuss John Dower, "The Most Terrible Bomb in the History of the World," on WISE, Resources,

"H199 John Dower The MostTerribleBomb.pdf" (student-led discussion)

Last Minute Coup Attempt

National Security Archives Materials on the Bomb

Reference: Takaki, Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Bomb, Chapter 3 (30 pp) (see "Takaki" folder on Resources section on WISE for Takaki 3. pdf; see especially pp. 22-25, 34-38, and 46-50)

Some Personal Accounts of bombing 1 and 2

Selected Smithsonian Eyewitness Accounts

NEXT UP:

For the next class, let's focus on an Overview of the Occupation by reading Kingston, Japan in Transformation, Chs. 1-2 (pp. 1-17) and we can also catch up on some other things including more from the Video "Reinventing Japan" (some Notes)

See the Smithsonian Exhibition and Poster Gallery on The Confusion Era 1945-1952 for excellent visuals

Jan. 30 Overview of Occupation Policies and Assumptions

Main Reading: Kingston, Japan in Transformation, Chs. 1-2 (pp. 1-17)

• See this General Overview and also the very nice Chronology in Kingston xii-xix - a valuable resource
• Here is another chronology of the Occupation Period 1945-52

Our Job in Japan - Video

Background Information: Overview of Allinson Ch. 1, “Antecedents” 1932-1945

See Video Reinventing Japan (about 30 mins) as Appropriate

 

Additional Materials:

• See "Ultimate Objectives" portion of Initial Post-Surrender Policy for Japan
• See MacArthur's summary of his objectives from his memoir Reminiscences
• View excerpts in class of: Our Job in Japan/Know Your Enemy: Japan (a propaganda film by Frank Capra
• Discuss Shinto and the State based on above two links above

Feb. 1 The Past into the Present: Finding Subjectivity and Agency

Begin viewing Akira Kurosawa's No Regrets for our Youth (1946, 110 minutes)

 

 

Feb. 6 The Past into the Present: Postwar Politics and Society

Finish and Discuss No Regrets for our Youth (1946)

See Syllabus Links for No Regrets above and under Feb. 1

Additional Source: Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto Chapter on "No Regrets for Our Youth" Wise, Resources H199 Yoshimoto NoRegrets.pdf (NOT REQUIRED READING)

 

First Response Paper on the Decision to Drop the Bomb Due

 

Read Kingston Ch. 3 Postwar Politics (21-32) for next class;

Also refer to the Chronology in Kingston (xii-xix)

 

Prompt Response Paper #2 on No Regrets for our Youth Due Feb. 20

 

Feb. 8: Assessing the Past in the Early Postwar Period

Review and Follow up on No Regrets if necessary

Discuss Early Postwar Political Developments

Background: Read Kingston Ch. 3 Postwar Politics (21-32);

See also the Chronology in Kingston (xii-xix);

 

Optional Wise Reading, Allinson "Revival" 1945-55 PDF:

See Wise, "Resources" H199 AllinsonCh. 2 Revival.pdf

 

 

Important Events:

The Postwar Labor Movement in Japan; Food May Day; and

The General Strike of 1947 and Here also

Reverse Course; See Here also

 

Watch Short Video Food May Day 1946

 

Continue with Our Job in Japan/Know Your Enemy as Appropriate

For next week:

Prepare for Class Discussion Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 1 "Endings and Beginnings"

(sign up for discussion)

Intro: Note the Theoretical Underpinnings on pp. 1-7:

Sharalyn Orbaugh, Kano Masanao

William Sewell, Gabrielle Spiegel, Jill Kerr Conway, and Loftus (2-3 students)

 

3 students each for the separate stories of:

1. Okabe Itsuko

2. Yoshitake Teruko

3. Shinya Eiko

4. Sawachi Hisae

 

Note: Exhibition on Godzilla and Japanese Popular Culture (2004):

Gojira, Born Out of Radioactive Ash (1954-1963)

Feb. 13 War, Democracy and Democratization: Discuss Changing Lives Ch. 1

• Exploring the Idea of Subjectivity and Historical Agency
  

• Begin Discussion of Loftus Ch. 1 "Endings and Beginnings" (student-led discussion)

Starting with the Intro section and then the stories of Okabe Itsuko, Yoshitake Teruko, Shinya Eiko and Sawachi Hisae, and wrapping up with the Analysis section.


• Prepare for the next class :

"War Responsibility and Historical Memory: Hirohito’s Apparition" by Herbert P. Bix

• http://japanfocus.org/-Herbert_P_-Bix/2741

Feb. 15 Finish Changing Lives Ch. 1 Discussion

Begin discussing "War Responsibility and Historical Memory: Hirohito’s Apparition"

For war crimes committed by Japan’s military forces, which were the authorized servants of the emperor-state during the undeclared Japan-China War, Hirohito, as commander-in-chief, bore the strongest share of political, legal, and moral responsibility. He gave post-facto sanction to Japan’s take-over of Manchuria in violation of international treaties and agreements. He later participated actively in the planning and waging of Japan’s total war of aggression in China. As Japan’s sacred spiritual leader and symbol of national identity he (and his Court Group) framed the China conflict as a “holy war.” Working in close cooperation with the military, Hirohito brought emperor worship to fever pitch. He also ordered and monitored the bombing of Chinese cities, use of poison gas, and annihilation campaigns to wipe out the entire populations of contested areas in North and Central China.

This article is divided into three main sections:

1. Hirohito: Japan's Last Empowered Emperor

2. Why Hirohito was not Tried

3. War Remembrances: the Endless Search....

 

"War Responsibility and Historical Memory: Hirohito’s Apparition" by Herbert P. Bix (Summary)

• http://japanfocus.org/-Herbert_P_-Bix/2741

   

Optional: Kyoko Hirano, "The Depiction of the Emperor [in film]" (see "HiranoCh. 3" on Resources section of WISE for a pdf copy)

Feb. 20 The War in Japanese Eyes: The Harp of Burma (1956, 116 mins)

Response Paper #2 on No Regrets for our Youth Due (postoned from Feb. 15)

--Begin watching film 

The Harp of Burma remains important. Its indictment of militarism and vivid imagery of fallen soldiers far from home were influential at a time when shared narratives of the war were being negotiated in postwar Japan. It should not be overlooked by anyone hoping to understand how those narratives continue to evolve today.

Read Kingston Ch. 5 "Japan and Asia" for Discussion on Feb. 22 and 27th

Also Prepare these two Readings on Wise for the discussion after we finish Harp of Burma:

1. H199 RaynsHarp - Criterion Collection Notes 

2. H199 MellonHarp - excerpt from a chapter in Joan Mellen's book, Waves at Genji's Door on Harp of Burma

Recent Reflections

Feb. 22 Finish and Discuss The Harp of Burma (1956, 116 mins)

The Harp of Burma remains important. Its indictment of militarism and vivid imagery of fallen soldiers far from home were influential at a time when shared narratives of the war were being negotiated in postwar Japan. It should not be overlooked by anyone hoping to understand how those narratives continue to evolve today.

Include Discussion of Kingston Ch. 5 "Japan and Asia" in the context of the film

Discuss These Two Readings (Reviews of Harp of Burma) on Wise:

1. H199 RaynsHarp - Criterion Collection Notes 

2. H199 MellonHarp - excerpt from a chaper in Joan Mellen's book, Waves at Genji's Door on Harp of Burma

An additonal review here.

Recent Reflections Finish

Feb. 27 Review/Finish Discussion of Harp of Burma as necessary

Contextualizing the Occupation: The Ideal of Postwar Democracy and The Postwar Constitution

See the National Diet Library Website on the Birth of the Constitution for all the appropriate documents

Continue to Discuss Kingston Ch. 5 "Japan and Asia" as appropriate

Reference: Kingston, Japan in Transformation, Docs. 6-8, “Apologies for WWII”

See also these three documents presented by John Dower in his short article, "Japan Addresses Its War Responsibility."

See book review with bibliography of The Birth of Japan's Postwar Constitution by Koseki Shoichi

See two discussions from Jan. 11, 2000 in the Yomiuri newspaper about the constitution

For other links to the Constitution click here

Prepare for Next Class:

Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 2, "Contextualizing History," 43-83 (student-led discussion)

In the readings, note things mentioned by Yoshitake such as:

pp. 43-65: Ichikawa Fusae as pioneer women's advocate, the First election for women, meeting with Ethel Weed, the Women's Democratic Club, the RAA, the Ikebukuro Station Incident, International Women's Day, the Opening of Japanese universities to women v. ryosai-kenbo and the Yasukuni Shrine, the New Education Law, marking Textbooks, and Oku Mumeo and Shufuren, mobilizing housewives, "Food May Day," Yoshida and General Strike, entering Keiô University, Theatre club, the start of the Korean War, the End of Postwar Democracy?, the role of "Special Procurements," National Police Reserves, Hiratsuka Raichô calls for Peace, Disarmament, the GHQ Initiated Red Purge, and how they all constituted a challenge to the ideal of democracy in Japan, Zengakuren Protest Conference, the “Bloody May Day, 1952” Incident (see NYT headline and also this article here);

pp. 65-83: Zengakuren, Shibuya Police Station, Peace Treaty with US and US Bases, Kôra Tomi and Fudanren, Entering Tôei Studios, Yoshitake's first job as Advertising Producer, Sekigawa Hideo's Film, "The Sunagawa Base," Uchinada Firing Range and Sunagawa City Protests, Women and North Fuji Practive Range, the Shibokusa Mother's Group, pregnancy v. career, "If Mother's Change, Society will change," World Assembly of Mothers, Bikini Atoll Nuclear Testing, Lucky Dragon No. 5, Ampo.

 

 

Sign Up for discussion of Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 3 "Resenting Injustice," pp. 85-106

(student-led discussion scheduled for March 12)

 

 

Feb. 29 Women and Protest:

Discussion of Loftus, Changing Lives, Chapter 2, "Contextualizing History," 43-83.

As Mentioned by Yoshitake:

pp. 43-65: Ichikawa Fusae as pioneer women's advocate, the First election for women, meeting with Ethel Weed, the Women's Democratic Club, the RAA, the Ikebukuro Station Incident, International Women's Day, the Opening of Japanese universities to women v. ryosai-kenbo and the Yasukuni Shrine, the New Education Law, marking Textbooks, and Oku Mumeo and Shufuren, mobilizing housewives, "Food May Day," Yoshida and General Strike, entering Keiô University, Theatre club, the start of the Korean War, the End of Postwar Democracy?, the role of "Special Procurements," National Police Reserves, Hiratsuka Raichô calls for Peace, Disarmament, the GHQ Initiated Red Purge, and how they all constituted a challenge to the ideal of democracy in Japan, Zengakuren Protest Conference, the “Bloody May Day, 1952” Incident (see NYT headline and also this article here);

pp. 65-83: Zengakuren, Shibuya Police Station, Peace Treaty with US and US Bases, Kôra Tomi and Fudanren, Entering Tôei Studios, Yoshitake's first job as Advertising Producer, Sekigawa Hideo's Film, "The Sunagawa Base," Uchinada Firing Range and Sunagawa City Protests, Women and North Fuji Practive Range, the Shibokusa Mother's Group, pregnancy v. career, "If Mother's Change, Society will change," World Assembly of Mothers, Bikini Atoll Nuclear Testing, Lucky Dragon No. 5, Ampo.

 

March 5 Film MacArthur's Children (1984) I

A film directed by Shinoda Masahiro (115 minutes)

March 7 Film: MacArthur's Children, II Finish and Discuss

A Review

Response Paper #3 Harp of Burma Due

Materials on the Tokyo War Crime Trials

https://www.army.mil/article/48334/the_tokyo_trials

https://www.dw.com/en/the-eternal-burden-of-the-tokyo-war-crimes-tribunal/a-18986976

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/10/19/judgment-tokyo-trial-gary-bass/

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/what-happened-to-emperor-hirohito

More Materials on the Bikini Atoll/Lucky Dragon Incident https://jigsaw-japan.com/2019/06/30/the-not-so-lucky-dragon-fallout-from-nuclear-testing/  https://thebulletin.org/2018/02/how-the-unlucky-lucky-dragon-birthed-an-era-of-nuclear-fear/ https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190714/p2a/00m/0na/007000c https://espionart.com/2017/03/03/saga-of-the-lucky-dragon/ See a YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXGv4zKdY6k

Also, Short Videos on Bloody May Day (1952), the Fight over the Sunagawa Base and the Lucky Dragon Incident,

See You Tube Video: The Lucky Dragon#5 Incident; See also this article

 

March 12 Discuss Loftus "Ch. 3 "Resenting Injustice," pp. 85-106 (student-led discussion)

 

Then Start: Grave of the Fireflies (91 minutes)

See a very recent interview with Miyazaki Hayao of Studio Ghibli about constitutional reform

 

 

 

Prompt for Response Paper #4 on the previous Two Films, MacArthur's Children and Grave of the Fireflies Due March 21

 

 

March 14 Finish Grave of the Fireflies (91 minutes)

Discuss the Film

 

Materials on Tokyo Crimes Trials: http://imtfe.law.virginia.edu/collections/mss2012-1b2f1i450001 https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/tokyo-trials https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/what-happened-to-emperor-hirohito

 

Mar. 19 What is the 1955/San Francisco System?

Discuss John Dower article,  "The 1955 or San Francisco System: Past, Present, Future in U.S.-Japan-China Relations—8 Problematic Legacies" especially sections I and II

http://www.japanfocus.org/-John_W_-Dower/4079

 

Begin Akira Kurosawa’s Rhapsody in August (1991) (98 mins)

 

March 21 Nagasaki and Historical Memory:

Finish Akira Kurosawa’s Rhapsody in August (1991)

Please Prepare the short PDF on WISE, H199 Yoshimoto Rhapsody.pdf for our Discussion

Response Paper #4 Due for MacArthur's Children/Grave of the Fireflies

Prepare for after spring Break

Economy and Society Readings: Kingston Ch. 4, "The Economic Miracle"

Allinson, Ch. 3 on Wise PDF H199 AllinsonGrowth.pdf

 

Also, prepare one of the following two PDFs on Wise:

1. H199 SasakiAmpo.pdf (26pp) on an excerpt from Wesley Uemura Sasaki's book, Organizing the Spontaneous

2. H199 Kapur Crossroads Intro.pdf (19pp) he Introduction to Nick Kapur's book, Japan at the Crossroads

Women and Work and Unpaid Labor in Japan

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SPRING BREAK MARCH 25-31

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April 2 Begin The An'po/AMPO Movement: 1960 Conflict over the US-Japan Security Treaty

1. H199 SasakiAmpo.pdf (26pp) on an excerpt from Wesley Uemura Sasaki's book, Organizing the Spontaneous

2. H199 Kapur Crossroads Intro.pdf (19pp) the Introduction to Nick Kapur's book, Japan at the Crossroads

Short Video here. See also this page on Ampo;

For Reference: Steinhoff Interview, MIT Visual Cultures Page "Days of Rage and Grief"

April 4 Continue Protests Against An'po/Ampo

Featuring discussion of one of the two PDFs (select one):

2. H199 SasakiAmpo.pdf (26pp) an excerpt from Wesley Uemura Sasaki's book, Organizing the Spontaneous

3. H199 Kapur Crossroads Intro.pdf (19pp) the Introduction to Nick Kapur's book, Japan at the Crossroads

Response Paper #5 on Rhapsody in August Due

April 9 Begin Women and Popular Movements I

Read Kingston Ch. 7 ("Women in Japan"); Doc. 20-23

Women in Japan: General; "Womenomics" in Japan

Begin Documentary Film: Ripples of Change

Prepare Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 4 "Creating a Feminine Consciousness," pp. 107-145 (student-led discussion)

Additional Readings:

1. Muto pdf on Wise, Resources H199 Muto Lib.pdf

2. H199 Shigematsu Ch.3 LibGen.pdf

April 11 Continue Women in Postwar Japan II

Finish: Ripples of Change and Discuss

Begin Discussion of Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 4 "Creating a Feminine Consciousness," (Kishino Junko) pp. 107-145 (student-led discussion)

Prepare Muto pdf on Wise, Resources:

1. H199 Muto Lib.pdf and

2. H199 Shigematsu Ch3 LibGen for Next Class

See brief Video Clip from "The Woman I Abandoned"

 

See Sanrizuka: The Struggle v. Narita Airport

 

 

Prompt for Response Paper #6 on Ripples of Change/30 Years of Sisterhood with some references to Changing Lives (Chs 3, 4) Due April 25

 

 

April 16 Continue to Discuss Changing Lives, Ch. 4 "Creating a Feminine Consciousness,"

Discuss Muto and Shigematsu Ch. 3 pdfs together:

1. H199 Muto Lib.pdf

2. H199 Shigematsu LibGenCh. 3.pdf

Review Ripples of Change Video

Resources on Japanese Women in Society

Women in Corporate Leadership Roles

 

 

 

April 18 Continue Discussion of “Women’s Lib” and the "Growth of a “Feminine Consciousness" as necessary

Begin Documentary Film: Thirty Years of Sisterhood

Reference : Wise PDF: H199 Sisterhood Program.pdf

April 23 Finish Documentary Film: Thirty Years of Sisterhood and Discuss

Reference: Wise PDF: H199 Sisterhood Program.pdf

Recommended for anyone especially interested in digging deep into the "Lib" Movement:

Wise PDF H199 Shigematsu TanakaMitsu Ribu.pdf

Continue as needed discussion of Ichiyo Muto, "The Birth of the Women's Movement in the 1970s" (see "Resources" section of Wise for a pdf copy,

1.H199 Muto Lib.pdf and

2. H199 Shigematsu Ch.3 LibGen.pdf

Introduce: Women and the Demographic Time Bomb

Read: Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 5

April 25 Women in Postwar Japan III: Women and the Demographic Time Bomb

Discuss: Loftus, Changing Lives, Ch. 5 (student-led discussion)

Changing Lives, Ch. 5

Kingston Ch. 8, "Demographic Time Bomb," Docs. 20, 24

 

See also:

Kingston Ch. 9, "The Lost Decades" Docs 22-23, 25-26

 

Kingston Ch. 10, "Decade of Adversity," Docs 27-32

 

 Dower article and interview on the War in Iraq

April 30 Last Class: SAIs and Brainstorm Final Paper Project

Brief Presentations of Topics for Final Paper (8-10 pp)

Bring in a paragraph or at least 2-3 ideas or points written down on a piece of paper:

What are you interested in learning more about? Will is your slant, your viewpoint?

This can be a fairly informal summary of what you plan to write about and what you have found inthe way of intresting sources - NOT just a list of online materials but possible articles and book(s) to explore.

Examples of Recent Topics with Controversial Issues

--The Problem of the Comfort Women; See also Carol Gluck on Comfort Women,

H199 Dudden.pdf on WISE, Resources

See also the Online Digital Museum on the Comfort Women Issue and the Asian Women's Fund;

Also the Wikipedia Page here.

See more articles on Comfort Women here and here

--The Historical Memory and History Textbooks Controversy

--The Yasukuni Shrine Problem (Yasukuni) Including Yūshūkan Museum

H199 Takahashi YasukuniShrine.pdf

 

--The Minamata Pollution Case: See Brief History here

Watch YouTube video on Minamata Disease

1. H199 Timothy George Minamata.pdf on WISE (Resources)--Intro, Ch. 9, Conclusion, and Epilogue

2. H199 Walker Minamata.pdf

See some interesting Case Studies here;

 

--Of course, there is also The Fukushima Triple Disaster

From the Reconstruction Agency

See “Fukushima in Light of Minamata” Timothy George (very short)

See Kington Ch. 10

--And, there is always the Postwar Japanese Economy Topic:

The Postwar Economic Takeoff and Miracle and Social Change

Begin Overview Japanese Postwar EconomicMiracle

The Postwar Economic Miracle and Social Change

Kingston Ch. 4, "The Economic Miracle" 33-40

JohnsonEconMiracle.pdf on Wise, esp. to pp. 7-23; and

See also Document 4 (Chalmers Johnson), in Kingston's "Documents" (Part 4 of his Book)

More on the Japanese Economy

Will the Japanese Economy Recover? Latest News and NPR Reports

 General Information on the Japanese Economy

See also this article on Postwar Japan and also, "Revitalizing the Japanese Economy" and the Japanese Economic Miracle

The Economic Bubble in Japan and its Aftermath: Japan in the 1990s-2000s

 

Japanese Economy in Transition

Kingston, Ch. 10 and 11 (In Retrospect); Documents 28-30

Three more articles on the Bubble;

See also more recent Lessons from US and Japanese Bubbles

Also, if interested, Kingston

1. Doc. 5 "Andrew Gordon on Changing Labor Market," and

2. Doc. 21 ("Rehiring Retirees")

3. Doc. 32 ("Death by Overwork")

Learning from the Japanese Economy

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More Ideas on the Final Paper Assignment.

It seems to me as though the following materials might lend themselves nicely to this assignment:

--Changing Lives, Ch. 1, how the war's end might have affected men and women differently, looking at the stories of Okabe Itsuko, Shinya Eiko, and Yoshitake Teruko. You could maybe even go into some of Yoshitake's story in Ch. 2, education, employment, and her sense of what the postwar world should be like. Both Kingston and Allinson have chapters on the U.S. Occupation so you could "frame" your discussion drawing on their perspective. Yoshitake has things to say in her Ch. 2 about learning how to organize and become politically engaged, including where she talks about the protest against the Sunagawa Base, against the Uchinada firing range, and also about the struggle of the Mother's Group "Shibokusa," against the North Fuji Practice Range (pp. 71-76). These areso you could bring these things together, the context being about how women situate themselves historically in these citizen-group movements and this roots them in historical experience. Lots of materials, ideas to work with.

--You could take one of the Changing Lives chapters (3, 4) on either Yoshitake or Kishino, and triangulate it with the Muto article on "The Birth of the Women's Movement in the 1970s," and the Ripples/30 Years of Sisterhood DVDs and focus on the Women's Lib Movement. This is a natural; lots of voices and experiences for you to draw upon.

What did "women's Lib" bring to the participants that they had not had access to before? How did it help provide them a place and a language to graple with women's issues and define, for themselves, a "feminine consciousness"? You could even step back a little further, look at all or most of the women excerpted in Changing Lives, and probe more deeply into their experiences and what their narratives have to say to us. A key here would be adding in the PDF by Shigematsu (Ch. 4) on WISE which probes the role of Tanaka Mitsu in the movement and draw on things she said in the DVDs (I have some of them gathered on one of my pages). And for Ms. Tanaka, there are also several pages in which she is quoted in the Muto PDF (pp. 162-67) and in the two Shigematsu PDFs that you could use very effectively in your paper. If you have experience studying 2nd wave feminist movements in other parts of the world, you could also bring in a nice comparative perspective.

----If you want to write (more) on feminism and the women's movement in Japan, there are also other women you could bring in from earlier periods, too, like: Takamure Itsue, Kaneko Fumiko, Oku Mumeo, Takai Toshio, Sata Ineko, Nishi Kiyoko, Fukunaga Misao, Miyamoto Yuriko--some of whom are excerpted in my earlier book, Telling Lives (2004). The advantage here is that when you are looking at memoirs, you are using primary materials, voices speaking to us from Japan, which is always a good thing. It is important to have some authoritative voices in your papers that are either from primary materials or from secondary scholarly works that themselves draw on primary materials.

--Yet another idea: if you are interested in the problem of Japan's demographic time bomb, you could tie in some of Kanamori's writing from Ch. 5 in Changing Lives, dovetail it with Kingston's Chs 7 and 8, and the relevant Documents he places in the back of his book, and round it out with some additional library or online materials. What challenges to aging societies pose for contemporary economies? How/why is Japan's dilemma partiuclarly acute? The Documents in Kingston's book seem like great jumping off places for paper ideas.

--You could also put togehter some readings on the Environment--George and Walker on Minamata (PDFs)--and considering also what Kingston says in his chapter on "Environmental Issues"(another PDF from the prrevious edition of the book wde are using) that deal with Minamata and how government and corporate Japan responded to this situation. There is also the nice update in relation to Fukushima also by Timothy George. Or, you could build off of George's point about citizen groups and Minamata and graft it on to the Sasaki Material on Ampo, along with the materials from my linked page, and come up with something about citizen's movements, postwar democracy, the response to the Bikini Atoll Bomb test, even things like the debate over subjectivity (the shutaiseiron) and how that was part of what Kurosawa was thinking about while making No Regrets, recalling as noted above, Yoshitake's material about learning how to organize and become politically engaged, including where she talks about the protest against the Sunagawa Base, against the Uchinada firing range, and also about the struggle of the Mother's Group "Shibokusa," against the North Fuji Practice Range (pp. 71-76). These are mentioned very briefly by Tanaka Mitsu in her "Liberation from the Toilet" pamphlet in Muto's article, p. 165 and in his footnote. The context is about how women situate themselves historically in these citizen-group movements and this roots them in historical experience. Therefore they do not need a "logic" to guide them as men do. So there could easily be an Ampo tie-in here.

-- A film studies type of project? We have been watching a lot of films this semester...anybody want to continue in this mode?

Two films come to mind:

1. Twenty-four Eyes (1954) recognized as top Japanese film of the year. Directed by Kinoshita Keisuke. Kind of a tear jerker about an elementary school teacher on Shodoshima, another Inland Sea setting like MacArthur's Children, from 1928 through the end of the war. Might include spoilers but see Synopsis here. There is a nice resource in a chapter (Ch. 5) of James Orr's book, The Victim as Hero that discusses this film directly within a framework of "sentimental humanism."

2. Fires on the Plain (1959), directed by Ichikawa Kon, based on the novel by Shohei Ooka, about the end of the war in the Philppines where Japanese soldiers were pretty much abandoned by the government and had to fend for themselves. Fairly brutal at times, as this comment suggests: "Private Tamura treks across an unfamiliar Philippine landscape, encountering an increasingly debased cross section of Imperial Army soldiers, who eventually give in to the most terrifying craving of all. Grisly yet poetic, Fires on the Plain is one of the most powerful works from one of Japanese cinema’s most versatile filmmakers." Spoiler alert, but if intertested, read more here. The library has the novel but not the DVD, it would appear. I do have a personal copy....

3. To tie things together, you could also incude some discussion of Harp of Burma (which the library does have) based on the short novel by Michio Takeyama which you could read. Some notes here after you watch the films. Also James Orr's critical reflections on several of these films are available in a PDF on Wise. See: H199 Orr Sentimental Humanism.pdf.

So someone one could build on other films we have discussed and put nice paper together with one or both or even all three of these films plus the James Orr PDF.

Other topics growing out of occupation reform policies that you could look at, that are not necessarily limited to gender or feminist issues include some broad topics like:

-- educational reform, land reform, economic deconcentration, as well as topics like

--the spread of radical unionism and labor unrest, the call for the General Strike, the Reverse Course--read more from the Joe Moore material we already looked at.

--the issue of war responsibility, the protection of emperor Hirohito from inquiries into his role and the opposition to his abdication, articles and works by Herbert Bix would be very helpful,

--the framing of the postwar constitution and the issue of constitutional reform today, etc. Possibilities abound there.

The main guideline here is to keep within the course materials but put them together in ways that we did not do in class.

Read online article on Women in Workplace

See online version of The Japan That Can Say N0

Jetro Report on Koizumi's Reforms

*********

You might also be interested in a topic such as

--Japan's postwar economic miracle and the economic situation today

--environmental issues arising from unbridled growth: pollution diseares/incidents and of course Fukushima Triple Disaster

--the question of prewar and wartime history in Japanese textbooks and in museums, etc. Japanese apologies and reconciliation issues; Yasukuni Shrine,

--the Korean minority in Japan, its challenges and future

--the issue of US bases in Okinawa, and Japan's future

--the controversy over the fate of Okinawan civilians during the Battle of Okinawa

--the position of women in contemporary Japanese society

--as already indicated, the women's lib movement and its impact, the role of Tanaka Mitsu, etc.

--the question of the Comfort Women, the Asian Women's Fund, the Kono Statement (it also appears in Kingston, p. 130), and the recent Settlement arrangement with South Korea that now seems problematic,

-- issues related to other wartime atrocities like the Nanjing Massacre, the Medical Experiments Unit 731: Here is also a grisly NYT account

--If you would like to pursue the work of a postwar Japanese writer or filmmaker, you could do this by discussing some of their principal works and what they have to say about postwar Japanese society or culture, and tie them back into some of the course materials.

The final paper will be due Monday, May 8, by 3:00 pm.

As far as writing style, organization and footnoting go, you might find Diane Hacker's online resource site useful:

http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/history/sample.html

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Read and Discuss Joe Moore, "Japanese Workers and the Struggle for Power" Ch. 2, pp. 48-61; Chs.7- 8 (see "Moore" Folder on Resources section of WISE for pdf copies).

Read and Discuss David Halberstam, The Reckoning, Ch. 7-9 (52 pp., 131-187) in "Halberstam" folder on Resources section WISE for a pdf copies.