Contemporary Japanese Society

Course title

04186500

Course description

Since the period of high economic growth, Japanese society has experienced drastic changes on the economic, political social and cultural stages. This course deals with various documents and data about these changes as well as various opinions about contemporary issues, which would help students to understand how the contemporary Japanese society had been constructed.

Purpose of class

The aim of this course is to help students to understand the way in which the high economic growth had changed Japanese society, and to comprehend the characteristics and structures of Japanese society. Students are expected to gain the ability of examining social contemporary issues from various perspectives and that of finding the solutions.

Goals and objectives

To understand the social changes of Japanese society with the help of some statistics.
To be able to explain about contemporary Japanese social issues together with the historical context.
To be able to explain logically one's own viewpoint in taking account of the existing differences of historical perceptions.

Language

Japanese

Class schedule

	Class schedule	HW assignments (Including preparation and review of the class.)	Amount of Time Required
1.	Introduction	Read this syllabus carefully.	60minutes
1.	Introduction	Think about what ''Lost 30 years'' means.	120minutes
2.	Historical overview of contemporary Japanese society	Read the distributed documents and write down your impressions.	120minutes
2.	Historical overview of contemporary Japanese society	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
3.	Mega-events and economic growth	Check the news about 2020 Tokyo Olympic.	120minutes
3.	Mega-events and economic growth	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
4.	Airport constructions and protest campaign	Check the number of passengers in main airports in Japan.	120minutes
4.	Airport constructions and protest campaign	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
5.	Transformations of industrial structure	Check the principal industries in Japan.	120minutes
5.	Transformations of industrial structure	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
6.	Regional disparities	Read the distributed documents and write down your impressions.	120minutes
6.	Regional disparities	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
7.	Consumerism	Check and list up the definitions of "consumption".	120minutes
7.	Consumerism	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
8.	Industrial disasters and pollutions	Read the distributed documents and write down your impressions.	120minutes
8.	Industrial disasters and pollutions	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
9.	Business and family	Read the distributed documents and write down your impressions.	120minutes
9.	Business and family	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
10.	Women's liberation movements	Check the employment rate by sex and percentage of workers taking childcare leave by sex	120minutes
10.	Women's liberation movements	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
11.	Myth of Japanese homogeneity	Think about the meanings of " being Japanese".	120minutes
11.	Myth of Japanese homogeneity	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
12.	History of Koreans living in Japan	Read the distributed documents and write down your impressions.	120minutes
12.	History of Koreans living in Japan	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
13.	(Im)migrants in the globalized society	Read the distributed documents and write down your impressions.	120minutes
13.	(Im)migrants in the globalized society	Review what you learnt in the class.	60minutes
14.	Concluding summary / Final exam	Review what you learnt in this course.	310minutes
Total.	-	-	2650minutes

Relationship between 'Goals and Objectives' and 'Course Outcomes'

	Minute papers	Exam	Total.
1.	20%	10%	30%
2.	20%	20%	40%
3.	20%	10%	30%
Total.	60%	40%	-

Evaluation method and criteria

A minute paper is required to submit after every classes (60%) in addition to the final exam(40%). The final score will be determined by the total amount of points obtained (Passing score = 60 %). In case of a poor attendance (less than 2/3 of all classes), the student will get no credit.

Textbooks and reference materials

Will be introduced in the class.

Prerequisites

This course will be taught in Japanese.

Office hours and How to contact professors for questions