Session 3 readings, 9/18

[Aja Koester]

I was fascinated by Prof. Yamashita's explanation of how structure and order began in Japan through the emphasis on Confucian propriety and a need to control desire. He described the Tokugawa order including:

1)    hierarchy

2)    fixity

3)    propriety

4)    desire (regulating uncontrollable desire: violent desires and sexual desires)

a.     vendetta registration system

b.     licensed quarters

While he described these orders to contextualize the ritual suicide of the forty-seven ronin, my mind wandered into thinking of modern Japan where order and structure is still highly visible in daily life. I have been amazed during my visits to Japan at the highly ritualized and regimented daily order. Even in the heart of Tokyo amongst dense populations waiting for the subway, the order is still there. While Prof. Yamashita explained his slight frustration with the over concern of rules and regulations where not even a misplaced coat thread goes unnoticed, I have been left in awe by the attention to detail that many people in Japan seem to take pride in. I believe the detail and precision is the foundation for why the country is so incredibly clean and orderly. Understanding this through a historical lens where natural desires for violence/vengeance and sex were a concern made my understanding of modern Japan even more interesting.

[Rick Steil]

 

 

One of the most interesting facts from the lecture was the suicide committed by the warriors, which represented an honorable way to die. This was not an option for common criminals but reserved for those who had fought honorably. I believe this is one of the examples that made its way to the west and is one of the reasons we think of Japan placing a high emphasis of honor. We know of the pilots committing suicide by flying their planes into battleships during World War II. We have all seen these images in the movies made about the war with Japan and how honor played such an important role in the battles between the USA and Japan. I really enjoyed this lecture and Professor Yamashita’s ability to deliver stories that were interesting and contained great details made this lecture entertaining as well as knowledgeable. 

[Chris Hertzog]

Great idea, I also thought that was a great reading and document usable in the classroom.  I will use it too.  Totally agree that helping students see the connections from then til now helps them understand the headlines in the news.  I think the British and the American influence has now come full circle and the behavior or repsoneses by current governments are absolutely linked to the past events.  Sometimes I think American culture can just look back a few years or so and neglect what happened hundreds or thousands of years ago, but other cultures and nations do not forget those things.  The past is present in the now.  I know that is somewhat of a generalization of American historical understandings, but the more we can get our students to understand the past, the better.  They are our future leaders.

[Gerlinde Goschi]

I found the Historie Proleme: Intrusion of  Commodore Matthew Perry's Flotilla part of Prof. Yamashita's  presentation fascinating.  Some facts I learned surprised me.  These included the negotiations by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry and the time span these took as well as the closure of Japan since 1639 except for China, Korea, and Holland.  Perry's visits in 1853 & 1854 caused the "opening" of Japan, however, the "climate" in the archipelago - urbaniztation, commercialization, and intellectual & cultural changes - facilitated this as well as the threatening power of the Paixhan guns on the four warships.  The first formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States were established at the Convention of Kangawa putting an end to isonationalism.  While I knew that Japan was  "closed" to trade, I didn't realize the complexity of events inside the country and outside.  Prof. Yamashita explained these in a lucid, logical, and very interesting way.  Thank you!

I also enjoyed the professor's candidness regarding the Tom Cruise movie "The Last Samurai."  I chuckled because all my friends who viewed it, shared his opinion about the movie.  I am planning to watch "Twilight Samurai," the Japanese movie about warriors in 1860 as soon as my time will permit.

[Josephine Tambunan]

I have always admired the Japanese culture. As a Type A personality and borderline OCD, Japan is the ultimate haven for order, structure and precision. All of my encounters with anything Japanese have demonstrated precision and great attention to detail. Everything and anything they do, even down to “Spring Cleaning” they do with great detail, care and attention.

It was interesting to learn how modern Japan became this highly structured and orderly country. The Tokugawa order was so organized and regulated that brothels had a hierarchy. The level of order was to the extreme, to the point where warriors had to apply and register to be allowed to carry out a vendetta, and if the warriors could not complete the vendetta, they had to be released by the magistrates. Although the desire for the older ways before the Tokugawa controlled society was present, the people followed the order, and that orderly system is still seen today in modern Japanese culture.

[Evelyn Mendoza]

Among the most important things I took from Session 3 is the importance of context! I can recall times when I have not provided sufficient context to students and then have to pay for it down the line when they are terribly confused. I have personally felt confusion over matters when I had not been provided with enough background information. Professor Yamashita provided me we further evidence for why context is so important for understanding historical events. 

I was also very surprised to find out just how much the motivation to keep Christianity out of Japan impacted Japanese society. I found it interesting that the Japanese were so repelled by Christianity that they would kill Christian missionaries; in a very brutal way. Another thing that also surprised me greatly was learning about the Ainu people. I researched some images of the Ainu and I was very intrigued by their asthetics. Learning of the Ainu people gave me an idea about a research project in to some of the more obscure indigenous peoples around the world.  As a science teacher, I might have students research anatomical characteristics and behavioral adaptations such as clothing and social structre and speculate why these might have developed in that particular region of the world. 

[Alejandra Jimenez]

I can finally understand another culture from staying away Christianity as we already have learned from other cultures and the negative impact Christianity has influence the culture, customs, and believes in order to keep political power over a group of people as we have learned in California history enslaved Native Americans. I could definitely use this type of information to compare and contrast cultures and beliefs system American Indians and Japanese point of view about strong beliefs system and the impact this has in culture.

[Cristina Hernandez]

I was able to use the information from this session in one of my classes.  I teach a reading strategy about mind maps and I found out that my students get more interested when I give them the example and I model it using some interesting story.  I use the story of the 47 Ronin and they were fascinated.  It is so rewarding because then most of them were asking questions about the story and making connections to some films.  Needless to say now my students remember the reading strategy and are more interested in the story of Japan.  I already promise them to talk about China and Korea too.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

I appreciated Professor Yamashita's presentation and how he contextualized various battles by topography, economic power, the emotional implications of grudges and vendettas and the questions/implications of various histoire problemes, questions that must be explored and answered.  Prior to this session, my knowledge of Japanese history was limited to the role the Japanese played in World War II and the negative perception of the Japanese that Americans held. My knowledge of Japan and its history has been greatly expanded and I look forward to further exploring the economic and cultural implications of a tightly stratefied society, historically occupied with order and structure. 

[Alejandra Jimenez]

Lost Names, it's an would be useful in my classroom due to the writing format. It would also go along with Step Two program about empathy and compassion. It  is a great example of narrative writing that students would find more meaningful based on the the Korean history. I really think students will be able to relate to the story about names. Students can probably have a personal connection with Lost Names. The role of power and self-reflection would be an important skills that students would be able to explore and try to make connections between Lost Names and other short stories read in class.

[Luis Camacho]

This week was particularly difficult at school. The reason is the tragic earthquake in Mexico. We have a few students that came from this country and several of them who keep their roots over there.

One of the countries that sent immediate help to Mexico was Japan. One of the students mentioned something that he hear on the news about how some members of the Japanese emergency team were astonished by the way the Mexican people responded during this time of chaos, destruction and need. They said that the Mexican people were hard working and very helpful towards their own people.  The Japanese also mentioned that they did not understand why Mexico is still a part of the third world countries with such as an amazing, hardworking and caring people. I explained to my Spanish class that the little big difference is the discipline. Last session of this seminar helped me to clarify what I suspected for a long time. Learning about Japan history we can understand that the success of this culture is based in discipline and hard work, rules, values and traditions that keep their people together, moving ahead towards the same direction. New generations have to learn from the good examples of their history. This week was emotionally stressful, but I think I left on those young minds a clear idea of the importance of the discipline, hard work, and ethic values in their lives.

 

 

[Eric Hoh]

Domainal reforms occurred during the domestic secessions of the Meiji Revolution. I can imagine helping students make connections in their own cultural and societal experiences. Just as samurai were developing a sense of hierarchy based on merit instead of lineage, I can imagine students making connections to their own lives. In a classroom with a diversity of cultures (Latin, East Asian, European, etc.), having students reflect and consider power dynamics and power succession in their own cultures would help enlighten students in understanding not only their classmates, but a depth of analysis in interpreting history and how they relate to histories. This could be a good opportunity for students to practice discussing and debating what political and economic practices are more effective (meritocracy, democracy, bureacracy, etc.). 

 

In addition to this, I was intrigued by how "rural entrepeneurs sought new ways to bolster their prestige. Rather than marry within the village, they sought marriage partners of similar background a day's walk or more away." Contextualizing and presenting this information to students could be an excellent hook that could guide student interest in learning more about this topic. 

[Nira Sun]

It is interesting to know that some of the countries held surprisingly similar history of development.

Both Japan and China were built upon a system with strict hierarchy. Warriors are highly respected in Japan and, hence, on the top of the system. Even though there was no such strict warrior system in ancient China, the ending and rising of each dynasty mainly started from some sort of rebellion organized by commoners or royal families who held authority or power of military. The concept of “royal family” or “royal background” played significant role in ones’ path of life.

Another similarity was that both modern Japan and China started with an era of “closing the door” to the outsiders. During the post-Sekigahara time, Japan made a move to close itself especially to western countries. China has experienced a similar period of time during Qing Dynasty when no western religions, cultures, and technology were allowed to be introduced to the citizens of Qing Dynasty. The” closing the door” policy affected the spreading and influence of western culture in the development of modern Japan and China which had caused them being behind on developing as a country as well as catching up with the rest of the world. That was when all the unequal treaties were signed and applied to Japan and China.

I took some of my Mandarin students to the Chinese garden in Huntington Library last school year. Due to the ending of the Chinese garden program, Huntington Library still holds a Japanese garden program that I’m interested in taking my students to. After understanding the differences between the Chinese and Western architectures and landscaping styles, it would be very interesting for students to compare the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese architectures and landscaping styles. As for a teacher, with the understanding of the Japan history and culture, it’s going to be very helpful to discover the cultural differences and similarities when we visit the Japanese garden.

[Kimberly Jones]

The readings on the Tokugawa Order is a great source to project and present to my students. There are great photos that show the social structure and hiearchy which is directly related to our curriculum G.R.A.P.E.S-Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, and Social Structures. 

The wonderful art work paintings included in the readings are a great way to contextualize and present Japanese life and history to my sixth graders. "The arrival of the Portugese", "The Receiving of the Horses", "Schoolchildren" , "The Pond of the Mater of Nets", and "The procession of the death of Sado" are great ways to evoke discussion, critical thinking, creative responses and overall understanding of Life in Japan from 1603-1800.

[Aja Koester]

I really appreciated the structure of Prof. Yamashita's presentation. Many times I have attempted to contextualize literary periods using slides in a prezi or powerpoint alongside Cornell notes where I discuss the influence of government, politics, culture, etc. However, students sometimes struggle with understanding the interconnections of these different contexts. Prof. Yamashita used a simple visual of layered circles, where the main topic was represented in the center and the circles extending outward represented different contexts (i.e. historical, economical, political). It seemed that the more narrowed/significant influences were closest to the center circle and the larger contexts were on the outer circles. While my intent to contextualize a topic using a powerpoint is similar, seeing context through this visual was really helpful to me as a student and would likely help in my classroom as well.

I plan to try this in my next unit by placing Milton's Paradise Lost into a center circle and then contextualize it within a religious, political, and social framework. I would like to make a graphic organizer using this visual with space for students to take notes about each context.

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