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1
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| 授業計画/Class |
Course introduction and explanation (on-demand). |
| 事前学習/Preparation |
Preview the syllabus. |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review the syllabus and purchase the textbooks for the course. |
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2
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| 授業計画/Class |
Opening discussion: What do we mean by “traditional Japanese culture”? We will dissect specifically what each of these terms will mean for purposes of this course, and preview the structure and goals of the class. |
| 事前学習/Preparation |
The syllabus should be read before the first class meeting, and the main texts for the course should be purchased.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Go over the syllabus and review the topics. Start thinking about what you might like to do your research paper on.
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3
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| 授業計画/Class |
Shinto: This session will consist of an introduction to some general religious / spiritual concepts that underlie much of traditional Japanese culture, particularly those related to Shinto beliefs, and discussion of key concepts.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Read the sections in Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul, Chapter 4: “Religious Concepts” on nature in Japanese religion, prayer, heaven, kami, tama, misogi, harae, and kegare, and Chapter 5: "Folk Religion" on worship of mountains, ikigami, miko, onmyōdō, yama no kami, ta no kami, toshigami, kōjin, ubusunagami, ujigami, chinju no kami, Shintō family altars, bimbōgami, suijin, and naorai, and consider answers for the discussion questions prior to the class.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review the reading and your notes to consolidate your understanding of the main religious concepts discussed in class.
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4
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| 授業計画/Class |
Buddhism: In this session we will begin to go more deeply into the tremendous influence of Buddhism in general on traditional Japanese culture, starting with a very brief history of Buddhism from its roots in India to its various expressions in historical Japan.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Read the sections in Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul, Chapter 4 "Religious Concepts" on prayer, heaven, hell, emptiness, nothingness, satori, nehan, engi, inga, rinne, tariki, sokushin jōbutsu, and nembutsu, and consider answers to the discussion questions. |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review the reading and your notes to consolidate your understanding of the position of Buddhism in Japanese culture.
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5
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| 授業計画/Class |
Zen: In this class we will go more deeply into the principles of Zen Buddhism specifically, as we will investigate its influence in various elements of traditional Japanese culture throughout the course. |
| 事前学習/Preparation |
Read Zen and Japanese Culture, Chapter 1: "Preliminary to the Understanding of Zen", and consider answers to the discussion questions. (Fair warning: we are headed into some pretty deep waters here. Give yourself plenty of time to read and digest Suzuki's explanations, and don't worry too much if you don't think you understand it all. We will do plenty of discussion of the ideas in class to make sure everyone gets the main ideas.) |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review the reading and your notes to consolidate your understanding of Zen Buddhism. |
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6
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| 授業計画/Class |
Confucianism: In this final session on the major spiritual/philosophical underpinnings of traditional Japanese culture, we will consider the powerful influence of the teachings of Confucius (Kǒng Fūzǐ" 孔夫子) and followers of Confucianism on Japanese culture. |
| 事前学習/Preparation |
Prior to the class, read Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul, Chapter 3: “Social Concepts” on vertical society, ie, giri and ninjō, tatemae and honne, rei, bun, oyabun-kobun, and sempai-kōhai. Also read Zen and Japanese Culture, Chapter Five: "Zen and the Study of Confucianism", and prepare answers to the discussion questions. |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review the reading and your notes to consolidate your understanding of the position of Confucianism in traditional Japanese culture, and its relationship to Zen in Japan.
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7
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| 授業計画/Class |
Continuation of religious / spiritual concepts in traditional Japanese culture with a discussion of ideas and practices in Japanese folk religions. |
| 事前学習/Preparation |
Before the class, read the sections in Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul, Chapter 5: “Folk Religion”, on folk religion ancestor worship, afterlife, mourning, butsudan, goryō, goze, yamabushi, zatō, jizō, dōsojin, funadama, Seven Deities of Good Fortune, Ebisu, Daikokuten, kōshin, rituals for rain, gofu, tachimono, pilgrimages, nyonin kinzei, and horagai and consider answers to the discussion questions prior to class.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Following the class, review your text and class notes, to consolidate your understanding of Japanese folk religion.
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8
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| 授業計画/Class |
In this class we will look at some traditional Japanese folk beliefs that are less clearly connected to any of the established religious / spiritual practices discussed earlier in the course, but which nonetheless continue to have an effect on Japanese culture in many ways.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Read Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul, Chapter 6 "Folk Beliefs", about other beliefs less connected to particular religious traditions, and prepare answers to the reading and discussion questions. |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review the readings and your notes from the first half of the semester for the mid-term exam, and finalize your research topic for the term paper and presentation.
Take the mid-term exam online. |
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9
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| 授業計画/Class |
In this session we will move on from the spiritual / religious concepts to some more broadly philosophical and theoretical ones that underlie traditional Japanese culture.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Before the class, read Keys to the Japanese Heart and Soul, Chapter 2: “Philosophy and Thoughts” and the sections in Chapter 3: “Social Concepts” on nonverbal communication, akirame, amae, enryo, haji, hara, kan |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Following the class, review your text and class notes, to consolidate your understanding of the philosophical concepts in traditional Japanese culture that we covered.
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10
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| 授業計画/Class |
In this session we will focus on concepts in traditional Japanese aesthetics: ideas related to beauty and art, relating them to how they enter into both “high art”, and also on the more mundane level of everyday life.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Prior to class, read Zen and Japanese Culture Chapter Two: "General Remarks on Japanese Art Culture", Keys, Chapter 1: "Aesthetics", and the Tanizaki reading, and consider answers for the discussion questions.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
After class, review your class notes and the readings, to consolidate your understanding of the concepts in traditional Japanese aesthetics.
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11
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| 授業計画/Class |
In this session we will look at traditional Japanese attitudes towards and ideas about nature, specifically animals and plants, and focus particularly on Japan's indigenous varieties.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Read Keys, Chapters 7 and 8: "Animals in Japanese Culture" and "Plants in Japanese Culture" and consider answers to the discussion questions.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
After class, review your notes and the reading to consolidate your understanding of the roles of certain animals and plants in traditional Japanese culture.
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12
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| 授業計画/Class |
This session will focus on the influence of Zen Buddhism on the warrior class (bushi) who governed Japan for hundreds of years, from the Kamakura Period to the end of the Edo.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Prior to class, read Chapters Three and Four – "Zen and the Samurai" and "Zen and Swordsmanship" – in Zen and Japanese Culture, and the excerpt from Nitobe's Bushidō, and consider answers to the discussion questions.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
After class, review the reading and your notes to consolidate your understanding of the influence of Zen on the samurai class, and the nature of their influence on traditional Japanese society and culture.
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13
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| 授業計画/Class |
Today will be a somewhat more in-depth look at one of the most famously characteristic examples of traditional Japanese culture: the tea ceremony.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Before class, have watched the NHK Begin Japanology program on the tea ceremony, read Zen and Japanese Culture, Chapter Six: "Zen and the Tea-cult", and consider answers to the discussion questions.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
After class, review the reading and your notes to consolidate your understanding of the influence of Zen on the culture of tea, and its place in traditional Japanese culture. |
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14
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| 授業計画/Class |
Second-half Exam: this exam will test your knowledge and understanding of the material from the second half of the course. |
| 事前学習/Preparation |
Review all materials from the second 7 class sessions for the exam. |
| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review all course materials and prepare to present the results of your research to a group of your classmates. |
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15
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| 授業計画/Class |
In this final session of the class, students will present their individual research to a group of their peers, answer questions from the group, and submit their research papers.
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| 事前学習/Preparation |
Prepare presentation notes and visual aids for presenting your research findings to a small group of other students, and practice your presentation. You should not be reading from your research paper when you give your presentation to your group, but rather speaking to them in as natural a way as possible.
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| 事後学習/Reviewing |
Review your notes and readings from the second half of the course for the final exam.
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