Description
The first half of this lecture looks at the political, social, and economic changes in Meiji Japan, focusing on the period from 1877 to 1895. Among other things, the second decade of Meiji witnessed the beginnings of backlash against the rapid pace of modernization and a nascent sense that something important and uniquely Japanese was being lost. To conclude, we bring Japan into the twentieth century, examining the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars (1894-1895 and 1904-1905) and their consequences.
This lecture will begin with a look at the political turmoil and unrest in Japan during the 1950s and 1960s that were resolved—or at least sublimated—by the 1970 paradigm. The early 1970s, just as this paradigm was taking root, witnessed major political and economic crises, the so-called “Nixon...
Published 10/20/21
We will start off by looking at the road to surrender, and continue on to the road to reform and recovery. Along the way, we will consider the place of the atomic bombings in Japan’s defeat and surrender, and the radical reconstruction of Japan’s legal, political, economic, and social structures...
Published 10/18/21