Ritsumeikan University Syllabus

Course Name	Year	Term	Period	Faculty / Graduate School	All Instructors	Credits
15934:IR18‐AE105 Japan and the West (RB) § 15935:IR-AS108 Japan and the West (RB) § 15936:Japan and the West (RB) § 15937:RUIR-1612 Japan and the West(RB)	2024	Fall	Mon3	College　Of　Law,College　Of　Economics,College　Of　Business　Administration,College　Of　Social　Sciences,College　Of　International　Relations,College　Of　Policy　Science,College　Of　Letters,College　of　Image　Arts　and　Sciences,College　of　Information　Science　and　Engineering,College　of　Sport　and　Health　Science　(tentative　name)	DANISMAN IDRIS	2

Campus

KIC

Class Venue

MEIGAKUKAN　MG001

Language

English

Course Outline and Method

This course aims to understand the relationship between Japan and the West by focusing on modernization theory.
Japan has long been cited as a successful, non-Western modernization example. However, what are Japan’s relations with the West in terms of modernity, and how did Japan realize modernization while preserving Japanese traditions?
To answer these questions, in the course, Japan’s history, culture, and society will be studied through a comparative cultural perspective. A comparison will be conducted with Islamic world, especially Turkiye, which has experienced more or less a similar process, despite not being as economically successful as Japan.

Student Attainment Objectives

The students will,
a) be able to understand basic cross-cultural study themes such as misperception, orientalism, generalization, and stereotypes.
b) learn historical facts about how modernization was implemented in Japan and Turkey and how these two countries responded to the impact of Western influence and discern the similarities and differences between their experiences with modernization.
c) be able to apply what they learned to everyday life, such as building a sound cultural exchange between local and global cultures.

Recommended Preparatory Course

None

Course Schedule

Lecture/Instructor（When there are multiple instructors)	Theme
Lecture/Instructor（When there are multiple instructors)	Keyword, References and Supplementary Information
1	Orientation
1	Introduction to the course, explaining the aims and scope of the course, deciding the themes for presentations, and choosing teams for the presentations.
2	Emergence of Modernity and the West
2	Modernity and modernization will be studied. Some of the terms or concepts that will be dealt with are: Modernization, Westernization, Imperialism, “technicalization,” Civilization, Traditionalism, and the West versus the East.
3	How did the modernity develop and change the West
3	Following the method of the previous week lecture of this week will continue on looking the process of the modernization. Some of the concepts that the lecture of this wekk will cover are, Middle Ages (Dark Ages), the Renaissance and the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution.
4	The West and the East (1): The Case of the Iberian Peninsula
4	Lecture of this week sheds light on the connection between the modernization processes of the West and the Islamic Civilization, through focusing on the “golden age” in the Islamic History that overlaps the Middle Ages, or so called “Dark Ages” in the West.
5	The West and the East (2): Eastern Europe & the Ottomans
5	This week, the lecture focuses on “the era of the Big Three Empires” through the case of the Ottomans. More precisely, cross-cultural interaction between the West and the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim state which dominated the Eastern Europe, the immediate neighborhood of the West, for around four centuries will be studied.
6	Japan Meets the West: The Edo (Tokugawa) Period
6	How Japan encountered the West is the main topic of this week. Some of the sub-themes are, first encounter of the Westerners and Japan in Tanegashima, and notion of "Nanban-jin" in the Edo Period. The class of this week will also cover the transition period extending from the end of the Edo toward the Meiji Era. Some of the sub-themes are, internal signs of the change, arrival of “Black Ships,” rebellions and revolutions.
7	Japan's Modernization: The Meiji Restoration
7	Japan's experience of the Modernization is going to be the main theme of this week. Some of the componets that will be covered during the class are, the Iwakura Mission, the Meiji Restoration, and “the Strategy of Asia-out Europe-in.”
8	Japan after the Meiji Restoration: Expansion to Asia and Struggle with the West
8	Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
9	Cultural Issues of the Modernity: Misconception of the Self and the Other
9	Distinction between the East and West, Stereotypes
10	Orientalism: Western Misconceptions of the East
10	The Orient, The Occident, Islamophobia, power (authority) and knowledge
11	How the West Saw the Japanese Society: The Japanese Image in the West
11	How Japan and Japanese culture were understood by Westerners will be covered this week. Wew will be looking at some theories of japaneseness (nihoninron) such as "ie-shakai", "tate-shakai", "Haji-no-bunka" etc.
12	Comparison of Japan and the West: Physical appearances, behaviors of men, women and children
12	Following the method of the previous weeks, the class will focu on,some comparisons about physical appearances, behaviors of men, women and children between Japan and the West will be conducted, with reference to the book titled The First European Description of Japan (1585), by Luis Frois (translated and annotated by Richard K. Danford et al.)
13	Comparative Perspective: Culture and Religion
13	The lecture of this week will be focusing on the notion of religion and religious societies in both cultures. More precisely, religious conditions in 16th century with a special reference to Buddhism especially Tendai-shu, and Christianity especially the Jesuits, a Catholic missionary order will be chosen, and faiths and practices of both religions will be compared. Luis Frois's The First European Description of Japan will be the main text this week too.
14	Religion and the Modernity: Max Weber’s Theory of Modernization
14	Class of this week will also try to conclude the series of comparison between the West and Japan with a kind of general arguement that is the position and the role of religion in the discussions about the modernity and Japan by a reference to Max Webe's theory of religion and modernity and application of theory to the Japanese modernization experinces by Robert N. Bellah in his book titled Imagining Japan
15	Wrap up
15
Note	The above schedule is subject to change. If there will be any changes, it will be announced beforehand.
Note

Class Format

Classes will be conducted face-to-face, with a few possible exceptions of media-based classes. In the case of media-based classes, students will be informed beforehand.

Recommendations for Private Study

Parallel to the content of the course, the students are required to collect information about the modernization of where they live by searching for the past and present of their societies and conducting comparisons between then and now.

Grade Evaluation Method

Kind	Percentage	Grading Criteria etc.
Final Examination (Written)	0
Report Examination (A report to be submitted by the unified deadline)	0
Exams and/or Reports other than those stated above, and Continuous Assessment　 (Evaluation of Everyday Performance in Class)	100	Quiz (Mini examination): 50% Submitting comment sheets: 35% Active class participation: 15%

Grade Evaluation Method （Note）

Advice to Students on Study and Research Methods

Not in particular

Textbooks

Textbooks （Frequency of Use, Note）

All materials are digital and will be shared via Manaba and other online systems of the university

Reference Books

Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN Code	Comment
Political Modernization in Japan and Turkey	Robert E. Ward(ed.)	Princeton University Press	9780691649290	English
The Chrysanthemum and The Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture	Ruth Benedict	Mariner Books	978-0618619597	English
Imagining Japan: The Japanese Tradition and Its Modern Interpretation	Robert N. Bellah	University of California Press	9780520235984	English
Japan and The West: The Perception Gap	Keizo Nagatani, David W. Edgington(eds.)	Ashgate	1859725287	English
The First European Description of Japan, 1585: A Critical English-Language Edition of Striking Contrasts in the Customs of Europe and Japan	Luis Frois (translated and annotated by Richard K. Danford et al.)	Routledge	1138643327	English
Orientalism	Edward W. Said	Penguin Modern Classics	0141187425	English

Reference Books （Frequency of Use, Note）

Web Pages for Reference

Not in particular

How to Communicate with the Instructor In and Out of Class(Including Instructor Contact Information)

Learning Management System （manaba+R）,Talk with Students

Other Comments

(1) Quiz (Mini examination)
Quizzes will be conducted multiple times throughout the course. The schedule for the quizzes will be announced during the first class.
While some Learning Management Systems technically allow quizzes to be taken remotely, quizes of this course are intended to be an in-person assessment taken only by those students physically present in the classroom.

(2) Submitting comment sheets
The students are required to submit comment sheets for several times. The themes of each comment sheets, deadlines and other details will be sent via Manaba. The length of each sheet is between 350 and 400 words.
The comment sheets must include a brief summary of the lecture or lectures in question, along with the students’ critiques, and questions about the content of the lectures. For the details of evaluation criteria refer to the rubrics.

(3) Students are requirred to attend all classes, join class activities, team works and discussions. Even though physically absent, registering yourselves from remote by entering attendence code provided by Learning Management Systems like "Manaba" will not be counted as attendence.
Approved abscence is available only for cases approved by the university. Other reasons such as forgetting the day of quiz, doing internships etc for abscence can not be accommodated. For complete details on the abscence and make-up policies, please refer the university guidlines.

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