Life in Bad Times What happens when the Bubble pops? GLS 4001: Global Studies Seminar Fall 2010 10:00 – 10:50 OB 1131 George Ehrhardt office: OB 2050 phone: x7910 email: ehrhardtgc@appstate.edu Office Hours: T/R: 11:30-2:00 I’m around the building every day, but I drift in and out at random hours, so shoot me an email about when you’d like to meet. For some people, the current recession is a bad case of deja vu. In the 1990s, Japan spent an entire decade dealing with the same problem--burst housing bubble, bad loan crisis, credit crunch, falling incomes, rising unemployment, even massive deficit-funded government stimulus plans. In this course we will look at how the Japanese people responded economically, culturally, and politically, as well as its long-term affects on Japanese society. As we go, we will also consider what their experience means for our own futures as the economy worsens. For those of you that know little about Japan, don’t worry; I’ll provide background and context. I want to make these topics real for you, so when you think about abstract topics like employment systems, financial regulations, or family relations, they are more than just words on a page. The problem is, Japan is so far outside your personal experience that I don't think I can do that with just readings and lectures. To help with this, we'll watch a selection of Japanese movies and TV serials. These aren't "authoritative information about Japan," but they will give you faces to put to the concepts we discuss in class, bring out issues that Japanese themselves think about but you may not, and let you see how Japanese live today (with all the usual caveats about the difference between TV and real life).

Course Readings: We will read a mix of articles and books in this course. The articles will all be on-line at the course's asulearn.appstate.edu site. If you've never used that before, please check early and ask for help if you don't know how to download the readings. We will also read a mix of books on Japan, but your particular choice of books is mostly up to you. I want everyone to read this:

Dave Barry. Dave Barry Does Japan You'll also need to read three of these books and write an essay about them:

Robin Leblanc. Bicycle Citizens. Theodore C. Bestor. Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World Michael Zielenziger: Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation Alan Booth. The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan Bruce Feiler. Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan Bruce Rutledge. Kuhaku & Other Accounts from Japan

Which three books you read is up to you, so instead of ordering books at the bookstore, I'll let you buy them yourselves (Amazon.com offers used copies of each). I'll make all the videos available for download at the course's asulearn.appstate.edu site.

Course Requirements: Attendance Everyone should attend every class. That said, I understand we all have various personal issues crop up throughout a semester that prevent us from attending class, so I don’t mind if you miss up to four classes this semester. I do appreciate a brief courtesy email saying you will be absent, but I have no interest reading permission slips or judging excuses. You are responsible for material we cover while you are absent. Discussion (15%) We keep this class to 20 people so everyone has an opportunity to join class discussion. At the end of the semester, I will give each student a subjective grade for my impression of their input, both quality and regularity. Class Presentations (15% each) Over the course of the semester, we will have in-class debates on nine different issues, in which two sides (two people per side) argue different interpretations of the Japanese experience and what it means for us. I have marked the topics on the syllabus, and will give you chance to sign up for two debates apiece. For each debate you will speak for approximately five minutes, answer questions, and prepare an annotated bibliography of your topic. An annotated bibliography is a list of sources for a particular topic, giving a paragraph or two explanation of each source, and its main point. It should be formatted as a list (like a

regular bibliography with the paragraphs after each source), not as a paper. Also, it should cite eight non-internet sources, of which half must be books or journal articles. Each person on a side must have different sources, though I encourage you to share information while you prepare. This is due in class the day you have the debate. Review Essay (25%) I would like you to write a review essay tying together three of the following five books about Japan, using at least one book from each group. If there are other books you've heard of and would like to include, let me know and I'll take a look; there is a topic that you really want to read about, let me know and maybe we can find something. A review essay is more than a three separate book reviews pasted together. The focus of your essay will be an exploration of how the different works deal with a common theme. Find some issue or topic related to how the Bubble and its aftermath shaped Japan that all three books address and think about the similarities and differences in their treatment. As you do so, think about how the author's presentation matches or differs from what we learn and see in class. Where do they support each other? Where do they differ? Why do they differ? Who is more convincing and why? While your essay should focus on the three books, bringing in outside information or references makes the essay richer. After an introduction where you lay out your theme and explain why it is important, you should provide a short description of the authors and their books, then discuss the theme in the body of your paper. You can divide it up by books, or by sub-topics within your larger theme (for a more detailed guide, take a look at the one I've posted at the course asulearn site). I estimate that you'll need at least 4000 words to do a good job, but more than 6000 is too long. Please remember, though, that a review essay demands you read the books more closely than you would for a research paper. When you do research, you should read lightly, waiting for the author to say something that speaks to your question; when you read for a review essay you need to read the whole book with your "ears open" to discover what the author wants to say. Make sure you budget extra time for reading and thinking about the books. Group A: Academic Writing Robin Leblanc. Bicycle Citizens. This chronicles a woman's study of Japanese housewives: their lives, identities, and public/political action. Along the way, it uncovers a very different conception of feminism than the American one. Theodore C. Bestor. Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World If you're interested in business, marketing, or sushi, this is for you. The author details how Tokyo's giant fish market works, exploring how business works in Japan, how globalization and local connections interact, and the changing Japanese economy.

Group B: Travel Writing Bruce Feiler. Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan This is an account of someone who spent a year teaching English in Japan. It's full of the standard cliches and pretentious pronouncements about the "true spirit of Japan,” which you need to take with a grain of salt. On the other hand, it is easy to read and he offers some vivid descriptions of daily life and education in Japan. Alan Booth. The Roads to Sata: A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan The author walked from the northern tip of Japan to the southern coast, meeting all sorts of people along the way. The author's long experience in Japan and fluency in the language helps this travelogue keep the cliches to a minimum. Bruce Rutledge. Kuhaku & Other Accounts from Japan This is a collection of short essays and stories by expats and Japanese authors. Lacking any unified narrative, it presents the "look and feel" of life in today's urban Japan. If you liked the movie Lost in Translation you might like this. Video Essay (15%) I will probably be in Tokyo (yea!) for several days in November. While I am gone, I would like to you watch two movies and write an essay comparing them. The two are both animated films by Japan’s leading director Hayao Miyazaki: Totoro and Sprited Away, but the former came out in 1988, during the Bubble, and the latter in 2001 during the post-bubble depression. In the essay, I would like you to explore how Miyazaki’s attitude towards Japanese society changes from 1988 to 2001. I will make both films available for you. Final (15%) We will have a final exam over the readings. However, if our class discussions don’t convince me that you’re reading the material, we will have more tests and I will revise the grading to make them more important.

Late and E-mailed Assignments I tend to accept late papers, but with two important caveats: 1) anything handed in after we discuss other students’ answers in class will be heavily penalized, if it is accepted at all, and 2) if you hand your paper in irregularly you are responsible for it being lost or not graded. In other words, if you email it to me, or slip it under my door after class, or do anything other than hand it to me in class with at the assigned time, it may arbitrarily disappear or be forgotten, in which case you will receive a zero and it will be your fault.

Academic Honesty Everything you turn in for this course must be your own words. Collaboration is great, but each of you must produce your own unique product. Quoting other authors is fundamental to

research, but you must cite your source and use quotation marks if used word-for-word. Even if you paraphrase, you must indicate where you got it. I will punish students who cheat or plagiarize on any of these requirements. I recommend each student read the integrity code.

Speech Policy Free inquiry demands we allow every argument, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. Speech is most educational when it forces us to contemplate issues or perspectives that we normally would not. To help you make the most of your time here, I neither discourage or nor punish speech that some may find offensive, and I do not tolerate students attempting to suppress other students for being offensive. If you feel that this will be a problem for you, drop the class.

Schedule I have the videos and readings listed for each topic below. For each topic, we'll usually start with a video--I expect you to watch them at home before we discuss them in class. Similarly, I expect you to do the reading before the day we discuss them. This schedule--like everything else on the syllabus--may change during the semester if I feel it appropriate. Post-War Japan

Video: Karei naru Ichizoku (the Grand Family) Reading: “Toyota”

“I was butchered by MITI” The Bubble

Video: Bubble e Go! (Bubble or Bust) Debate: Why Bubbles? Regulation and Business

Reading: “The Ministry” “Trading Places” “Kamikaze Capitalism” The Changing world of Japanese Business

Video: Hagetaka (Vulture) Debate: Corporate Responsibility

Readings: “Balance Sheet Recession”

“What happened to Toyota?” "The Honda Myth"

The Changing world of Japanese Workers

Video: OL Nippon Debate: Women in the Workplace

Part-Time Labor

Readings: Office Ladies and Salaried Men “The New Japanese Labor Market”

“Freeters” Health care and the Elderly

Video: Tomorrow Debate: National Health Care

Graying Society Birthrate Trouble Readings: “Health Care in Japan” “Aging and Fiscal Policy in Japan” Loss, Blame, and Nostalgia

Video: Always 3-Chome (Always Block 3) Debate: Retro Boom

Readings: “Showa Boom” “Commoditization and Community”

Political Responses

Video: Change Debate: Fiscal Stimulus

Readings: “Japan’s New Politics” “Understanding National Debt” “Lessons from Japan’s Great Recession”