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.

This 16-week course approaches world history through the study of Okinawa, rethinking world history from the perspective of a small place located between empires. 

This course covers medieval Japanese society and culture from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries, when political power rested largely in the hands of feudal warriors. Topics include religion (especially Zen Buddhism); changing concepts of “the way of the warrior;” women under feudalism; popular culture; and protest and rebellion. Presentations include weekly feature films. Assigned readings include many literary writings in translation.

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught in Autumn Semester 2009/2010

This module consists of a detailed examination of the critical period in Japanese history from the end of the Pacific War through the U.S. Occupation between 1945 and 1952 and recovery in the 1960s and beyond. The lectures and seminars examine the following topics:

Japan’s Road to War
The Japanese experience of war and defeat
The A-bomb in history and memory
The ‘Allied’ Occupation of Japan
The changing Japanese family
Japan’s economic recovery in the 1950s and 60s
The environmental costs of rapid economic development
The Asia-Pacific War in Japanese memory and popular culture

Suitable for: Undergraduate year one students

Dr Susan C. Townsend, School of History.

Dr. Townsend is Associate Professor of Japanese history in the School of History, University of Nottingham. She has published on Japanese intellectual history, including Yanaihara Tadao and Japanese Colonial Policy: Redeeming Empire (Curzon, 2000) and her most recent monograph Miki Kiyoshi 1897-1945: Japan’s Itinerant Philosopher (Brill, 2009). She is now developing a major collaborative project entitled Motor Cities: A Comparative History of Nagoya, Japan and Birmingham, England in the Twentieth Century in association with the University of Leicester, Birmingham City University and Nagoya University. A major focus of the project is the role of the motorcar and the automotive industry in city-centre design and regional development.