Spring 2014 Hist 880 Japanese Reference Works and Documents Reading Asakawa

Th. 1:30-3:20pm

Professor Daniel V. Botsman Luce Hall 345 Office hours: M 1-3pm (or by appt.)

The seminar this semester will provide students with an opportunity to explore a variety of topics connected to the life and work of Yales pioneering historian of Japan, Asakawa Kanichi (1873-1948). In addition to reading some of Asakawas most important scholarly work, we will also familiarize ourselves with the rich body of materials contained in his personal papers, and study the remarkable collection of pre-modern Japanese materials he assembled at Yale during the first half of the 20th century. The Asakawa materials are relevant to a wide range of topics including the history of medieval Japan, the development of Japanese studies in the West, Asian-American history, US-Japan relations, and, of course, the history of Yales ties of Japan. You will have an opportunity to consider these and many other issues over the course of the semester, but you will also be encouraged to identify research questions that are of particular interest to you and use the Asakawa materials to pursue them. In the process you will be able to develop your knowledge of relevant reference works and gain experience with archival research in both Japanese and English. Resources An initial bibliography of published materials relevant to the class has been kindly prepared by Haruko Nakamura and can be found here: http://guides.library.yale.edu/content.php?pid=146609&sid=1583770 The finding aid for the Kanichi Asakawa Papers (MS40) in the Yale Manuscripts and Archives Collection can be accessed here: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0040

Grading 1. Presentation on published materials 15% 2. Presentation and write up of one or more documents from Asakawas personal papers 15% 3. Preparation of English language catalog entry (introducing materials from the Yale collections) 30% 4. Final research paper 40%

Tentative weekly schedule Week 1 (1/16) Overview and discussion of goals Week 2 (1/23) Beginnings Readings: pp.1-42. John Whitney Hall, Kanichi Asakawa: Comparative Historian, pp. 3-24. Thomas Keirstead, Inventing Medeival Japan: The History and Politics of National Identity, The Medieval History Journal 1:47 (1998), pp. 47-71. Also receommended: Eiichiro Azuma, Between Two Empires

Week 3 (1/30) Exploring the Asakawa Papers (Manuscripts and Archives) Week 4 (2/6) Individual and Nation in the early 20th century In addition to discussing the readings below, you will also be asked to make a preliminary presentation on one item from the Asakawa papers this week. Readings: pp. 43-94. K. Askawa, Japan in Manchuria (1908) Also consider: K. Asakawa, The Russo-Japanese Conflict, Its Causes and Issues.

Week 5 (2/13) Yale and Japan: Building a Collection Readings: pp. 95-116. Kaneko Hideo, Kanichi Asakawa and the Yale University Library. Committee on East Asia Libraries Bulletin (1984). K. Asakawa, The Evolution of Japanese Culture: Gift from the Yale Association of Japan. Yale University Library Gazette IX, no.2: 29-37.

 pp. 452-461

Week 6 (2/20) Exploring the Yale Collections of Pre-modern Japanese Materials (Beinecke) Week 7 (2/27) The Scholarship: Comparative Feudalism Readings: pp. 117-148. K. Asakawa, The Documents of Iriki, pp. 1-88 (esp. 1-36). K. Asakawa, Some Aspects of Japanese Feudal Institutions, pp. 78-102 Also recommended: Kanichi Asakawa, The Early Institutional Life of Japan: A Study in the Reform of 645 A.D. (How does Asakawas work compare to Herman Ooms Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: The Tenmu Dynasty, 650-800 ?) Thomas Keirstead, The Geography of Power in Medieval Japan Week 8 (3/6) Asakawa and the Pacific War Readings: pp. 149-176, 199-245, 248-287. Also recommended: Yukiko Koshiro, Trans-Pacific Racisms and the U.S. Occupation of Japan SPRING RECESS (3/8 3/23) By the end of recess (no later than 5pm on Monday, 3/24) please submit via email a brief (one page) research proposal and drafts of your English language catalog entries describing items from the Yale collections. The research proposal must include a paragraph explaining the topic to be explored, together with a bibliography of primary and secondary materials. Week 9 (3/27) No class (AAS) Week 10 (4/3) Discussion of research proposals

Week 11 (4/10) Discussion of catalog entries Week 12 (4/17) No class (Use this week to work on research projects and catalog entries) Week 13 (4/24) Final discussion