Modern Japan

Japan is a rich site for an exploration of many of the key processes and concepts that have shaped, and continue to transform, the modern world. These include the creation of the nation as the fundamental structure for social and political organization, a development that came late to Japan and had profound effects on its relationships with its neighbors, the crafting of its own histories, and with the emergence of debates about what it meant to be “Japanese.” The course also explores how ideas about gender, race, and tradition have been understood and made use of in modern Japan.