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2024　History B

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Academic unit or major
Humanities and social science courses
Instructor(s)
Sawai Isami 
Class Format
Lecture    (Face-to-face)
Media-enhanced courses
Day/Period(Room No.)
Tue5-6(W9-325(W934))  Fri5-6(W9-325(W934))  
Group
-
Course number
LAH.H205
Credits
2
Academic year
2024
Offered quarter
1Q
Syllabus updated
2024/4/3
Lecture notes updated
-
Language used
Japanese
Access Index

Course description and aims

Political and Diplomatic History of Japan (1853-1912):
This course aims to provide basic historical knowledge, introduce cutting-edge research in Japanese and overseas academia, and deliver various interesting aspects of historical understanding of politics and diplomacy in Tokugawa and Meiji Japan. In particular, this course will exclude a conventional framework that was based on ‘learning and adaptation’ of Western civilization by the Meiji government. Rather, it will emphasize the trial and error process of political actors at that time as well as path dependency behind it. This process can be found in the following three areas; Japan’s foreign relations (understanding of international order as well as international law), domestic politics (domain cliques, parliament, party), and empire building (centre–periphery relations within empire, viewpoint from colonies).

Student learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Understand the historical background of contemporary society by gaining knowledge of politics and foreign relations of modern Japan.
2) Learn how to express their own opinions in an appropriate way through submitting reaction papers after each class.
3) Establish an intellectual basis in order to work together with a variety of people in this globalizing world by comprehending diverse aspects of history

Keywords

History, Japanese History, Political and Diplomatic History, Bakumatsu, Meiji Period

Competencies that will be developed

Specialist skills ✔ Intercultural skills ✔ Communication skills ✔ Critical thinking skills ✔ Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

Lecture-style with PPT slides. At the end of each class, students are required to submit reaction papers that include their questions, feedbacks, and opinions about the lecture. If needed, the lecturer will provide additional explanations and answers to these reactions at the beginning of the next class. This mutual communication will enable students to deepen their understanding of the class.

Course schedule/Required learning

  Course schedule Required learning
Class 1 Introduction Explain the course description, learning outcomes, reference books, assessment criteria and others.
Class 2 Politics and foreign relations of Tokugawa Japan Understand the political system and foreign relations of the Oda-Toyotomi government and Tokugawa government, as well as an ideology that supported these political orders.
Class 3 Political confusion of Bakumatsu Japan Grasp historical roles of the ideas of “Sonnō”,”Kaikoku”, and “Sakoku” by reviewing the “unequal treaties” and Japan’s opening to Western powers.
Class 4 Politics and foreign relations of the early Meiji government Understand a logic behind the Meiji restoration, ōkubo government, post-ōkubo government, and the political crisis of 1881.
Class 5 Popular Rights Movement Consider the relations between the Popular Rights Movement and the contemporary Japanese society on the basis of the historical facts and ideologies of the movement.
Class 6 Cabinet system and the Meiji constitution Reconsider the historical process from the formation of cabinet system to the establishment of the Meiji constitution from the viewpoints of both the learning of Western knowledge and the domestic political contexts.
Class 7 From the early Imperial Diet era to the Katsura-Saionji era Consider the fact that a certain compromise between the domain cliques and parties under the system of the Meiji constitution was inevitable, and thus a variety of majority coalition was sought by both groups in this trial and error process.
Class 8 Treaty revision and Japan’s understanding of Western international order Consider the reasons of Japan’s success of its treaty revision by reviewing the concepts of “Western international order”, “Sovereignty”, “Civilization”, and “Unequal treaties” in the political context at that time.
Class 9 East Asian International relations over Korea Evaluate multiple aspects of the disputes among Japan, Qing China, and Russia over Korea by focusing on the active role of the Qing empire, pro-Japan factions in Korea, and others.
Class 10 The First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, and the formation of modern diplomacy Understand political leadership over the First Sino-Japanese war and Russo-Japanese war from the viewpoint of the development of Japanese diplomacy, and various influences of these wars in the context of world history.
Class 11 Colonial Taiwan, Colonial Korea, and Politics in imperial Japan Investigate legal, political, and economic aspects of the colonization of Taiwan and Korea as well as the transformation of politics within imperial Japan.
Class 12 Gender and Tokugawa-Meiji Japan Review various ideologies about gender politics that caused the inexistent of women in the Japanese political and diplomatic history from Tokugawa to the Meiji period.
Class 13 Discussion/ End-of-term exam Discuss some questions about the content of this course/ Conduct end-of-term exam in order to check students’ understanding level.
Class 14 Feedback of the end-of-term exam/ Summary of the course Feedback the end-of-term exam/ Summarize the Japanese foreign relations, domestic politics, and empire building from the Tokugawa to Meiji period

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to reference books and other course materials.

Textbook(s)

No textbook

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Reference Books on the entire course are as follows (no need to purchase)
1. Kaoru Iokibe and Sochi Naraoka, Nikon Seiji Gaikō Shi [Political and Diplomatic History of Japan], Tokyo: Hōsō Daigaku Kyōiku Shuppankai, 2019
2. Yuichiro Shimizu, Kazuhiro Takii, and Ryota Murai, Nihon Seiji Shi [Political History of Japan], Tokyo: Yūhikaku, 2020
3. Yuichi Sasaki, Kindai Nikon Gaikō Shi [Diplomatic History of Modern Japan], Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Shinsha, 2022
Other books will also be introduced during the lecture if needed

Assessment criteria and methods

End-of-term exam 80% (closed-book, essay-style), Reaction papers 20%

Related courses

  • LAH.H105 ： History A
  • LAH.H305 ： History C
  • LAH.S414 ： Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences14:History

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

It is desirable to have prior knowledge of junior high or high school level of Japanese history. Nevertheless, the lecturer will proceed the course along with providing basic knowledge of Japanese history during the lectures.

Contact information (e-mail and phone)    Notice : Please replace from "[at]" to "@"(half-width character).

i.sawai[at]ila.titech.ac.jp

Office hours

Students can contact the lecturer in advance.

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