About May 12, I couldn't help but think about connections between Japan and France.

When Mr. Notehelfer was discussing the Tokugawa period I made an instant connection to King Louis XIV.

The idea of the Attendance System, creating an entire system in order to keep the aristocracy poor. Making them go to the center (in a sense I connect it to the rulers area or the French palace), and therefore they need to have their own homes to put up their entourages.

It was a little different in France. Louis XIV instated fashion and gambling and also the want to be able to stay at Versailles. This then created the aristocracy having to spend lots of money and borrowing money to keep up with the changing fashions and wanting to gamble with the King. Now they're borrowing money to keep up with the King and they are POOR. the fashion industry becomes RICH and in fact is still a fashion super power in our modern world all because of Louis.

The strangest thing is this was going on in the late 1600s and early 1700s
I love when two completely cut off worlds collide in similar histories.

I sure feel silly not knowing that all my posts save for the film review and the lesson stuff should have been put on this string.

Professor Notehelfer sure filled in a lot of gaps in my understanding of the Tokugawa and Meiji eras. As a History 10AB teacher, my 24 years of experience and the textbooks LAUSD has provided only made it necessary for me to provide a skeleton overview. Now, I know the suspects, their motives, and their activities, and things have fleshed out just like the Mummy, Imhotep, after he finished off the four American cowboys and the Egyptian cryptographer in the Brandon Frazier film.

Teacher in Nagoya for two years, I noticed several paradoxes about my Japanese colleagues:
1. Though they work very hard to know and deal with each student's issues, their curriculum is rigid and requires all teachers to be on the same page daily. Later, I found it impossible to do any kind of project with the Japanese teachers on-line because they had no time for such "luxuries" outside their curriculum.
2. Though socialists, they do not rock the boat to try new ideas that might help the students who might be ahead of the game (i.e. offering honors, AP level courses).
3. When I first got there and only spoke English, it seemed they all only spoke Japanese, but when I began conversing in Japanese, they not only answered in Japanese, but in all manner of English.
4. Nobody liked to talk about the war in my two years there except my progressive Vice Principal, Mr. Murase, who was a kid and saw his friends killed in the big American raid there, and another fellow I met in a yuukata fabric store, who had been in a US POW camp during the war. Just like when I visit my relatives in North Carolina, I do not bring up such unwanted memories that remind them of those ambivalent times. Still, they all knew about the atomic bombings and the resulting horrors.
5. Though they seemed worldly and globalized on the outside, they were (99% of them) deeply enmeshed in Japanese culture and custom and fell back on it readily.

I do not believe Perry made much of a difference one way or another in the actual development of Japanese history after his visit. As Professor Notehelfer pointed out, their was a faction that was already set on that course and just needed the catalyst. It did not really depend on which foreign power came, but history shows the Americans were the least provocative in the matter of Japanese change.

Japanese are comfortable with "tatemai", covering the truth with a misleading face (usually a smile and polite expression to avoid conflict). I use it often make sure not to get into the situation that called for it, when I am there. It is so easy in America to just pretend it never happened and let the other person "deal with it", but not in Japan. Again, as a paradox, Japan hopes its neighbors will deal with the unpleasant memories of the Pacific War and move on to economic miracles yet to unfold in the new millennium.

Sho ga nai, the Buddhist-based expression, "nothing can be done about it". That is how Japanese deal with impossible situations or solutions. But Japanese will first do their best to succeed. "Gambare!", do your best, is what they will say to cheer on a comrade; it is about effort, not luck, as Americans always cheer their colleagues with.

Good luck!

I finally made time to watch Eating the Scorpion. I think I will use it for my Geography class and our look at China.

I find the teachers' gradual and good-natured reevaluation of their knowledge refreshing and kids need to see that process.

I liked how the spotlighted teachers adapted China into their curriculae and did so with confidence and passion. I think they did that before, but, as do we all, vicariously.

The interactions with Chinese were eye-opening as they shared and taught the Americans many things. I usually show the Globe Trekker China video, but this seems more personal than even that series.

I will let you know in a month or so, how the kids reacted.

Ding Hao!

I have no idea about Q. and Scorpian. I keep asking my students ,where is the evidence? I too question the burial and the soldiers. I guess we will need to visit the area and unearth the site ,of course: only after the proper permits are received.

How do I post an independent reply under this thread without posting a reply?

I went and heard USC economics professor Cecil Jackson at a seminar for high school economics teachers last Saturday. The seminar was about ethics in business and highlighted how that is both affirmed and assaulted.

In his discourse, he was talking about different forms of ethical practice. His descriptions of Aristotle's concepts of virtue made me think of Confucian and Mohist criteria for ideal leaders. It made me think of comparing the two thinkers and the present-day application of ethics, or lack thereof, among their cultural heirs (The Atlantic powers and China).

What do you think? Is there a lesson to be gained here?[Edit by="vortiz on May 23, 8:53:09 PM"][/Edit]

I also thought it mind blowing that confucian took over both so quickly and allowed for the demeaning of women. Although part of me wonders how truly quietly woman gave up their power. It sounds like they found ways to insert their opinions despite their "quietness". I think just the fact that they still have shamans proves that they didn't all go quietly.

On the other hand, I found the discussion on footbinding enlightening. I mean to think that mothers did that to their daughters willingly in hopes of getting them a wealthy husband is just amazing. All I can think about is those mothers today with those little beauty pageant girls, putting all that make up on them and working them so hard just to be so beautiful. Or those mothers that starve their daughters or pay for breast enlargements. The idea of needing a rich husband hasn't changed much over the years nor beauty over comfort. Female concepts of beauty haven't changed much over continents either, they just present themselves differently.