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STS.S28

Godzilla and the Bullet Train: Technology and Culture in Modern Japan

Undergraduate · Historical course

Fall 2005

This course explores how and why Japan, a late-comer to modernization, emerged as an industrial power and the world's second-richest nation, notwithstanding its recent difficulties. We are particularly concerned with the historical development of technology in Japan especially after 1945, giving particular attention to the interplays between business, ideology, technology, and culture. We will discuss key historical phenomena that symbolize modern Japan as a technological power in the world; specific examples to be discussed in class include _kamikaze_ aircraft, the _Shinkansen_ high-speed bullet train, Godzilla, and anime.

Readings

  • Bartholomew, James R. The Formation of Science in Japan: Building a Research Tradition . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780300042610.
    Required
  • Blackford, Mansel G. The Rise of Modern Business in Great Britain, the United States,and Japan . Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780807847329.
    Required
  • Cusumano, Michael A. The Japanese Automobile Industry: Technology and Management at Nissan and Toyota . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780674472563.
    Required
  • Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II . New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1999. ISBN: 9780393046861.
    Required
  • Kingston, Jeffrey. Japan in Transformation, 1952-2000 . New York, NY: Longman, 2001. ISBN: 9780582418752.
    Required
  • ICH Steering Committee. “The Future of ICH - Revised 2000: A Statement by the ICH Steering Committee on the occasion of the Fifth International Conference on Harmonisation, 9-11 November 2000, San Diego.” ( PDF ) ↗
    Required
  • Koizumi, Kenkichiro. “In Search of Wakon: The Cultural Dynamics of the Rise of Manufacturing Technology in Postwar Japan.” Technology and Culture 43, no. 1 (2002): 29-49.
    Required
  • Napier, Susan J. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation . New York, NY: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN: 9780312238629.
    Required
  • Nishiyama, Takashi. “Cross-disciplinary Technology Transfer in Trans-World War II Japan: The Japanese High-Speed Bullet Train as a Case Study.” Comparative Technology Transfer and Society 1, no. 3 (2003): 305-325.
    Required
  • Nutley, Caroline. “The Value and Benefits of ICH to Industry.” 2000. ( PDF ) ↗
    Required
  • Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalism: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780226620916.
    Required
  • Partner, Simon. Assembled in Japan: Electrical Goods and the Making of the Japanese Consumer . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780520219397.
    Required
  • Samuels, Richard J. “Rich Nation, Strong Army”: National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780801427053.
    Required
  • Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. The Technological Transformation of Japan: From the Seventeenth to the Twenty-first Century . Cambridge, MA, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780521424929.
    Required
  • Tobin, Joseph, ed. Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780822332879.
    Required
  • Tsutsui, William M. Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of Monsters . New York, NY: Palgrave, 2004. ISBN: 9781403964748.
    Required
  • Lec #: 1 · Topics: Introduction: Understanding Japan · Reading Assignments: Timeline Comparing Japan, U.S. and Other Civilizations ( PDF ) ↗
    Reading assignment
  • Bartholomew, chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-48.
    Listed reading
  • Lec #: 4 · Topics: Meiji Japan, 1868-1911 · Reading Assignments: Samuels, chapter 3, pp. 33-78.
    Reading assignment
  • Lec #: 5 · Topics: Imperialism, Technology, and Business · Reading Assignments: Blackford, chapter 5, pp. 103-127.
    Reading assignment
  • Ohnuki-Tierney, chapter 5, pp. 157-185.
    Listed reading
  • Dower, chapter 1, pp. 33-64.
    Listed reading
  • Morris-Suzuki. The Technological Transformation of Japan . Chapter 7, pp. 161-208.
    Listed reading
  • Lec #: 8 · Topics: Symbol of Postwar Japan: Godzilla · Reading Assignments: Tsutsui, chapter 3, pp. 81-111.
    Reading assignment
  • Napier, chapter 5, pp. 85-102.
    Listed reading
  • Blackford, chapter 8, pp. 228-234.
    Listed reading
  • Kingston, chapter 9, pp. 92-103.
    Listed reading
Sources