- In-depth knowledge of the main events of the modern and contemporary history of Japan.
-In-depth knowledge of the main political and economic institutions of post-war Japan.
- Understanding of the processes that favored democratization and economic development after World War II.
The course aims to provide the student with the necessary tools to:
- critically analyze primary sources of modern and contemporary history of Japan.
- critically analyze secondary sources on the modern and contemporary history of Japan.
- relate the historical development of modern and contemporary Japan to the regional and global context within which it developed.
Making judgements:
- strengthening intercultural sensitivity.
- strengthening of the critical sense.
Communication skills:
- ability to clearly and effectively present the contents learned
- Public speaking skills
- ability to compare with other students in the analysis of the main topics covered during the course.
Learning skills:
- ability to find and analyze historical sources.
- ability to build a reasoned chronology.
- ability to independently use the main bibliographic resources made available by the University Library System.
Indispensable: knowledge of the main events and processes of contemporary history of the nineteenth-twenty-first century.
Important: general knowledge of the main events and processes of Japanese history of the nineteenth-twenty-first centuries.
None.
Teaching methods
The course will have a seminar setting. After a series of lectures that will aim to historically frame the topics covered during the course, students will be asked to read and discuss primary and secondary sources related to the topics of the course in class. The teaching hours will be divided as follows:
16 hours of lectures
2 hours of learning tests
2 hours of workshop
28 hours of seminar teaching
Oral test with an optional written test.
The questions in the optional written test are open-ended.
Language of the examination: English.
Evaluation criteria: ability to critically analyze the main events in the history of modern and contemporary Japan and place them in the relevant time frame; ability to expound the content learned with specialized vocabulary; active participation in classroom discussions.
Ian Neary, The State and Politics in Japan, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2019 (capp. 5, 6, 7, 12).
Ian Neary, The State and Politics in Japan, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2019.
Andrea Revelant, Il Giappone contemporaneo, Torino, Einaudi, 2024.
1. State and civil society in Japan from the Meiji era to the early years of the Shōwa era.
2. The role of Tennō in pre-war and post-war Japan.
3. The Asia-Pacific War.
4. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: historical and historiographical framework.
5. The Allied occupation of Japan: historical and historiographical framework.
6. Rise and decline of the "1955 system".
7. The actors of Japanese domestic politics in the years of the Cold War.
8. MITI and Japanese economic development
9. The end of the Cold War.
10. The era of Abe Shinzō.
English
International sudents are welcome.
