21H.155 | Spring 2017 | Undergraduate

Modern Japan: 1868 to Present

Course Description

This course surveys Japanese history from the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603 to the present and explores the local and global nature of modernity in Japan. It highlights key themes, including the emergence of a modern nation-state, the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire, the development of mass …
This course surveys Japanese history from the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603 to the present and explores the local and global nature of modernity in Japan. It highlights key themes, including the emergence of a modern nation-state, the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire, the development of mass consumer culture and the middle class, and the continued importance of historical memory in Japan today.
Learning Resource Types
Written Assignments
Lecture Notes
A kneeling woman, wearing a colorful kimono, fastens the sandle of another woman, also wearing a colorful kimono, who stands above her.
“On Tōkaidō Highway,” ca. 1872. This image is in the public domain.