Japanese Cultural Patterns

Japan in Today’s World Program, Semester 1= , Fall 2009 - Winter 2010

Japanese Cultural Patterns—Course Syllabus=

Class meets: Fridays, 1:00-2:30 p.m., Rm. 403, = International Student Center

Instructor: Prof. Jordan Pollack, 2^{nd
Floor, International
Student Center}

Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-4:00 = p.m., or by appointment

Office phone: 642-2153, Mobile phone: 08056027368

Email: pollackj@isc.kyushu-u.ac.jp or pollackj@gmail.com

Course Overview and Objective

This course examines salient cultur= al patterning—conventional principles and everyday practices—in contemporary Japanese life. T= he approach is multidisciplinary, applying mostly anthropological, but also so= ciological, psychological, historical, and other perspectives. Lectures, readings, and class discussions will explore a range of topics, as listed in the schedule below= . The goal is to deepen your appreci= ation of how Japanese create, understand, organize, evaluate, and otherwise funct= ion in their present world.

Procedure, Requirements, and Evaluation

Each class meeting will involve int= roductory comments, by me, on the scheduled topic, followed by class discussion of readings assigned for that day.

The course requires that you…=

1) Attend all classes, arriv= ing on time as a courtesy to your classmates and to me

2) Complete at least one of = the assigned readings each week (you are encouraged to read both, of course)

3) Participate regularly and actively in discussion periods, sharing your thoughts, asking questions, dr= awing comparisons, offering criticisms, and so on

4) Write five reflections, o= f 250 words or so, on one of the designated readings

5) Write a short, 6- to 8-pa= ge research paper comparing Japan and your own country with respect to an area of cultural patterning of your choice

Regarding 4) above, your comments s= hould be submitted to me as an email attachm= ent (using pollackj@gmail.com) by noon = of the Thursday before we meet. = I want you to react to the reading in some way—summarize it, critique it, re= late it to previous class or other readings, elaborate on a point, etc.; I leave= it up to you—both so that I have feedback on the appropriateness of the reading for future use, and, more importantly, so that you have opportunity= to engage it more deliberatively. I will assemble and email to the class everyone’s reflections so that y= ou may benefit from each other’s efforts.

Regarding 5) above, I will provide = specific guidelines for the exercise later in the term. The paper is due the last day of c= lass (February 5), but may be turned in sooner.

It is possible, by doing additional= work, to earn a third credit for this course, which would involve completing all readings assigned each week, a= nd writing reflections for these as well.

Your participation in class discuss= ion will comprise 40% of your final grade; the weekly reflections, 40%; and the rese= arch paper, 20%. My evaluation of = your effort will take account of your level of English proficiency.

Lecture/Reading/Discussion Schedule

October 9 &n= bsp; = ; Course introduction

October 16 &n= bsp; = ; Identity, self, cultural imaginary

Goodm= an, Roger. 2005. “Making Majority Culture,= 221; in Robertson, Jennifer, ed. A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

&nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Gjerde, Per F. and Miyoko Onishi. 2000. “Selves, Cultures, and

Nations: The Psychological Imagination of ‘the Japanese’ in the

Era of Globalization.”&= nbsp; Human Development, No. 4= 3.

October 23 &= nbsp; Ecology, nature, landscapes

Kalla= nd, Arne and Pamela J. Asquith. 1997. “Japanese Perceptions of Nature: Ideals and Illusions,” in As= quith, Pamela J. and Arne Kalland, eds. Japanese Images of Nature: Cultural Perspectives. London: RoutledgeCurzon.

Karan, Pradyumna. 2005. “Japanese Landscapes,”= in = Japan in the 21^st Century: Environment, Economy, and Society<= /i>. Lexington, KY:&nbs= p; University of Kentucky Press.<= /span>

October= 30              &= nbsp;   Demographics

&n= bsp;

Miyazaki, Tetsuya et al. = 2006. “Wha= t Can We Do About the Baby Bust?” in Japan Echo, February.

=

Matsu= tani Akihiko. 2006. “All at Once: The Coming Post-Max World,” = in Shrinking Population Economics: Lessons from Japan. Tokyo: International House of Japan, Inc.=

November 6   &n= bsp;            = ; Enculturation, education

Hendr= y, Joy. 2003. “Socialisation and Classific= ation,” in Understanding Japanese Society, 3^rd Ed. London: RoutledgeCurzon.

&nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;          Hendry, Joy. 2003. “The Education System,”= ; in Understanding
Japanese Society, 3^rd Ed. London: RoutledgeCurzon.

November 13     &n= bsp;       Kinship, marriage, gender

=

Hendr= y, Joy. 2003. “The House and Family System= ,” in Understanding Japanese Society, 3^rd Ed. London: RoutledgeCurzon

=

White= , Merry I. 2001. “Children and Families: Reflections on the ‘Crisis&#= 8217; in Japanese Childrearing Today,” in Shimizu, Hidetada and Robert A. LeVine. Japanese Frames of Mind: Cultural Perspectives on Human Development. Cambridge: Cambridge Universit= y Press.

November 20           &= nbsp;   No class—national holiday

November 27           &= nbsp;   Kinship, marriage, gender (cont’d.)

December 5

Golds= tein-Gidoni, Ofra. 2000. “The Production of Tradition= and Culture in the Japanese Wedding Enterprise,” in Ethnos, Volume

65:1.=

=

Spielvogel, Laura. 2003. “Young, Proportionate, Leggy= , and

Thin,= ” in Working Out in Japan: Shaping the Female Body in Tokyo Fitness Clu= bs. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

=

Mille= r, Laura. 2006. “Male Beauty Work,” in= Beauty Up: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Bo= dy Aesthetics. Berkeley: University of Calif= ornia Press.

December 11, 18         Governance, soci= al control

&nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;

Bened= ict, Ruth. 1989 [1946]. Selections from The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

&nb= sp;            =            =

&nb= sp;            =                    &= nbsp;   Sugimoto, Yoshio. 2003. “Friendly Authoritarianism,&= #8221; in An

Introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge: Cambridge Universit= y Press.

=

Sugimoto, Yoshio. 2003. “Collusion= and Competition in the

Estab= lishment,” in An Introduction to Japanese Soci= ety. Cambridge: Cambridge Universit= y Press.

Miller, Alan S. and Satoshi Kanazawa. 2000. “Crime,” in Order

by Accident:&nb= sp; The Origins and Consequences of Conformity in Contemporary Japan. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Dec. 25, Jan. 1      &= nbsp;     No class—winter break   &= nbsp;

January 8                  &= nbsp;   Production

Hamad= a, Tomoko. 2005. “The Anthropology= of Japanese Corporate Management,” in Robertson, Jennifer, ed. A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Kondo= , Dorinne K. 1990. “Company as Family?” i= n Crafting Selves: Power, Gender, and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace. Chicago: University of Chica= go Press.

January 15            &= nbsp;       Stratification, consumption

Sugimoto, Yoshio. 2003. “Class and Stratification: An

Overv= iew,” in An Introduction to Japanese Soci= ety. Cambridge: Cambridge Universit= y Press.

<= st1:country-region w:st=3D"on">Japan Economic Foundation. 2006. “New Trend= s in Japan,” in Japan Spotlight, March/April.

January 22            &= nbsp;       Religion, ritual

Hendr= y, Joy. 2003. “Religious Influences,”= ; in Understanding Japanese Society, 3<= sup>rd Ed. London: RoutledgeCurzon.   &n= bsp;

Kawan= o, Satsuki. 2005. Selections from Ritual Practice in Modern Japan: Ordering Place, People, and Action= . Honolulu: University of Hawai= i Press.

January 29                &= nbsp;   Idiosyncrasies

McVei= gh, Brian. 2000. “Wearing Ideology and the Cu= lt of Cuteness,” in Wearing Ideology: State, Schooling, a= nd Self-Presentation in Japan. Oxford: Berg.

Allis= on, Anne. 2006. “Enchanted Commodities,̶= 1; in Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagi= nation. Berkeley, CA:&nbs= p; University of California Press= .

February 5           &n= bsp;       Past and Future

&nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;

Pelze= l, John C. 1986. “Human Nature in Japanese Myths,” in Lebra, Takie Sugiyama and William P. Lebra, eds. Japanese Culture and Behavior: Selecte= d Readings. Honolulu: University of Hawai= i.

Mathe= ws, Gordon. 1996. Selected chapters, from What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Se= nse of Their Worlds. Berkeley: University of Calif= ornia Press.