Instructor

Dr. George L. Pamental (Laurie) Office: Alger 225
Department of Economics & Management Hours: M,W 11-noon,
Phone: 456-8760 (o) 295-5885 (h) By appointment

email: gpamental@ric.edu


Why Core Three?

There are some of us who love to learn about new things, who are fascinated by differences, and relish the opportunity to meet new people, visit new places, sample new foods, and learn new things. We jump at the opportunity to discuss new ideas and debate different values. But that's not why this course exists. This course exists because several of us believe it's good for you. We can't get away from a simple truth--there is value in knowing about another culture. And it doesn't make much difference what culture, because the value comes from the comparisons you will make between whatever culture you are studying and your own. An important value of studying another culture comes from the deeper understanding of yourself which results. This new understanding represents growth, and part of the growth is the recognition that there are others in the area, state, country, hemisphere, world, universe who are different, and have just as much right to their beliefs as we do to ours. Rogers and Hammerstein, in their musical, South Pacific, deliberately included a controversial song, which started like this:

"You've got to be taught to hate and fear,
You've got to be taught from year to year,
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six, or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught,
You've got to be carefully taught.

 

It was controversial because many people did not want to admit that prejudice exists, a lot of people did not want to admit their own fears. But to their credit, Rogers and Hammerstein kept the song in, primarily because it was appropriate to the story - a young Navy lieutenant from an upper-class home in Philadelphia had fallen in love with an island native. The young officer recognized a sad truth, that many of us grow up thinking that "our" way is the "right" way, and any deviation is to be suspected. So, one value of knowing about another culture is to be able to get to know someone without offending him or her.

Another practical value of knowing about a different culture is the possibility of being offered a job in a firm from another country. Or, closer to home, there are courses offered here which involve e-mailing with students from other countries to exchange information, or even do joint projects. You surely don't want to offend the person who is your source of information. Further down the road, you don't want to feel stupid or embarrassed when your own child asks you a question about a new classmate of theirs.

Other reasons include the very fact of your becoming a college graduate. In that capacity some will value your opinion valued--after all, you studied in college. How can you respond intelligently to questions on important issues in the news, such as immigration policies, trade disputes with other countries, a local plant closing, or even deciding whom to vote for in an election. These issues are in today's papers, they are already among us and need to be addressed. How should you respond?

When you report for a job interview and discover that the company's representative is from a particular ethnic background, how do you respond? When a new family moves next door, how do you respond? When your son or daughter brings home a new friend, how do you respond? When you are assigned to work with another employee, how do you respond? How do you impress your boss when he or she is from a different ethnic background? How do you treat your employees or the people who report to you when they are from different backgrounds? These are some of the reasons why it is important and valuable to be familiar with other cultures.


Why Only One Culture?

A good question you may be pondering right about now is how can all of these questions be answered by a single course. Good question! They can't. There are thousands of different cultures and languages out there. But extensive study of a single one of them has a unique and extremely valuable advantage.

In ancient Greece there was an oracle at Delphi, a place where citizens could go to consult their deities about the future or get advice. But the sign over the entryway was very interesting--it said "Sophrosine--Know thyself." The Greeks realized that before one could prepare for the future one had to understand oneself, one's values, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, etc. And that's the first advantage of studying a single culture--the comparisons you will be making and the resultant increased understanding of your own values and beliefs.

It is true that some of this could be accomplished by studying several different cultures, but the study of one, in depth, provides us with the exhaustive analysis of our own fundamental beliefs so necessary to reaching an understanding about others. This exercise, an exhaustive self-analysis through comparison, can bring home to us in a powerful way that there are legitimate and understandable reasons why some others have very different fundamental values. And it's important to realize that we're not discussing superficial differences such as clothing or food, but basic behaviors like who we pray to and what we pray for, or if we pray at all. Things like touching another person, when, and where. Things like looking another person in the eye, or not. Things like raising children, speaking the truth, keeping promises, having sex.

And coming to this understanding through a systematic and detailed analysis prepares us for doing it again, on our own, when the occasion calls for it. In other words, the exhaustive analysis not only deepens our understanding of ourselves and leads us to truly knowing another culture, but it prepares us for knowing yet others as well.

Part of this preparation stems from the method of analysis central to the General Education program. This course, and all the courses in the program, call for:

  • persuasive speaking
  • critical analysis and synthesis
  • receptive listening
  • clear and rhetorically informed writing
  • critical and engaged reading
  • applications of technology

These are valuable skills and abilities which transcend any particular course. They will help you in your other coursework and they will help you outside school.


Why Japan?

Japan has been one of our strongest and most loyal allies for ever fifty years. It was our defense outpost against the USSR before the Wall fell. Its dramatic economic success has forced many of our biggest companies to get better to remain competitive. We all benefit from the resulting improved products. Its children's outstanding performance on math and science tests has stimulated the examination of our own school system.

It is the world's second largest economy, and the one with which, next to Canada, we trade the most. Yet despite all of this interaction, we hardly know it, the prototypical stereotypes being the rapacious businessman and the kimono-clad geisha.

For a country as technologically advanced as Japan is, and with the highest average family income in the world, we are surprised to see a social system so at variance with our own. In so many other countries, technological advancement and wealth have been accompanied by, if not created by, greater equality between men and women. Not so Japan.

If we are to coexist as friendly allies and competitors, we must be able to communicate effectively. And if we are to communicate effectively, we must understand one another. This course should help you better understand a country of such intriguing contrasts, ancient traditions, and modern ways.


About the Course

To understand the Japan of today, we will begin, as they say, at the beginning. We will go back to the early period of Japan's history to discover the beginnings of those cultural institutions and characteristics which are still operative today, influencing behavior. We will read from Japan's equivalent of the Bible and their "begats." We'll see that Japan was originally a matriarchy, but by the time the histories were written it had become as sexist as many other countries.

We will look at the major periods of Japanese history to identify those factors which help to define today's Japan and particularly those which affect Japanese women. Included in this survey will be the folk heritage and traditions, and the arts, which are so important to the Japanese.

Once we have identified Japan's major historical roots, we'll look at those major aspects of a culture which serve to preserve as well as define its uniqueness--language, religion, education, and the law--their evolution and their current influence on women.

We will then examine the lives and roles of women in today's Japan, from the early years to the ending years, to see how modern Japanese women are viewed and treated, and how they act and cope. We will finish by looking at some rebels, and some signs of change.


Objectives

  • To understand the roles and values of Japanese women, and their historical development.
  • To understand the forces affecting women in Japanese society.
  • To gain experience and confidence in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking critically.
  • To know yourself, clarify your own values and beliefs, and learn to accept those who are different.


Texts

Elisabeth Bumiller. The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family. New York: Times Books, 1995.

George L. Pamental. Daijohbu: Learning from the Japanese. Revised edition. Unpublished manuscript. 1996

Edwin O. Reischauer and Marius B. Jansen. The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity. Enarged Edition. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1995.

Yukiko Tanaka. Contemporary Portraits of Japanese Women. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995.


Method/Requirements

Writing and discussion will be the major components of the course, as follows:

 

Class Participation

There will be a variety of activities taking place in class, from criticising the writing of your groupmates to preparing a group analysis. Your active involvement (not just merely showing up) is required. More important, though, will be the quality of that involvement. Hence you will be evaluated on the logic of your arguments, your supporting rationale, how well you understood the weekly reading/viewing, your ability to be critical of another's work but express the criticism in a way that does not offend, and your ability to take criticism constructively and not be offended.

Reading Analysis

There will be assigned readings, at first for each class, and then weekly. You will write a 1-2 page critical reflection based upon your reaction to each reading. What is most important to remember is that this is not a summary. Nor is it simply an emotional reaction. It is not sufficient to write that you don't like something, or that you would not accept something, or even that you believe something is wrong. Rather, what you are writing is a critical reflection--you must give reasons (not feelings) for your views. Some questions you might ask as you read are "What do I feel about this?" "Would I like to be treated that way?" "Is this behavior/treatment wrong (and on what basis do I make this claim), or is it just different?" "Would this be tolerated in the U.S.?" "Is Japan the only country in which this takes place?" "How does this compare to the U.S.?" These questions and comments then can become the source of your writing.

In class, in small groups, you will exchange your analyses and read each other's and discuss. You should take this opportunity to get and give help with your writing as well. The papers will not be graded for form but you shouldn't ignore grammar, spelling, etc. Do them on your computer so they can be edited by you and read by others more easily, and so you'll have them in one place to use for your term paper.

These analyses will not be graded, but failure to submit one will result in a reduction from the final course grade. They are worth 28% of that grade, which you will earn automatically if all 14 are turned in on time.

Short Research Papers

You will have a choice of two out of four research topics.

Paper 1:

a. Early, Classical, and Tokugawa periods' (up to 1850) contributions to the roles and treatment of women in modern Japanese society; or

b. Meiji and Occupation periods' (1850-1950) contributions to the roles and treatment of women in modern Japanese society.

Paper 2:

How modern Japanese women have been affected by a particular social institution--education, religion, language, the bureaucracy, the arts, folk tales.

Note that these are research papers, not merely a re-statement of the readings. You are expected to use outside sources (at least four, but no texts, encyclopedias (hard copy or internet), or Time Life or other series) to support your views. Naturally, since this will be the first time most of you will have investigated the topic, most of what you write will require an indication of the source, i.e. footnotes or endnotes. (You are to use Chicago style as given in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.) Don't be surprised that nearly every paragraph you write has at least one reference, and often more. A bibliography is also required.

The requirements are a detailed outlline (how you propose organizing the paper), one or more early drafts and a final draft. In addition, you will write formal critiques of the work of two classmates (and they of you). The papers will be done in stages as follows.

  • Write detailed outline outside class
  • Discussion in class
  • Write early draft(s) outside class
  • Exchange second or third drafts in class
  • Read others' work, write formal critique outside class
  • Discuss formal critique in class
  • Write final draft outside class

First, read. Collect information. Once you have enough information (it varies by individual) begin writing, either an outline or just your thoughts. After you've developed an idea of how you want to proceed, prepare your outline in as detailed a form as you can. Bring two copies to class where, in groups of three, you will exchange material so that two of your classmates will read your material and you will read theirs. I will provide you with an evaluation sheet. As a group you will then discuss all three outlines, offering encouragement and advice. Be critical, and try to give and obtain as much helpful advice as you can.

After receiving formal criticism on the outline, given and discussed in class, you will take this information home and continue writing. Once you have a decent draft (it may be the second or third, with some parts even more), bring three copies to class to exchange on the appointed date. You'll take your groupmates' drafts home, read, and prepare a formal critique. I'll provide a form for that, too. These will be brought to class for group discussion.

Finally, you'll take the last round of critiques home and write your final draft. Thus, each student will have the benefit of two formal criticisms, plus group discussion, to be used in preparation of the final draft.

The papers will be evaluated based upon the material presented, your understanding of the material, the logic of your presentation, how well you support your views with rationale, and the quality of your writing- clarity, simplicity, and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and grammar). You will earn credit for the first four, and lose credit (1/2 point per error) for the last.

Term Paper

This will be a term-long investigation in which you will make use of the class discussions, videos, and reading material, along with outside research, to write about the changes taking place within Japanese society and the effects those changes are having on women. You will be required to focus on four of the following roles or occupation or status groups:

  • young unmarried working woman
  • young married woman with no children
  • young married woman with child in grammar school
  • young married woman with child in high school
  • housewife with children away from home
  • blue collar worker
  • white collar worker
  • entrepreneur
  • elderly

In effect, this will be four mini-papers. The procedure, and evaluation, will be the same as for the shorter paper.


General Requirements & Grading

Class participation is an important part of the course, and much of what you learn will come from those discussions. Therefore, attendance is mandatory. Unauthorized absence will result in loss of participation credit and a penalty deducted from the final grade.

The short papers should be 4-5 pages of text and the term paper 10-12 (about 3 pages per group). Use 1" margins on all four sides and 10 or 12 point type--this syllabus is in Helvetica, 10 point--of the san serif variety. San Serif, Geneva or Helvetica are available in nearly all word processing programs.

Papers will be computer generated. If you use a dot matrix printer, do not use one with a dull or worn out ribbon. There should be a cover sheet with your name, the date, the class, and the subject. Back up your file every few paragraphs, and make a second copy on a separate disk. If you are using the labs at the college, make sure to do this, and do not wait until the day the material is due to print your copies. There are too many things that can go wrong to wait until the last minute.This is particularly important, since no late papers will be accepted, and "the computer ate my file" is not an acceptable excuse. Plan ahead and save headaches. Equally important, you need to have the material in time for your group mates to read it in class.

Grading will be based on the following weights:

  • Class participation 15%
  • Weekly Analysis 28% (automatic, if all assignments completed on time)
  • Short paper #1 16%
  • Short paper #2 16%
  • Term paper 25%

 

Weekly Schedule

Wk
Topic
Due*

1

Introduction to the course, mythology, Early, Classical , and Tokugawa historical eras

2

Meiji, Occupation, and Post-occupation historical eras, introduction to women in Japan

3

An "average" woman, birth of feminism

Term Paper Topics / Short paper outline

4

Religion and Language

Exchange short paper drafts

5

Education

Discuss short paper formal critiques

6

Education and Employment

Turn in short paper

7

Communication: The Individual and the Group

Term paper outline

8

Spring Break

9

Motherhood

Short paper outline

10

Marriage and the Family

Exchange short paper drafts

11

Women at Work

Short paper formal critiques

12

TV, Pornography, and the Elderly

Turn in short paper

13

Politics

14

Feminism and the Law

Exchange term paper drafts

15

Summary / Reflection

Term paper formal critiques
* Above assignments due on Wednesdays. Weekly Two-page Reading Analyses are due on the dates indicated on the hand out. (Generally each Monday)

Reading Assignments

Wed

1/29

Reischauer
Pamental

Chapts. 3-6
Chapt. 1

Early Japan, Feudalism
Mikako

Mon

2/3

Reischauer
Pamental

Chapts. 7,8,10,11,13,16
Chapt. 2

Meiji, Occupation, Post-occupation, The group, The Individual
Mikako

Wed

2/5

Iwao
Fujimura
Pamental

Chapt. 1
pp. xvii-xxvii
Chapt. 3

Myths and realities
Overview
Women in the Family

Mon

2/10

Iwao
Fujimura
Pamental

Chapt. 2
pp. 323-352
Chapt. 4, ii

The Story of Akiko
Japan's First Phase of Feminism
Keiko and Okaasan

Mon

2/17

Reischauer
Pamental
Fujimura

Chapts. 19,38
Chapt. 5
pp. 15-42

Religion / Language
Young Women
Women's Image and Place in Japanese Buddhism / Aspects of Sexism in Language

Mon

2/24

Reischauer
Pamental
Fujimura

Chapt. 18
Chapt. 6
pp. 93-124

Education
Fusako
Challenges to Education for Girls and Women in Modern Japan: Past and Present / Sexism and Gender Stereotyping in Schools

Mon

3/3

Reischauer
Pamental
Fujimura

Chapt. 33
Chapt. 7, iv-vi
pp. 125-154, 295-309

The Employment System
Farm Women
College Women Today: Options and Dilemmas / Work, Education and the Family

Mon

3/10

Iwao
Pamental

Chapt. 4
Chapt. 8, i

Communication and Crisis
Rotary Membership

S P R I N G B R E A K

Mon

3/24

Iwao
Fujimura
Pamental

Chapt. 5
pp. 199-213
Chapt. 9

Motherhood and the Home
The Mystique of Motherhood
Amatarasu, Norie, and Okusan

Mon

3/31

Iwao
Pamental
Fujimura

Chapt. 3
Chapt. 10
pp. 183-199

Marriage and the Family
Junko and the Sarariman's Wives
Marriage and the Family: Past and Present

Mon

4/7

Iwao
Pamental
Fujimura

Chapts. 6,7
Chapt. 11
pp. 271-294

Work as Option / Work as Profession
Yuki and Tamoe
Female Workers: An Overview of Past and Current Trends

Mon

4/14

Pamental
Fujimura

Chapt. 12
pp. 75-92, 213-228, 255-270, 309-322

Makiko and Okaasan
Women and Television: Portrayal of Women in Mass Media / Care of the Elderly: a Women's Issue / Pornographic Culture and Sexual Violence / The Plight of Asian Migrant Women Working in Japan's Sex Industry

Mon

4/21

Reischauer
Iwao
Pamental
Fujimura

Chapts. 23, 26
Chapt. 8
Chapt. 13
pp. 365-392

The Diet / Political Parties
Politics and No Power
Fumiko, Nanako, and Junko
From the Home to the Political Arena / Profiles of Two Assemblywomen

Mon

4/28

Pamental
Fujimura

Chapt. 14
pp. 3-14, 323-364

Kazuko and Friends
The Strugge for Legal Rights and Reforms / Japan's First Phase of Feminism / The New Feminist Movement in Japan, 1970-1990 / Legal Challenges to the Status Quo
*Written Analyses due on each date.

Selected Bibliography

Fiction

Ariyoshi Sawako. The Doctor's Wife
________. The River Ki
Phyllis Birnbaum, translator. Rabbits, Crabs, Etc.: Stories by Japanese Women
Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji.
Sei Shonagon. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.

Tanizaki Junichiro. The Makioka Sisters.
_______. Naomi.
Yuuko Tsushima. A Child of Fortune
Banana Yoshimoto. Kitchen.

Non-Fiction

Anne Allison. Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate
Azuma, Hiroshi, et al. Child Development and Education in Japan
Ben-Ari, Eyal, Moeran, Brian and Valentine, James, eds. Unwrapping Japan
Benedict, Ruth. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

Mary Brinton. Women and the economic Miracle
Buckley, Roger Japan Today, 2nd ed.
Bumiller, Elisabeth, The Secrets of Mariko
Cherry, Kittredge. Womansword: What Japanese Words Say About Women
Christopher, R.C. The Japanese Patterns of Behavior
________. The Japanese Mind

Clark, Scott, Japan, a View from the Bath
Cole, Robert. Japanese Blue Collar
________. Work, Mobility, & Participation
Jane Condon. A Half Step Behind: Japanese Women of the '80's
________ and Kurata, K. What's Japanese About Japan?

Confucius. The Analects. Translated with an Introduction by D.C. Lau. London: Penguin, 1979.
Coomaraswamys, Ananada Hinduism and Buddhism
Davidson, Cathy. 36 Views of Mt. Fuji
de Bary, W.T. East Asian Civilizations: A Dialogue in 5 Stages
Doi, Takeo. The Anatomy of Self: The Individual Versus Society
________. The Anatomy of Dependence

Edwards, Walter. Modern Japan Through its Weddings
Enright, D.J. The World of Dew: Aspects of Living Japan
Fallows, James. More Like Us
Frost, Ellen. For Richer, For Poorer
Fukutake, Tadashi Japanese Society Today
________. The Japanese Social Structure...

Greenfeld, Karl, Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation
Hall, E.T. Hidden Differences: Doing Business With the Japanese
Hall, J.W. and R. Beardsley. Twelve Doors to Japan

________. History of Japan
________. Japan: From Prehistory to Modern Times

Halloran, Richard. Japan: Images and Realities
Hunter, Janet, ed. Japanese Women Working
Imamura, Anne E. Urban Japanese Housewives: At Home and in the Community
Inoue, Yasushi. Chronicle of My Mother
Itasaka, Gen, translated by Jon H. Loftus, Gates to Japan: Its People and Society

Lebra, Takie S. Japanese Patterns of Behavior
________. Japanese Culture and Behavior
________. "Gender and Culture in the Japanese Political Economy: Self-Portrait of Prominent
Businesswomen" in The Political Economy of Japan. Volume 3: Cultgural and Social Dynamics. Edited
by Shumpei Kumon and Henry Rosovsky. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992.

Jeannie Lo. Office Ladies, Factory Women: Life and Work at a Japanese Company
Mitchell, Douglas. Amaeru: The Expression of Reciprocal Dependency . .
Nakane, Chie. Japanese Society
Nakano Makiko. Makiko's Diary: A Merchant Wife in 1910 Kyoto
Norbeck, Edward. Changing Japan 2nd ed

Passin, Herbert Society and Education in Japan
Philip, Leila. The Road Through Miyama
Edwin O. Reischauer and Marius B. Jansen. The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity. Enlarged
Glenda Roberts. Staying on the Line: Blue Collar Women...
Rohlen, Thomas. Japan's High Schools

Donald Richie. Geisha, Gangster, Neighbor, Nun: Scenes from Japanese Lives.
Frederik L. Schodt. Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1983.
Sansom, George Japan: A Short Cultural History
________. History of Japan, 3 vols.
Schoppa, Leonard. Education Reform in Japan
Smith, Robert Japanese Society: Tradition, Self, and the Social Order

Smith, Robert J. and Wiswell, Ella Lury. The Women of Suye Mura
E. Patricia Tsurumi. Factory Girls: Women in the Thread Mills of Meiji Japan
Varley, Paul Japanese Culture
Vogel, Ezra. Japan as Number One: Lessons for America
________. Japan's New Middle Class, rev. ed.
White, Merry The Japanese Educational Challenge
________. The Material Child


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