Session 7 readings (yamashita, 4/2)

[cgao]

Please read the attachments below in preparation for Session 7 on Monday, March 19, with Professor Sam Yamashita from Pomona College.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Brandon Abraham]

I really enjoyed how Prof. Yamashita opened class today with the descriptive third century passage from the Wei chih. Namely, for most Westerners, the origins of Japan seem quite mysterious. Part of our discussion centered on how city life and technology were not mentioned.

According to the presentation, it was maybe 20,000 years ago when Japan was formed, as it had formerly been a part of the mainland of Asia. By the time Japan emerges, the Bering Strait was also formed. This conflicts with the claims of Japanese nationalists who use the legends to claim an "eternal Japan." I think this is interesting because it demonstrates how Japan, like other countries, has its own form of exceptionalism, yet historical evidence contradicts this assertion.

[Lin Kuang]

Professor Yamashita actually guided me our of my darkness to the bright light, and I have to say " Here Comes the Sun' with a complete shocking discovery aboout the intercoures among ancient China, Korea, and Japan.. The Ancient Japanese acknowleged the advancement of Chinese calendar, governing system, and Confucian religons, and they bottowed the concepts and used them accordingly in Japanese ways, as well as Buddhism adoption in Japan. The ancient Japanese' modesty, honesty, and elegant characters really gained my higly respect. It's amazing to find out the Emporor QIn's decedants still exist in Japan. I wonder what they have done to contribute to the friendship between China and Japan for resent hundreds years, which reminded me of the very popular Chinese American author Geling Yan and her great interest to seek the truth of what exactly happend to Chinese victims in Nanjing Massacre. I am still haunted by the cruety of the Japanese murderers. I am shocked by the facts that the Japanese royal tombs occupied huge lands in this tiny country. I wonered if that was the purpose for those Japanese worriors to expand their territory fo rmore spaces to bury themselves. The crimes they commited to Chinese by invading China with the " Kill all, seize all, and burn all" policy will never be understood, but it made the darkest history.

From here, I will design a lesson to tell my 10th graders to respect the historical truth and undertand the causes and effects of the events.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

During the course of his presentation, Professor Yamashita made the statement that he was there to teach us something new about Japan, its culture and history.  As a student, I enjoyed learning about the origins of Japan and the types of evidence that corroborate that history.  As a teacher, I appreciated how Professor Yamashita organized his presentation on the origins of classical Japan by framing it with questions to be answered and puzzles to be solved.  By doing this, he piqued my interest in his research and findings on the topic.  As the presentation progresses, the questions seem to become progressively harder.  His organizing of content around questions that seem to guide the course and flow of the delivery of content is applicable to how I can approach my planning and execution of lessons.  The word puzzle presupposes that there is a problem to be solved and conclusions to be reached after careful analysis of the evidence available.  Similarly, carefully thought of questions can provide students with a focus that guides them through the content of the lesson.  There are many levels of questions that can be presented, ideally from the most basic to more complex questions that will engage students at a more meaningful level.  Presenting students with quetions can guide them through deeper thinking and discovery.  Professor Yamashita's presentation is an example of how I can organize content for students, scaffold material and guide them to think more independently about any lesson. His presentation got me thinking about the importance of questions, the quality of the questions I ask and how these can facilitate learning for my students as well as energize and transform my lessons.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

As evidence for the origins of Japan ands its culture, Professor Yamashita provided various types of evidence that corroborate the origins of the Japanese people. One type of evidence presented is the mythological evidence or an example of a creation myth: The Birth of the Land. This narrative describes how two deities, Izanagi and Izanami, descend upon the Earth and then by coming together, give birth to many islands, each given a specific name.  This text, as an example of a creation myth from a Japanese perspective, is revealing of some aspects of the Japanese culture and world view.  Creation myths are generally taught to teach students about a culture's cosmology: its relationship to the natural world and geography of the land, deities and their relationship to the Earth, and so on.  This text would be good to include within a unit of creation myths from different cultures.  I would have students look at the similarities and differences between different creation myths and examine what the distinct themes and characteristics suggest of the creation myth as a genre and more specifically, of the cultures which produced it.  As they find the similarities, they can understand some of the universal motifs and archetypes expressed in these myths.  As they think about the differences and variations among the different myths students can reach their own conclusions about what values these variations might suggest of that culture, their identity and experiences. Some of the questions students can explore are: what values does the myth reveal?  What might this suggest about the people's relationship to the land and its topography?  What is the relationship of the God/s to the Earth and what might this suggest?    This kind of multicultural exposure is particularly important because students generally get taught the traditional western creation myths, particularly Greek and Roman narratives.  By including creation myths from East Asia and other parts of the globe, students would get a broader and more inclusive perspective of the multifaceted world in which we live in and gain some understanding of its diversity of thought and experience.

[Percy Ortiz]

Professor Yamashita's lecture on the Pre-history and early history of Japan was fascinating. Though the clay ceramics and the names of the Jomon and Yayoi are things and terms that I've come across in the past I'd never really seen the links and significance of these two periods of Japanese history. Though there is not much written textual evidence from this period but Prof. Yamashita's careful use of scientific, geologic and use of manmade artifacts opened giant doors that shed light into how Japan came to be physically and how people over time settled there. First area that surprised me was how old the islands that make up Japan are, twenty thousand years old, and that fifteen thousand years ago there was a land bridge that connected Japan to Korea, but also that in that general vicinity, to the north, there was another land bridge that allow people to settle another part of the world - today's Americas. This tidbit of information just opened wide the numerous links that could be made when teaching the settlement of Japan and the Americas.

Sticking to that same use of scientific evidence his use of DNA studies, and finger prints to show that Japanese can be divided into two major groups was clever. Not only his use of human biology, but also language and the two major influences on Japanese being Altaic and Malay-Polynesian really hit the homerun in letting us see how Japan in fact began, and continues to be a heterogeneous society, though outwardly it might appear to be something else. Furthermore, his use of mythology and how we love to tell stories of how people came to be really shows how Japan has had a diverse experience and has nurtured the many different cosmic and mythological views of the people who called Japan home. I learned how Japanese myth can be broken down into two types a vertical cosmology, largely imported from East Asia and its horizontal cosmology which was introduced from the Pacific Islands. Putting it all together, he clearly explained that the origins of Japan can be explained as waves of people coming from different parts and directions and settling in Japan and those waves kept coming and going for thousands of years.

In History class a way to let students discover the true essence of what human interactions and history is all about is to start with geography and how human interact with their environment. Asking simple questions like, who many times have you moved in your life time? Or, were you parents born in Los Angeles? If they were not born in the states, where did their parents migrate from? Other questions that can be posed are, why do people more from one place to another? These essential questions of why we move can allow students to better understand the history of a location, but better yet the history of Japan. 

I think that the origins of Japan are taught in 6th grade, as well as early migrations of Asians to America. So, the questions listed above can be excellent ways to get students to think on the history of mankind, being one of movement, interaction, and more movement. Once this has been established further investigations can be done. Prof. Yamahista projected the images of two different pottery vessels, one being of the Jomon and the other from the Yayoi. Projecting images such as those were good visual aid in creating visual inquiries with students. Students can be asked to compare and contrast the two vessels, and how those have been found in Japan. Building on his use of language and how he explained to us how Japanese is also rooted in Altaic can further help students understand how when people move they take their language though it might be the same slowly changes, but one can still find links in other parts of the world. We might not have textual evidence that we are linked to people from other countries, we can carefully look at language, mythology and geology to help us have a better understanding of how we have moved and interacted with each other on this earth.

[Percy Ortiz]

Professor Yamashita started his lecture with projecting a text written by an official from China. During that time Japan was called Wei. Before characters were introduced into Japan is appears that there was no writing system to categorize and explain their own cosmology or local histories. Not until the Yamato conquest do we see Japanese, or those living in Japan, recording the history of Japan. Once the Yamato come into power Tang style government is adopted as well as their way of writing history. Government is now centralized, kingship is based on Emperor, all land is public, and its military is reorganized. Furthermore, people from Paekche (southwest Korea) like Ajikki and Wang'in introduce horses, writing, and Confucianism, which shows there was migration from Korea. In fact as the professor pointed out there were 326 clans of foreign origin in the Kinai area. Unfortunately for the Yamato by the 800s there is a breakdown in Sui/Tang styled government, nonetheless its legacy in the form of writing, and religion continue to remain for many more years.

What was fascinating to learn from the lecture were the waves of migration to Japan from East Asia and what they brought to Japan, writing systems, forms of government, religion and even animals. One can argue that this was a time of opening for Japan, but it most likely was war that came attached with all these gifts of civilization. Nonetheless, it was after the Yamato begin to tell their story and explain their own myth that we begin to get a better idea on Japan before the introduction of continental statecraft. In the Sources of Japanese Tradition-Volume One: From Earliest Times to 1600 one can see that first textual evidence on Japan comes from Han Dynasty and it’s not till later that Japanese begin to explain their myth stories. Nonetheless, by reading their myth stories especially Early Shinto: Chapter 2 we see that there is still something to be learned from reading early Yamato histories, and how they shed light into what existed before they came to power on page 20 of the text it states that, "even passages meant to assert dynastic supremacy  or that became systematized along this line betray the existence of diverse and competing cults or inadvertently reveal traditional attitudes and practices taken for granted by all." So when we look at the myth creation of Japan, and how islands were formed by the blood of the male and female gods, one then can understand why maybe tombs like Nintoku's look like small islands. It can also explain why people were so regional and why they saw water and mountains as important to their cosmology. 

Another aspect that I found fascinating in reading through the text, which was not highlighted by Prof. Yamashita was that after a few years of the Yamato coming to power, Japanese educated in Chinese characters renamed their kingdom Nippon, land where the sun rises, as opposed to Wei. On page 12 in New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xin Tang Shu) it states, "In the first year of Xianheng [670] an embassy came to the court......about this time, the Japanese who had studied Chinese came to dislike the name Wa and changed it to Nippon. According to the words of the Japanese envoy himself, that name was chosen because the country was so close to where the sun rises." With this new perspective of perceived history Japanese begin to see themselves, or at least those in power, in a new light. They want to differentiate themselves to how they have been seen by the dynasties in the continent. 

I also found it fascinating to see how in the History of the Sui Dynasty (Sui Shu) the emperor of Japan offends the Sui Emperor. On page 11 it states, "[Then envoy brought] an official message which read: The Child of Heaven in the land where the sun rises addresses a letter to the Child of Heaven in the land where the sun sets." and "when the Emperor saw this letter, he was displeased." Now that Japan has a writing system in place and is communicating with officials in the mainland one can see the dynamics of how each one perceives the other and how they are all trying to accommodate to each other’s perceived legitimacy in their own kingdoms but world at large. 

A way of introducing such a variety of sources and points of views on Japan can be by giving students excerpts of Japanese myth stories, and closely linking them with Japanese geography. From there teachers can introduce to them pictures of tombs where kings were buried and have them look at those images, as a visual inquiry, by asking students what they see, and what makes them say that that is what they see. From there the teacher can build on what the students are talking about and reconnect it to mythological stories of how Japan came to be. On the other hand, textual evidence can be given to students to show points were Japanese and Chinese official diverge in perceptions. The section where Japanese no longer want to be called the kingdom of Wei (Wa) but Nippon can also be an excellent starting point in how people perceive themselves and other perceive them. This dichotomy can be further built upon by looking at examples where the Sui Emperor was angry at Japanese king for seeing himself as the "child of heaven from the land where the sun rises," and though that might have seemed presumptuous it was based on the fact that that is where the sun rose first. So, to make a long story short. These sources are excellent, and can be used in the classroom especially in the context of point of view, perceptions, and how we "name" or label others.

[Percy Ortiz]

A lingering question that I have is this, which is related to the lecture by Dr. Yamashita. Is the ceasing of many Tang practices and eventual breakdown of the Yamato rule, related in some way to the An Lushan Rebellion? In the reading it states that after that rebellion the Tang gave up many of its frontier garrisons due to rising influence and power of bordering regions, so did this somehow affect Japan and its eventual breakdown of Tang styled government?

[Christine Xu]

The tradition of eating soba originates from the Tokugawa period, also called the Edo period. In the Tokugawa era, every neighborhood had one or two soba establishments, many also serving Sake, which functioned much like modern cafes where locals would stop for a casual meal. Soba is typically eaten with chopsticks ( like Chinese),  and in Japan it is considered acceptable to slurp the noodles noisily. This is especially common with hot noodles, as drawing up the noodles quickly into the mouth helps cool them.

In my class we are going to do research about Asian noodles. And we are going to compare Udon, Soba and Rice noodles. And we are going to have a food tasting during the final class for fun. 

 

Sources: Wiki

 

[Juan Liebana-Mena]

I really enjoyed Professor Yamashita's lecture and knowledge about Japanese history and culture. I visited Japan a few years ago and was trully fascinated by its beauty and culture. However, I left with many questions and curiosities, and many of these were somehow clarified after Professor Yamashita's lecture. First, I appreciated his clear description of the classical Japan and its formation. It was very interesting hearing him talk about the formation of Japan and its connection to the mainland and the similarities in flora and fauna between Japan the countries like China or Korea. Also, I truly enjoyed his explanation of the many settlers and conquerers who came form the mainland, which serves as evidence that this idea of Japanese purity is simply not sustainable anymore. Also, the deeper analysis of Japanese language and the many other languages that influenced it covered in his Puzzle of Japanese Origins was quite fascinating. I had no idea that Japanese could share any words or morpheme/lexeme with Hungarian, Turkish or even Finnish! Finally, his deconstruction of culture and customs of Japanese culture, some of which the western world has assumed without any deeper analysis, was quite interesting. For example, his explanation about the beginning of a spread consumption of rice in Japan and its lowering percentages nowadays was quite eye opening. 

[Jonathan Tam]

In the two records that were provided of Japan, I found the descriptions of Japan incredibly helpful for understanding the relations they had with other countries. They also do a great job in describing the aristocracy in Japan and culture. But beyond that, the descriptions are also incredibly comical to read. One of my favorite lines in the accounts is in the History of the Kingdom of Wei where Japanese excursions to China are described. “When they go on voyages across the sea to visit China, they always select a man who does not comb his hair, does not rid himself of fleas, lets his clothing get dirty as it will, does not eat meat, and does not lie with women.” There is an awkward attention to detail that resonates throughout the accounts and translations of accounts. The accounts really went well with Professor Yamashita’s layer of history throughout classical Japan. There was certainly echoes of whimsicality that carried through from the accounts to his lecture in learning about the Land of the Dwarves.

[Jonathan Tam]

One of the discussion points that resonated most closely with me was the evolution of cosmology in Japan. Professor Yamashita began this segment of the lesson through the analysis of vertical and horizontal cosmology, which civilizations develop their religious beliefs from. I found it uniquely interesting that Japan didn’t embody some level of horizontal cosmology as an island away from the mainland. Much of Shinto and the mythic consciousness feels similar to other religions. There is an underworld, a heaven, a human world, and even an origin that stems from two figures branches out in a pantheon-like structure among their children. I’m certainly left curious as to where the jump was made from this early mythology to emperors. Whereas China’s leaders declared a mandate of heaven when rising to rule, I wonder of Japan’s emperors did similarly.

[Jonathan Tam]

As a science teacher, one of the most important things to science is phenomenon and scope, which is something that Professor Yamashita provided in his lecture. He began with the geographic beginning to Japan, which was an island that was created 20,000 years ago geologically and flooding shaped the islands into their final shape 15,000 years ago. This means that compared to most geologic structures, Japan is relatively new. This would allow for a lot of life to mix with the mainland compared to the most recent hawaiian islands, which were formed by hot spots 400,00 years ago or India, which was formed by the tectonic collision 75 million years ago. He also went into the genetic footprint that was kept among Japanese regions - such as fingerprint patterns and blood types. And the emergency of language that came about from both the east and west. This sets up a unique platform for foreshadowing Japan’s future, which is heavily influenced from the outside - but given Japan’s unique geography, leaves it with some place to evolve on its own.

[Juan Liebana-Mena]

Hi Jacqueline! I agree. As a teacher, it's sometimes quite hard to teach students about the culture and history of another country simply because of how broad this topic can be and how overwhelming a lecture is nowadays. In addition, we teachers have to fight against the incredible media and online video resources that modern platforms such as YouTube of Netfil have to offer. I have been in many situations in the past years when students asked me to watch a documentary when teaching about the historical background of a story we're reading or analyzing. That's why I think this organization you mentioned about Professor Yamashita comes very handy when teachign about the history and culture of another country. I too liked how he organized the lecture and answered many of the questions or misconceptions I had about Japan but while making it interesting and engaging, which kept moving the content forward.

[Stella Castro]

It was a great pleasure to have Professor Yamashita   to come all the way from Pomona and lecture at today’s meeting. Professor Yamashita seemed to really enjoy talking, presenting and sharing his knowledge. I really like that Processor Yamashita takes the time to have his material printed out for us. The topic of today’s session was about Japan.  I really enjoyed listening and learning about the origins about classical Japan. The topics such as agriculture, taxes, liquor, food and longevity were touched upon but, I really found it quite interesting to learn that back then, the finger print pattern and blood types determined what origin of the peoples live in what areas/legions. I found this bizarre, as to who would even think to look into this subject, like what were they thinking, what made someone decide to thinks and say, “I know let’s look at fingerprints”, as if they had nothing better to do. However upon analyzing this I suppose it does make sense, as after they have dead corpses,( and I really do not think they would do autopsies on them, as it would seem there would be to many corpses), but yes they probably do look at the fingerprint patterns when doing an autopsy. I guess this was helped them determine that in the North the fingerprint patterns consisted of the loops and arches, while the South corpses had the swirls. Also if ones family live in a certain section, naturally their fingerprint patterns would be similar as they are family, they are related, heredity. I always like and enjoy hearing about the mysteries of life, so when Mr. Yamashita started to talk about Cosmology, I was intrigued. Mr. Yamashita talked about the Mythological Evidences, that the vertical cosmology has to do with the heavens, sky the earth, and the horizontal cosmology deals with the land and sea. Again here I wonder to myself, who makes and decides these things, but someone did and so I should just be justified with it.  Mr. Yamashita also talked about, “Shinto”, the native Japanese religion, the spirits and the Kami Gods.  I wasn’t too sure if I spelled the word Kami, correct, as spell check was not able to correct it so I asked, ”Siri”, for what is a Kami God, and she took me to a page that had all the names of the Japanese Gods, which was an awesome one, it had this address lowchensaustralia.com, but since it did not highlight I tried this address and it was a page advertising  dogs?,  I couldn’t find the page, I tried several times and various ways by using upper and lower case letters to no avail. I again asked “Siri’, and again it took me to the same awesome page, again when looking it up on the web; I still couldn’t find it, as I wanted to share it with my colleagues, but I still could not locate it. So I finally came to the conclusion that the Gods were messing with me. LOL!

[Author]

Posts