17.541 | Fall 2008 | Undergraduate, Graduate

Japanese Politics and Society

Readings

Readings marked * are additional required readings for the 9-unit subject.

Readings by Session

SES # TOPICS READINGS
I. Lectures
1 Politics and history

Sasada, Hironori. “Youth and Nationalism in Japan.” SAIS Review 26, no. 2 (2006): 109-122.

McCargo, Duncan. Contemporary Japan. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2004, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780333961926.

Grimes, William. “Reassessing Amakudari: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?” Journal of Japanese Studies 31, no. 2 (2005): 385-397.

* Gluck, Carol. “The Idea of Showa.” Daedalus 119, no. 3 (Summer 1990): 1-26.

* Passin, Herbert. “The Occupation: Some Reflections.” Daedalus 119, no. 3 (Summer 1990): 107-130.

* Johnson, Chalmers. “Omote (Explicit) and Ura (Implicit): Translating Japanese Political Terms.” Chapter 8 in Japan: Who Governs?: The Rise of the Developmental State. New York, NY: Norton, 1994. ISBN: 9780393314502.

2 Economy and technology

Vogel, Steven K. Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry are Reforming Japanese Capitalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780801473715.

McCargo, Duncan. Contemporary Japan. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2004, chapter 3. ISBN: 9780333961926.

The Prime Minister’s Commission on Japan’s Goals in the 21st Century. “The Frontier Within: Individual Empowerment and Better Governance in the New Millennium.” January 2000.

* Samuels, Richard J. Rich Nation, Strong Army: National Security and Japan’s Technological Transformation. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780801499944.

3 Education and the workplace

Eades, J. S., Roger Goodman, and Yumiko Hada. “Whither the Japanese University: An Introduction to the 2004 Higher Education Reforms in Japan.” Chapter 1 in The “Big Bang” in Japanese Higher Education: The 2004 Reforms and the Dynamics of Change. Melbourne, Australia: Trans Pacific Press, 2005. ISBN: 9781876843236.

Allison, Anne. “Producing Mothers.” In Reimaging Japanese Women. Edited by Anne Imamura. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996, pp. 135-155. ISBN: 9780520202634.

Cutts, Robert L. An Empire of Schools: Japan’s Universities and the Molding of a National Power Elite. New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1997, pp. 97-113. ISBN: 9781563248436.

* Shipper, Apichai. “Criminals or Victims? The Politics of Illegal Foreigners in Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 31, no. 2 (2005): 299-327.

* Schoppa, Leonard J. Race for the Exits: The Unraveling of Japan’s System of Social Protection. 2nd ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008, chapter 7. ISBN: 9780801474453.

4 Community and civil society

Schwartz, Frank. “Civil Society in Japan Reconsidered.” Japanese Journal of Political Science 3, no. 2 (2002): 195-215.

Nakane, Chie. Japanese Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1970, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780520016422.

* Itō, Kimio. “The Invention of Wa and the Transformation of the Image of Prince Shōtoku in Modern Japan.” Chapter 3 in Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. Edited by Stephen Vlastos. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780520206373.

* Inoue, Shun. “The Invention of the Martial Arts.” Chapter 11 in Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. Edited by Stephen Vlastos. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780520206373.

II. Seminars
5 Politics and history

McCargo, Duncan. Contemporary Japan. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2004, chapters 5 and 6. ISBN: 9780333961926.

Vogel, Steven K. Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry are Reforming Japanese Capitalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006, chapter 3. ISBN: 9780801473715.

* Field, Norma. “Okinawa: A Supermarket Owner.” Chapter 1 in In the Realm of a Dying Emperor. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1993. ISBN: 9780679741893.

6 Economy and technology

“Tuning the Hybrid: A Special Report on Business in Japan.” The Economist, December 1, 2007. [a collection of seven articles.]

Vogel, Steven K. Japan Remodeled: How Government and Industry are Reforming Japanese Capitalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006, chapter 7. ISBN: 9780801473715.

* Freeman, Christopher. Technology Policy and Economic Performance: Lessons from Japan. London, UK: Pinter, 1987, chapters 2 and 3. ISBN: 9780861879281.

7 Education and the workplace

Dore, Ronald, and Mari Sako. “Training in the Enterprise.” Chapter 5 in How the Japanese Learn to Work. 2nd ed. Edited by Ronald Dore. London, UK: Routledge, 1998. ISBN: 9780415153454.

Ghosn, Carlos. “Saving the Business without Losing the Company.” Harvard Business Review 80, no. 1 (2002): 37-45.

Kumazawa, Makoto. Portraits of the Japanese Workplace: Labor Movements, Workers, and Managers. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996, chapters 8 and 9. ISBN: 9780813317083.

8 Community and civil society

Gercik, Patricia. “Trust Me,” and “Believe Me.” In On Track with the Japanese: A Case-By-Case Approach to Building Successful Relationships. New York, NY: Kodansha, 2001, pp. 37-174. ISBN: 9781588203984.

McCargo, Duncan. Contemporary Japan. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2004, chapter 7. ISBN: 9780333961926.

Hasegawa, Koichi, Chika Shinohara, and Jeffrey Broadbent. “Volunteerism and the State in Japan.” The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, December 26, 2007.

* Maclachlan, Patricia. “The Struggle for an Independent Consumer Society.” Chapter 10 in The State of Civil Society in Japan. Edited by Frank Schwartz and Susan Pharr. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780521534628.

* Hardacre, Helen. “After Aum: Religion and Civil Society in Japan.” Chapter 6 in The State of Civil Society in Japan. Edited by Frank Schwartz and Susan Pharr. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780521534628.

III. Case studies and Web page presentations
9 Politics and history

Leadership case study (PDF)

* Curtis, Gerald. The Logic of Japanese Politics. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2000, chapters 1 and 6. ISBN: 9780231108430.

10 Economy and technology

International economy case study (PDF)

* McCargo, Duncan. Contemporary Japan. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2004, chapter 8. ISBN: 9780333961926.

11 Education and the workplace

Education case study (PDF)

Workplace case study (PDF)

* Gordon, Andrew. “The Invention of Japanese-Style Labor Management.” Chapter 2 in Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. Edited by Stephen Vlastos. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780520206373.

12 Community and civil society

Community case study (PDF)

* Dore, Ronald. “Goodwill and the Spirit of Capitalism.” Chapter 9 in Taking Japan Seriously: A Confucian Perspective on Leading Economic Issues. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780804714013.

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