IMAP Department of Philosophy

(Credit 2)
選択科目
Intended Year:
Intended School:
Topics in Japanese Intellectual History I
Topics in Japanese Intellectual History I
Sub Title  The Invention of Tradition in Meiji Japan
Assistant Professor David WEISS
Numbering Code:
Course Code:
2023 SpringTerm
weekly Fri2
Ito B102(45) Classroom
E科目 (English, English)
: 2023/2/7 (16:18)
Course Overview The Meiji Restoration of 1868 is commonly perceived as the beginning of Japan’s modern age. The Meiji period (1868–1912) witnessed a flurry of political, social, religious, and educational reforms which were often based on newly introduced Euro-American ideas and patterns. In the face of these fundamental changes on all levels of society, Meiji elites were at pains to create a sense of historical continuity that could serve as basis for a shared national identity. Thus, the overthrow of the Tokugawa bakufu was justified as a “restoration of monarchical rule” (ōsei fukko) and the new constitutional government was depicted as a return to the direct imperial rule of Japan’s ancient and classical periods. This is only one of many examples of Meiji thinkers legitimizing contemporary practices by tracing them to allegedly ancient Japanese traditions. Closer analysis reveals that in many cases, these traditions were heavily modified or even invented by modern intellectuals. Eric Hobsbawm has shown that nation-building is often accompanied by such inventions of tradition. In this seminar we will test the usefulness of Hobsbawm’s concept for understanding Japanese nation-building.
Keywords :
Prerequisites :
Required Ability :
Notes
Remote/On-site Information regarding Moodle
対面授業
リアルタイム-オンライン授業
ハイブリッド授業(対面+オンライン)
オンデマンド型授業
課題提出型授業

教職 :
資格 :
Course Objectives
かなり優れている 優れている 及第である 一層の努力が必要
MP_A-c [研究史と方法論の体系的理解]
The class helps students to understand and apply the concept "invention of tradition."
EXCELLENT LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "outstanding." GOOD LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "good." SAT/PASS LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "average and satisfactory." DEFICIENT: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes falls below satisfactory; more effort and application are required to pass.
MP_B2-a [総合把握力]
The class surveys the Meiji period by engaging with the overarching question of how modernity is connected to tradition.This helos students to situate Japan within a global context.
EXCELLENT LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "outstanding." GOOD LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "good." SAT/PASS LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "average and satisfactory." DEFICIENT: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes falls below satisfactory; more effort and application are required to pass.
MP_A-a [先行研究の理解]
Students read up-to-date secondary literature on the invention of traditionand earn the ability to discuss the concept from various angles.
EXCELLENT LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "outstanding." GOOD LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "good." SAT/PASS LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "average and satisfactory." DEFICIENT: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes falls below satisfactory; more effort and application are required to pass.
MP_B2-b [理論的思考力]
Students learn to express their opinion in in-class presentations, discussions and a written report.
EXCELLENT LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "outstanding." GOOD LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "good." SAT/PASS LEVEL: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes is evaluated as "average and satisfactory." DEFICIENT: Student achievement in this area, as measured through his/her level of class preparation and participation, completion of assignments, and performance on the quizzes falls below satisfactory; more effort and application are required to pass.
九州大学文学部ディプロマ・ポリシー   九州大学人文科学府人文基礎専攻ディプロマ・ポリシー
九州大学人文科学府歴史空間論専攻ディプロマ・ポリシー   九州大学人文科学府言語・文学専攻ディプロマ・ポリシー
九州大学文学部哲学コース・カリキュラムマップ   九州大学文学部歴史学コース・カリキュラムマップ
九州大学文学部文学コース・カリキュラムマップ   九州大学文学部人間科学コース・カリキュラムマップ
Course Plan
授業形態(項目) 授業形態(内容)
講義
外国語演習
原典資料演習
実習/フィールド調査
Problem-Based Learning (問題発見・解決型学習)
学生のプレゼンテーション
Moodle の使用
学外実習
野外実習

Textbooks : Each week's readings will be uploaded to moodle.
Reference Books :
Course Handouts :

Course Plan ()
Tentative Weekly Schedules Lecture Exercise, Field trip etc. Comments, suggestions for the course preparation, review, etc.
1 Overview and Thematic Introduction Goto-Jones, Christopher. Modern Japan: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 14–70.
2 Theoretical Introduction Hobsbawm, Eric. “Introduction: Inventing Traditions,” Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University, 1983, pp. 1–14.
Trevor-Roper, Hugh. “The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland,” Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University, 1983, pp. 15–41.
Hobsbawm, Eric. “Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870–1914,” Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University, 1983, pp. 263–307.
3 The Emperor Vlastos, Stephen. “Tradition: Past/Present Culture and Modern Japanese History,” Stephen Vlastos, ed. Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. University of California Press, 1998, pp. 1–16.
Fujitani, Takashi. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 1–28.
Saaler, Sven. Men in Metal: A Topography of Public Bronze Statuary in Modern Japan. Brill, 2020, pp. 32–53.
Ruoff, Kenneth J. Japan’s Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945–2019. Harvard University Asia Center, 2020, pp. 20–33.
4 Religion Josephson, Jason Ānanda. The Invention of Religion in Japan. University of Chicago Press, 2012, pp. 1–21, 71–93, 251–262.
Krämer, Hans Martin. Shimaji Mokurai and the Reconception of Religion and the Secular in Modern Japan. University of Hawai’i Press, 2015, pp. 1–20, 137–144.
5 Language Ueda, Atsuko. Language, Nation, Race: Linguistic Reform in Meiji Japan (1868–1912). University of California Press, 2021, pp. 15–59, 83–101.
6 Literature Shirane, Haruo. “Introduction: Issues in Canon Formation,” Haruo Shirane and Tomi Suzuki, eds. Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identity, and Japanese Literature. Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 1–27.
Ueda, Atsuko. Concealment of Politics, Politics of Concealment: The Production of “Literature” in Meiji Japan. Stanford University Press, 2007, pp. 1–27, 144–157, 169–174.
7 Theater Cody Poulton, M. “Modern drama,” Haruo Shirane nad Tomi Suzuki, with David Lurie, eds. The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2016, pp. 702–710.
Lee, William. “Chikamatsu and Dramatic Literature in the Meiji Period,” Haruo Shirane and Tomi Suzuki, eds. Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identity, and Japanese Literature. Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 179–198.
Salz, Jonah, ed. A History of Japanese Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 2016, pp. 200–214, 419–426, 454–457, 463–469.
8 The Folk Hashimoto Mitsuru “Chihō: Yanagita Kunio’s ‘Japan,’” Stephen Vlastos, ed. Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. University of California Press, 1998, pp. 133–143.
Harootunian, H. D. “Figuring the Folk: History, Poetics, and Representation,” Stephen Vlastos, ed. Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. University of California Press, 1998, pp. 144–159.
Shinada Yoshikazu. “Man’yōshū: The Invention of a National Poetry Anthology,” Haruo Shirane and Tomi Suzuki, eds. Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identity, and Japanese Literature, Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 31–50.
9 Gender Sand, Jordan. “At Home in the Meiji Period: Inventing Japanese Domesticity,” Stephen Vlastos, ed. Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan. University of California Press, 1998, pp. 191–207.
Suzuki, Tomi. “Gender and Genre: Modern Literary Histories and Women’s Diary Literature,” Haruo Shirane and Tomi Suzuki, eds. Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identity, and Japanese Literature, Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 71–95.
Fujitani, Takashi. Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan. University of California Press, 1996, pp. 171–194.
10 Bushidō Benesch, Oleg. Inventing the Way: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushidō in Modern Japan. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 1–14, 42–75.
Chamberlain, Basil Hall. The Invention of a New Religion, Watts, 1912.
11 Castles Benesch, Oleg and Ran Zwigenberg. Japan’s Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace. Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 1–14, 28–95.
12 Kyoto Tseng, Alice Y. Modern Kyoto: Building for Ceremony and Commemoration, 1868–1940. University of Hawai’i Press, 2018, pp. 1–65.
13 Yasukuni Takenaka, Akiko. Yasukuni Shrine: History, Memory, and Japan’s Unending Postwar. University of Hawai’i Press, 2015, pp. 1–73.

Evaluation
Standpoint→
Evaluation Method
MP_A-c
[研究史と方法論の体系的理解]
MP_B2-a
[総合把握力]
MP_A-a
[先行研究の理解]
MP_B2-b
[理論的思考力]
Grading Percentage, Disqualification etc.
In-class contribution 30%
Presentation 30%
Report 40%

GPA Evaluation
A B C D F
授業を通じて、総じて「かなり優れている」に相当する活動を行った。 授業を通じて、概ね「優れている」を超える活動を行った。 授業を通じて、「及第する」に相当する活動を行った。 授業を通じて、総じて「及第する」には達しないものの、それに近い活動を行った。 授業を通じて、「一層の努力が必要」の活動にとどまった。

Additional Information regarding Evaluation Method :
Study Consultation (Office Hours) Study Consultation (Office Hours) :

Suggestion for success (Specific) :

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