HIST 368 - Japan, Tokugawa to Today

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-C
The political, social, and cultural dimensions of Japan’s transformation from the Meiji Restoration, to its defeat in 1945, to becoming a world economic power today. Special focus will be on sustainability.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area C requirements.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better.
Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground, or Entirely Online.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-C - Upper Division Arts or Humanities
Course Typically Offered: Variable Intermittently

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Explain how the Tokugawa shogunate unified Japan and established a system of centralized feudalism;
Evaluate the changing nature of Japan’s relationship with the outside world in the Ashikaga, Tokugawa, and Meiji periods;
Describe the causes and effects of Japan’s rapid industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries;
Recognize how Japan’s modernization efforts gave rise to ultranationalist sentiments and increased calls for expansionism;
Trace the growth of Imperial Japan’s empire in mainland Asia and the Pacific, and analyze the impact of colonization on Japan and the lands it conquered;
Analyze the strategies that the Allies used to achieve victory over Japan in World War II and the consequences of these strategies;
Analyze the goals of the Allied Occupation of Japan and the role of the United States and other nations in shaping Japan’s politics and economics postwar;
Trace the changes in Japan’s political structure after World War II that allowed democracy to take root including the role of key parties and figures;
Evaluate the patterns and causes of Japan’s economic successes and downturns in the decades after the war to today;
Assess Japan’s legacy of expansion and its impact on relations to its neighbors and the world;
Identify and contextualize changes in Japan’s social patterns, attitudes, art, and culture as a result of postwar policies and economics and its impact on Asia and beyond;
Conduct independent historical research in Japanese history using primary and secondary sources through written assignments;
Work collaboratively with other students to answer questions and solve problems related to the history of Postwar Japan;
Present original interpretations on selected Japanese history topics in oral, written, audio, or visual form.

UD-C. Upper-division Arts or Humanities Learning Outcomes

demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply the principles, methodologies, value systems, and thought processes employed in the arts and humanities;
analyze cultural production as an expression of, or reflection upon, what it means to be human; and
demonstrate how the perspectives of the arts and humanities are used by informed, engaged, and reflective citizens to benefit local and global communities.