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The History of Modern Japan Spring 2024

Hist 434 Selcuk Esenbel

The Course discusses the major processes and events of Japan’s modern history.
The topics are discussed in the context of global history. The lectures discuss the
Tokugawa legacy of feudalism as background to the radical reform movement
Meiji Restoration of 1868. Focus on the impact of Japan’s transformation through
interaction with Western civilization and construction of a modern Asian empire in
twentieth century history. The Course includes Japanese Pan-Asianism, the
colonial experience in the Japanese empire and post-war developments. Topics
included the Japanese industrial revolution and capitalist economy, debates on
Western/Japanese/Asian cultural identity and modernity, development of modern
science and technology, post-war developments in East Asia. The course discusses
the Japanese experience of modernity as a pattern of twentieth century
developmental model and political transformation.
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Japanese women activists for female suffrage during the 1920s.

Grading & Assignments:

1. Term Paper 40%

The term paper will be the Comparison of 4 articles on a similar topic in terms of 5
categories which represent 10 points each in the calculation of the Term Paper
grade.

Give room for: 1. Author’s Argument, 2. Content, 3. Sources, 4. Style 5. Your

Evaluation of the work as Scholarly? Popular? Helpful? Original? Interesting?
Informative but boring! Etc.

This should be a 5page double-spaced essay, which would be publishable as a

Review article in a newspaper or Journal.

The essay will follow formal scholarly style in bibliography and citations that will
indicate the Review books or articles as well additional reading for the preparation
of the essay. Please note careful citation of sources required.

See recommended books list for suggested titles.

Term Paper Topic Example would be four articles on Japanese women, Korean
culture, Japanese colonialism or imperialism, Second World War etc…

Please confirm your choice of articles with Ibrahim Kilicaslan teaching assistant of
the History Department, eikilicaslan@gmail.com
to make sure that there are no duplications of sources.

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For Bibliography and Footnote Style use the following form:
Bibliography style:
Books: Surname, Name, Title underlined (City: Publisher, date of publication).
Articles: Surname, Name, “article title or unpublished manuscript” Journal Title
(Season/Year of Issue): p. or pp.
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Footnote style:
Book: Name Surname, Title underlined for Book, date, pages
Articles: Name Surname, quotation marks“ for articles and unpublished
manuscripts and materials, date: page or pages indicated as p. or pp.
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2. Attendance/ participation (10%)

This means that you are required to come to class having read the material and ask
relevant and interesting questions.

3. Take-Home Final Exam (50%)

Readings on Moodle Page:

Primary Sources

Selections of Primary Source Documents may be assigned for the Lectures:

Wm. Theodore de Bary, Carol Gluck, and Arthur E. Tiedemann, compilers Sources
of Japanese Tradition. 1600-2000. Volume Two. (New York: Columbia
University, Press, 2005).

There are numerous versions such as Volume Two Part 2.1868-2000.

Search for assigned material from author and title of selection in each version of
the book.

David Lu, Japan a Documentary History, 1997, 2 volumes.

Sven Saaler and Christopher W. A. Szpilman, Pan Asianism A Documentary

History Vol. 1,2, Rowman and Littlefield, 2011.

Recommended Journals: Journal of Japanese Studies, Monumenta Nipponica,

Journal of Asian Studies, Japan Forum (e-journal), the major journals of Japanese
and Asian studies in English.

Selections are Assigned for each week from the following Required Reading
Sources (additional reading may be assigned for each week)

(Some books may be available as e-book)

Novels: Natsume Soseki, Botchan (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005)

The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa (New York: Columbia University Press,

1960) .
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Marius B. Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University

Press, 2002).

Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, Modern Japan, A Historical Survey (Boulder Co:
Westview Press,2009). Good for details of the modern period.

Janet E. Hunter, The Emergence of Modern Japan, An Introductory History Since

1853 (Essex: Longman Group, 1993), Good for the comparative approach.

Nakamura Takafusa, Lectures on Modern Japanese Economic History 1926-1994

(Tokyo: LTCB International Library Foundation, 1994) engaging economic
history with personal anecdotes of everyday life.

W. G. Beasley, The Rise of Modern Japan, 1995.

Thomas C. Smith, Native Sources of Japanese Industrialization 1750-1920

(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), pp. 1-70 for Tokugawa roots of
Japanese Capitalism and Industrialization.

Mikiso Hane, Peasants, Rebels, and Outcasts: The Underside of Modern Japan
(New York: Pantheon Books, 1982).

Takii Kazuhiro, The Meiji Constitution: The Japanese Experience of the West and
the Shaping of the Modern State (Tokyo: International House, 2007).

Gennifer Weisenfeld, Mavo: Japanese Artists and the Avant-Garde 1905-1931

(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

Kerim Yasar, Electrified Voices (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018).

Raymond Lamont-Brown, Kamikaze Japan’s Suicide Samurai (London: Rigel

Publications, 2004).

Carol Gluck and Stephen R. Graubard, eds, Showa The Japan of Hirohito (New
York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1990).

John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat Japan in the Wake of World War II, 2003.

Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan, 2003.

Brett L. Walker, A Concise History of Modern Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2015). Good survey from a young scholar –up to date on current
cultural and political trends. Recommend reading the early chapters to have an idea
of Japan’s pre-modern history.
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Chronology of Pre-Modern Japanese History and the Time-Line of Modern

Japanese History can be consulted for important events and dates

TOPICS

1) Chronology of the History of Modern Japan: Meiji/Taisho/Showa Periods and

East Asia

Readings:
Brett L. Walker, peruse early chapters, read Chap 7, 8 as Tokugawa background.

Hunter, 323-333;

Late Tokugawa Crisis, Winds of Change, Downfall of the Shogunate.

Hane, Chap. 3-4 for Political Developments-Intellectual Currents, 499-504,

Smith, 15-70, Native Sources of Japanese Industrialization

2) The Meiji Restoration and the Opening to the West

Readings:

Hane Chap. 5, Jansen, Chapt. 11, Takii, The Iwakura Embassy pp.1-48.

Fukuzawa Yukichi, An Outline of Civilization

Walker Chap. 9.

3) Quest for Meiji Modernity: Society, Culture, and Family

Readings:

Janet Hunter, Individual and Community, Town and Country, Men and Women,
Administration and Public Service. Heterodoxy, Orthodoxy, and Religious
Practice, Hane, Underside, pp. 3-27; Hane, Underside, pp. 102-225. Jansen,
Chapter 12.

Carol Gluck, Japan’s Modern Myths, pp. 3-41.

Primary Sources: Charter Oath, The Constitution of 1868, Imperial Rescript on the
Abolition of the Han, Fukuzawa Yukichi, An Outline of a Theory of Civilization,
Mori Arinori, On Wives and Concubines, Nakamura Masanao, On Changing the
Character of the People, ,Fukuzawa Yukichi and Education, An Encouragement of
Learning, The Imperial Rescript on Education: The Opening, State Shinto: The
Unity of Rites and Rule, The Divinity of the Emperor: Kato Genchi Mikadoism,
The Emperor’s Renunciation of His Divinity

4) Constitution, Conflict and Consensus

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Readings:

Takii, Introduction. x-xix, Hane Chap. 6, for Political Reactions, Agrarian Unrest,
Popular rights, Hane, Chap. 8 Partisan Politics 1887-1894, Hane, Chap. 10, Internal
Political Affairs 1912-18, Chap. 11. Political Developments, 1918-1932; Hunter,
Oligarchy and Democracy, Walker, Chapters 10, 11.

Source: The Meiji 1889 Constitution in the internet.

Sources Volume 2: Itagaki Taisuke, On Liberty, The Constitution of the Empire of

Japan Tokutomi Soho: Youth and Revolution, Advocate of Freedom and People’s
Rights, Nationalism, Yoshino Sakuzo: On the Meaning of Constitutional
Government and the Methods by Which It Can Be Perfected, Uchimura Kanzo :
The Disrespect Incident, Ienaga Saburo: The Formation of a Liberal: A Historian’s
Progress, Katayama Sen: A Summons to the Workers, Kotoku Shusui : The Change
in My Thought on Universal Suffrage,

5) The Technological and Industrial Revolution of Japan’s Economic Growth

Readings:

Hane, Chap.7 Initial Modern Economic Growth, Gluck, Showa, pp. 191-228
Nakamura, Transformation Amid Crisis, Guns and Butter, Claws of War

6) The Japanese Modern Empire and Colonial Modernity

Readings:
Hane, Chapter, 8 for the Korean Question and the Sino Japanese War 1895,
Chapter 9, The Russo-Japanese War 1905 and Aftermath, Chapter 10 for 1912-18,
Minohara, Introduction, pp. 1-20, 257-280 for WWI,.

7) Japanese Imperialism, Nationalism, Militarism and Expansionism

Hane, Chap. 7 Cultural Nationalism, Chap. 12 Radical Nationalists and Militarists,

Conspiracies and Assassinations, Internal Political Developments, Triumph of
Militarists, Hunter, The Role of the Military. Walker, Chapter 12.

Sven Saaler, Pan Asianism. Pp. 115-140. Volume 1.

Sources Volume 2: Okakura Kakuzo: The Ideals of the East, Tea the Cup of
Humanity, Nakano Shigeharu: Farewell before Daybreak, Japan and Asia: An
Anniversary Statement by the Amur Society, Gondo Seikyo: The Gap Between the
Privileged Classes and the Commoners, Kita Ikki: An Outline Plan for the
Reorganization of Japan, Fundamental of Our National Polity, Ishihara Kanji P
Personal Opinion on the Manchuria-Mongolia Problem, Hashimoto Kingoro:
Addresses to Young Men, Arita Hachiro: The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere.
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8) Liberalism, Revolution, and Urbanity: Japan Between the Two World Wars

Hane, Chap. 10 for Social Reform Movements, Labor, Agrarian reform Outcastes
and Suiheisha, Feminine Rights, Democratic and Socialistic political Movements,
Hunter, Popular Protest and the Working Class

Kerim Yasar, Introduction, Chapter 4.

Tomida and Daniels, Japanese Women, pp.1-39, 192-221.

Sources: Kawakami Hajime: A Letter from Prison, Uno Kozo: The Essence of
Capital, Tosaka Jun: The Japanese Ideology, Hiratsuka Raicho: In the Beginning
Woman was the Sun; Ueno Chizuko: Are the Japanese Feminine? Some Problems
of Japanese Feminism in Its Cultural Context,

9) Art, Intellectual life and Modern Culture

Wakabayashi, Modern Thought, pp. 147-272, Socialism, Liberalism, Marxism,

Revolt Against the West Asianism.

Wisenfeld, Mavo, pp. 1-28, 63-122, 165-216,

10) Total Modernity to Total War

Readings:
Hane, Chap. 12, 13,14,., for China Policy to 1937, The China Incident, Foreign
entanglements, The Occupation of Southern French Indochina, The Pacific War
during the Second World War 194-1945. Walker, Chapter 13.

Okazaki Tetsuji, “The supplier network and aircraft production in wartime Japan”
The Economic History Review Vol.64: Issue 3 August 2011: 973-994.
Lamont-Brown, Kamikaze, pp. cover page-50. ; Miyazaki, Anime.

11.The Allied Occupation: The Japanese Constitution and Democracy with

Intervention.

Readings:
Hane, Chap. 15. Hane, Chap. 16-18.
John Dower, Embracing Defeat, Pt I Victor and Vanquished, Pt VI Reconstruction
17 Epilogue

Sources Volume 2: Imperial Rescript on Surrender, the 1947 Constitution, The

Revised Civil Code, Rural Land Reform Directive, Morito Tatsuo: the Construction
of a Peaceful Nation, Oe Kenzaburo: Growing Up During the Occupation,
Maruyama Masao: 8/15 and 5/19. The Income Doubling Plan, Farewell,
Mainstream Consciousness, New Religions: Omoto: Deguchi Nao: Divine
Revelations, The Path of Omoto, Soka gakkai: Makiguchi Tsunesaburo: What is
Religious Value? : Mishima Yukio: The National Characteristics of Japanese
Culture, Oe Kenzaburo: Japan,The Ambiguous and Myself, The Logic and
Psychology of Ultra nationalism, Fujiwara Akira: How to View the Nanjing
Incident, Arano Yasunori and Colleagues: The History of Japan in Asia.
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12. Post-War Japan: Walker, Chapters 14, 15. Shin-Godzilla

Aug. 2.
13. Post-War Japan: The Wind Rises

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2013293/mediaviewer/rm2695221760/?ref_=tt_ov_i

Recommended Readings

Marius B. Jansen, ed., The Cambridge History of Japan: The Nineteenth Century
(Cambridge: CUP, 1993) Volume 5.

Peter Duus, ed., The Cambridge History of Japan: The Twentieth Century
(Cambridge: CUP, 1995) Volume 6.

J.W.M. Chapman, Ultranationalism in German-Japanese Relations 1930-45

(Global Oriental, 2011).
Kerim Yasar, Electrified Voices (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018).

T. Fujitani, Race for Empire (Berkeley UCP, 2011).

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Par Kristoffer Cassel, Grounds of Judgment: Extraterritoriality and Imperial

Power in 19th Century China and Japan (Oxford University Press, 2011).

Kenneth Ruoff, Imperial Japan at its Zenith (Cornell UP, 2010).

Sebastian Conrad, The Quest for the Lost Nation, 2010.

Selcuk Esenbel, “Japan’s Global Claim to Asia and the World of Islam :
Transnational Nationalism and World Power, 1900-1868” The American
Historical Review (October 2004) Volume 106 Number 4: 1140-1170.

Selcuk Esenbel, Japan, Turkey, and the World of Islam (Leiden: Brill Global
Oriental, 2011).

Selcuk Esenbel, ed. Japan on the Silk Road: Encounters and Perspectives of
Politics and Culture in Eurasia (Leiden: Brill, 2018).

D. Stahl, Imagining the War (Brill, 2010).

James L. Huffman, Japan in World History (Oxford, 2010).

Carl Crow, Japan’s Dream of World Empire: The Tanaka Memorial, 2010.

James Boyd, Japanese Mongolian Relations ( Brill, 2010).

Turan Kayaoglu, Legal Imperialisms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2010).
Michael Edson Robinson, Gi-Wook Shin, Colonial Modernity in Korea
(Cambridge: Harvard East Asian Monographs, 2004).

Michael Seth, A Concise History of Modern Korea ( Rowman and Littlefield,

2009).

Nakayama Shigeru, The Orientation of Science and Technology in Japan ( Leiden:

Brill, 2009).

Ben-Ami Shillony, The Emperors of Modern Japan (Leiden: Brill, 2008).

Rotem Kowner, Rethinking the Russo-Japanese War, Volume I, II.

Donald Keene, Emperor of Japan (New York: Columbia University Press.

Wilhelm Rohl, The History of Law in Japan (Leiden: Brill, 2004).

Ravina Mark, The Last Samurai, 2004.

Richard Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, Cornell U. P. 2003.

Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan, 2003.

William M. Steele, Alternative Narratives in Modern Japanese History, Routledge,

2003.
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Gary D. Allison, The Columbia Guide to Modern Japanese History (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1999).

Tetsuji Okazaki, ed., The Japanese Economic System, 1999.

Tadashi Fujitani, Splendid Monarchy (Berkeley UCP, 1998).

Peter Duus, The Abascus and the Sword, 1995.

Louise Young, Japan’s Total Empire (Berkeley UCP, 1998).

Ian Nish, Iwakura Mission, 1998.

Ann Waswo, Modern Japanese Society, 1868-1994, 1996.

Irokawa Daikichi, The Age of Hirohito, 1995.

Tosh Minohara, Tze-ki Hon, Evan Dawley, The Decade of the Great War Japan
and the Wider World in the 1910s (Brill, 2014).

W. G. Beasley, The Rise of Modern Japan, 1995.

John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat Japan in the Wake of World War II, 2003.

Sydney Giffard, Japan Among the Powers 1890-1990, Yale, 1994.

Gail Lee, Bernstein, Recreating Japanese Women, 1991.

W. G. Beasley, Japanese Imperialism, 1894-1945, Oxford, 1987.

Carol Gluck, Japan’s Modern Myths (New York: Columbia UP, 1985).

Chalmers A. Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle (Stanford: Stanford UP,
1982).

Elise K. Tipton, Modern Japan a Social and Political History, 2002.

Timothy Brook and Bob Wakabayashi, Opium Regimes China, Britain, Japan
(Berkeley UCP, 2000).

Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, Kamikaze, Cherry Blossom’s, and Nationalism(Chicago,

2010).

Natsume Soseki, Kokoro, 1969.

Fukuzawa Yukichi, An Outline of a Theory of Civilization (New York: Columbia

UP, 2009).

Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, Modern Japanese Thought (Cambridge: CUP, 1998).

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Barbara Molony, ed., Gendering Modern Japanese History (Cambridge: Harvard

University Press, 2005).

Barbara Hamill Sato, The New Japanese Woman (Duke University Press, 2003).

Gail Lee Bernstein, Recreating Japanese Women 1600-1945 (UCP, 1991).

Yoshiko Furuki, The White Plum, 1991.

Mara Patessio, Women and Public Life in Early Meiji Japan (University of
Michigan, 2011).

Patricia E. Tsurumi, Factory Girls (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1990).

Hiroko Tomida, ed.,Japanese Women Emerging from Subservience, 1868-1945,

(Folkestone: Global Oriental).

Sharon A. Minichiello, Japan’s Competing Modernities Issues in Culture and

Democracy 1900-1930 (University of Hawaii Press, 1998).