Explaining the Rise of Japan
Etablissement : Faculté de Gestion, Economie & Sciences Licences
Langue : Anglais
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
- Aucune formation en lien avec ce cours.
Période : S3
None
Today Japan has the third largest economy in the world at 5.2 trillion. (France is ranked #6 at 2.8 trillion.) If we look at products
like passenger automobiles we see Japanese manufacturers ranked 2, 7, 10, 14, and 16th. (VW is #1, Renault Nissan Alliance #3).
In 1950, the per capita income in Japan was roughly $150 a year.
Japan was poor and its economy ruined by war and defeat.
So – immediately we have fundamental questions: why and how did Japan rise?
This course will attempt to explain these questions.
Week 1
17 September
Introducing the course.
Lecture: Why Japan?
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gURiHVTJX4A
Reading: Peter Duus, The Rise of Japan, Chapter 1, Traditional Attitudes.
Week 2
Traditional Japan.
Feudalism, tradition, modernity.
Political and social structures.
The Coming of the West
Reading: https://visualizingcultures.mit.edu/black_ships_and_samurai/index.html
Week 3
Explaining Japanese fascism/militarism/aggression.
Kamikaze pilots: How does one construct a narrative of suicide pilots? Heroic? Brainwashed? Manipulated? Victims?
Readinghttp://factsanddetails.com/asian/ca67/sub426/entry-5619.html
Week 4
Hiroshima, Occupation, Peace
Why was the atomic bombed dropped on Japan?
Video: In English, Peter Jennings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-WnLNLe3sk
and Oppenheimer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuRvBoLu4t0
En français, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLKiuK0cTxk
Week 5 and 6
The rise of the Japanese economy. Why it was not a “miracle.”
Pacific Century: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TWW4PtKK4E&t=724s
Constructing a list of concrete reasons.
Week 7
The Japanese Century was a decade long. Overestimating and
underestimating Japan.
Weeks 8 and 9 oral presentations.
