The aim of the module is to provide students with a sound understanding of Japanese history up to the end of the Pacific War, focussing upon the development of Japan as a nation and national identity in Japan. It will also develop an awareness of the importance of Japanese history in understanding modern Japanese society.

• Understand aspects of Japanese society and the development of the nation and its national identity necessary for further study of Japan
• Understand aspects of Japanese history necessary for further study of Japan
• Identify key moments in Japanese history
• Identify the key aspects of the history of Japan’s economic development
• Appreciate the differences between the various periods in Japanese history
• Appreciate the importance of Japanese history to the understanding of modern Japanese society

• Gain an in-depth knowledge of Japanese history

• Gain an in-depth knowledge of Japan’s economic development

There will be 26 hours of classes over the two semesters with a Reading Week in both semesters. Audio visual material will also be used when appropriate.

• Read and comprehend written works relating to history
• Critically appraise aspects of history

• Write cogently and coherently on a given subject

Essay - 1,500 words - 50% - Week 12 Autumn semester

Exam - 2 hours - 50% - Spring exams period

Any student failing the module will be required a undertake a re-assessment of a 2 hour examination in the re-sit period.

The module will cover from Early Japanese History through to the end of the Pacific War and Japan’s economic development from the Meiji Period up to the stagnation in the post-bubble period.

Gillespie, J, 2001, Japan – A Short History, London: Curzon

Sansom, G.B., 1987, Japan: A Short Cultural History (1931), available in recent reprints such as London: The Cresset Library

Schirokauer, C., 1993, A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, Thomas Learning

Waswo, A., 1996, Modern Japanese Society, 1868-1994. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Murasaki Shikibu – Tale of Genji

Sei Shonagon – The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon

Peter Duus, 1998, Modern Japan. Boston: Houghton Miffin

Andrew Gordon, 2003, A Modern History of Japan. New York: Oxford University Press

Marius B. Jansen, 2002, The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

James L. McClain, 2001, Japan: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton Co.

Nakamura Takafusa, 1994, Lectures on Modern Japanese Economic History, 1926-1994. Tokyo: LTCB International Library Foundation

Andrew Gordon, 2014, A Modern History of Japan, 3^rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press

Delmer M. Brown, et al. (eds), 1993, The Cambridge History of Japan, vols. 1-6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Paul E. Dunscomb, 2014, Japan Since 1945.  Ann Arbor, Michigan: Association for Asian Studies

James L. Huffman, 2010, Japan and Imperialism, 1853–1945. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Association for Asian Studies

Conrad Schirokauer, et al., 2006, A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, 2^nd edition. Wadsworth/Thomas Learning

Ann Waswo, 1996, Modern Japanese Society, 1868-1994. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Peter Duus, 1998, Modern Japan. Boston: Houghton Miffin

Marius B. Jansen, 2002, The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

James L. McClain, 2001, Japan: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton Co.

Theodore William Goossen, 1997, The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Murasaki Shikibu – Tale of Genji

The Tale of the Heike