RUTH BENEDICT AND JAPAN: THE TEXT THAT SHAPED POSTWAR JAPANESE CULTURE

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

Written during WWII as part of enemy studies, Ruth Benedict’s Chrysanthemum and the Sword guided the postwar US occupation of Japan. Since its 1948 translation into Japanese, the book has remained one of the longest-selling titles in Japan. This course examines the historical influence of this book in (re)building postwar Japanese cultural identity against the backdrop of the changing US-Japan relations, focusing on the dramatic shift in Japan’s position from existential enemy of the US to staunch ally in the Cold War in East Asia. Not recommended for first-year students.