H386 City and Country in Modern Japan (I)
- Course Code:
- 154800265
- Status:
- Course Not Running 2012/2013
- Unit value:
- 1
- Year of study:
- Year 2 or Year 3
- Taught in:
- Full Year
The city that is now Tokyo contained over a million inhabitants by 1700, was the largest city in the world until the early nineteenth century and has regained that position again today. Mass urbanization in the twentieth century has meant that as of 2000, three-quarters of the Japanese population lived in metropolitan areas, with almost half concentrated in three major conurbations.
This course will use a thematic focus on the city, with occasional attention to the countryside, in order to explore the dynamics and dilemmas of modernity and modernisation in Japan and to provide a foundation on which to develop individual research projects, both in the class and for the special subject long essay. We will use theoretical and comparative material to place the Japanese experience of urbanization in global perspective, but will spend most of our time on primary materials, complemented with relevant secondary sources. Given the limited amount of documentation translated into English, the former will range widely, from guidebooks, commentaries, and fiction to maps, pictures, and film.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
By the end of the course, a student should be able to:
- Demonstrate a command of the course material.
- Use a range of approaches and sources to answer historical questions.
- Design a feasible project, identify relevant primary data and supporting literature.
- Collate information, conduct analysis.
- Communicate convincing arguments in oral and written form.
Scope and syllabus
We will begin our work in the early modern period, examining some models of the Japanese city and the usefulness of Western theory for understanding the process of urbanization. We then move into the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, where themes will include: architectural novelty versus structural continuity during Japan’s modern revolution; the city in modern literature; the peripheralisation of the countryside; entertainment districts and suburban living; the colonial city; rural nostalgia; urban destruction and reconstruction; the neighbourhood; community design; urban planning; megacities; the margins of the city; rural depopulation; the heritage industry; and future cities, as depicted by architects and in film, not least anime. Class time will be devoted to intensive discussion of the required reading, supplemented with student presentations and occasional lectures. Coursework will culminate in a small research paper, allowing students to focus on a topic of particular interest.
Method of assessment
Coursework counts for 40% towards final mark, Essay 1 - 1,500 words(10%), Essay 2 - 1,500 words (10%), Essay 3 - 3,000 words (20%). Written Exam counts for 50% towards final mark and Small Group Project counts for 10% towards final mark.Suggested reading
- Berque, Augustin, Japan: Cities and Social Bonds (1997), D307.76/721513 et al
- Bestor, Theodore C., Neighborhood Tokyo (1989), D300/565792 et al
- Cybriwsky, Roman, Tokyo (1998), D952.135/766022 et al
- Dougill, John, Kyoto: A Cultural and Literary History (2006), D952.1864/997494
- Fiévé, Nicholas, et al, eds, Japanese capitals… (2003), D952.0097/833584 et al
- Jinnai, Hidenobu, Tokyo: A Spatial Anthropology (1995), D307.1216/713847 et al
- Karan, PP, et al., eds., The Japanese city (1997), D307.76/751466 et al
- McClain, James L., Edo and Paris (1994), D930/705372
- Popham, Peter, Tokyo: the city at the end of the world (1985), D300/521725
- Seidensticker, Edward, Low City, High City (1991) D990/689322 et al
- Seidensticker, Edward, Tokyo Rising (1990), D990/614841
- Sorensen, Andre, The making of urban Japan (2002), D307.1216/829231 et al
- Waswo, Ann, Farmers and village life in 20th-century Japan (2003), D307.762/831800
