21G.027 | Fall 2016 | Undergraduate

Asia in the Modern World: Images & Representations

Course Description

We will explore images that pertain to the emergence of Japan as a modern state. We will focus on images that depict Japan as it comes into contact with the rest of the world after its long and deep isolation during the feudal period. We will also cover city planning of Tokyo that took place after WWII, and such topics …

We will explore images that pertain to the emergence of Japan as a modern state. We will focus on images that depict Japan as it comes into contact with the rest of the world after its long and deep isolation during the feudal period. We will also cover city planning of Tokyo that took place after WWII, and such topics as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

A unique feature of this offering is that we will run it concurrently with the edX MOOC and two University of Tokyo MOOCs, Visualizing Postwar Tokyo and Four Faces of Contemporary Japanese Architecture, for much of the remainder of the class.

Learning Resource Types
Presentation Assignments
Written Assignments
Instructor Insights
A painting with a man and a woman standing at the pier with a sail boat in the background, and the man is holding a parasol.
“Eight Views of Yokohama: Sails Returning to the Landing Pier” by Yoshitora, 1861, from Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. (This image is in the public domain.)