HIST 180Introduction to History:

A Manga Artist’s Life in 20th Century JapanTuesday & Thursday, 2:50 to 4:10; Fisk 121

Professor William JohnstonOffice: PAC 135Office Hours: Wednesday, 1:30 to 4:00 or by appointment.Office Phone: 685-2375Email: wjohnston@wesleyan.edu

General RemarksHistory is about understanding the past. This is important because to understand where we are now we need to know how we got here. This sounds simple but it presents some real challenges. How do we really know what happened in the past? What is the evidence and how should we assess it? How do people construct the stories they use to explain the past and how do they deal with facts that don’t fit those stories? These are a few of the questions that we will be addressing in this course, which has the goal of helping students develop habits of thinking historically.

These questions are especially compelling in modern East Asian history, where the shadow of past wars remains a part of life. They raise more granular questions, specific to the events of the time: How did Japan become a militaristic and expansionistic state? What made farmers, shopkeepers, carpenters, and other ordinary persons into brutal soldiers? What made it so difficult to oppose virulently nationalistic sentiments? In the postwar period, how did the Japanese people deal with the loss of what had been called a “sacred war” (seisen 聖戦) and responsibilities for war crimes?

In this course, we will be considering these and related questions through the life of Mizuki Shigeru (1922-1915), one of postwar Japan’s most popular and influential manga artists. (I use Japanese names with

the family name first, as is the custom in Japan; some of our readings will reverse them. This is an unavoidable confusion.) Mizuki is most famous for manga that depict supernatural figures—yōkai—based on Japanese folk tales. His manga GeGeGe no Kitarō was made into an animated series (check it out on YouTube). Yet his historical

“Don’t fool around with

life.” –Mizuki Shigeru

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non-fiction manga also were best sellers. One of those is Showa: A History of Japan, an autobiography that places his life in the context of the events that occurred during the Showa Era (1926-1989). This course is centered on that four-volume series, while using various primary sources and other materials to contextualize Mizuki’s life story.

While reading Mizuki, we will also be reading a number of primary sources, and looking at them closely in class. We will engage in close readings, where every word is a potential subject of interrogation: the meanings of words carry great weight. Yet the visual images in Mizuki’s autobiographical manga also carry great weight and deserve considerable attention, and will similarly become the subjects of close analysis.

A Note on Historical MethodsAn important part of history is methodological approach. The possibilities are limitless. A historian can focus on a particular theme, such as politics, gender, technology, material culture, the body, and much more. Evidence can be textual, visual, numerical, geographical, and much more.

In this class, students will be asked to think about history primarily in terms of networks. There are many different kinds of networks that can be used to analyze history. One network that long was overlooked but is now obvious to most people is the environment, and students are asked to think in those terms.

In particular, how were concrete objects depicted in the manga or in the primary texts nodes of physical reality, legal distributions of coercive power, ideologically loaded, politically tied, culturally related, or otherwise linked in a different kind of network that can be traced more broadly? Think of rhizomes as a metaphor for the kinds of networks we will be examining. (Those who wish to explore the theoretical foundations of this kind of thinking can start with the work of Gilles Deluze and Félix Guattari, especially their A Thousand Plateaus.) Rhizomes are networks that assume no hierarchy, unlike tree-like ideas of knowledge that assume a vertical, linear set of connections.

Class discussions will include student presentations that analyze chosen networks that appear in the assigned texts. Some discussions

Mizuki Shigeru, age 3.

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will have assigned themes (posted on Moodle), such as geography (in the broadest sense), material culture, sustainability and environment, political power, social and gender relations, and technology. Some discussion themes will be left completely up to student choice.

Nuts and BoltsClasses will generally be discussion based. Students are expected to have finished all assigned readings before class and make a discussion post about the readings on Moodle by 7:00am on the day the reading is assigned. Discussion posts should include discoveries and questions, a brief discussion of what outside sources you consulted to help establish historical context, a description of networks you see at work, geographical names you looked up, and where appropriate, emotional responses to the readings. Think of the discussion posts as a kind of journal that tracks your development over the semester. The final project, due on the last day of class, will synthesize in 5 to 8 pages or through a video presentation or other media (we will discuss your options individually) the most important things about twentieth century Japan you have learned over the course of the semester, based on a review of your discussion posts. Failure to make a discussion post will result in a proportional drop in grade.

Discussions will interrogate this graphic autobiography, other texts (when applicable) and sources you have researched yourself: when you encounter something in the text that you don’t understand—and this works for visual imagery as well as “factual” information—you should look it up. There are several standing assignments for each reading:

1. Look up all place names; you should be able to point them out on a map. In each class, I will randomly ask somebody to locate places mentioned in the text and performance will count toward the grade. At the end of the semester there will be a map test in which you will be asked to locate places mentioned in the text.

2. Until at least Feb. 26 (and hopefully later, although we have a “trial period for the Japan Times only until that date), you should look up at least one article in the Japan Times database relevant to the class’s reading for that day. If we lose access to the Japan Times, use other primary source archives, such as the New York Times and other newspapers, contemporary books, magazines, and visual sources. Early in the semester a librarian will visit class to discuss use of the library. You should refer to what you discovered in your Moodle discussion post, and be prepared to discuss it in class.

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3. Students will form groups of three individuals, who then will volunteer to make a presentation about the class assignment once before spring break and once after. Each student will shoulder responsibility for one part of the presentation, and the group will submit a jointly written paper of 5 to 6 pages after the class describing its key points and the role each student played. Students are encouraged to consider using digital media for their presentations.

GradingAttendance & Participation 25%Moodle Discussion Posts 25%Class Presentations 20%Map Test 10%Final Project 20%

Assigned Books Available for PurchaseMizuki, Showa: A History of Japan (all four volumes).

Absences & TardinessStudents are allowed one unexcused absence; to be excused, your class dean needs to contact me with an explanation. Each subsequent unexcused absence will result in an automatic drop of one-third grade. Three unexcused absences will result in an automatic failure (best dealt with by dropping the class). Persistent tardiness will also result in a drop of grade.

Electronic DevicesLaptop computers will be allowed but only for use with directly class-related material, and should not be open through an entire class. Use of computers for unrelated purposes (it is usually obvious and I will call out students who seem to be mentally outside the classroom) will result in a ban. Phones are to be turned off and stowed away.

Students with Disabilities

Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services.  To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Disability Resources as soon as possible.

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If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Dean Patey in Disability Resources located in North College, room 021, or call 860-685-5581 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations.

Course Schedule

Week 1Thursday, Jan. 26Introduction: Syllabus, overview of Japanese history.

Week 2 From Great Kanto Earthquake to DepressionTuesday, Jan. 31Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926-1939, pp. 1-96, 517-518.Thursday, Feb. 2Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926-1939, pp. 97-182.

Week 3 Empire and Military ExpansionTuesday, Feb. 7Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926-1939, pp. 183-268.Thursday, Feb. 9Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926-1939, pp. 269-348.

Week 4 From Manchukuo’s Founding to Nomonhan DefeatTuesday, Feb. 14Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926-1939, pp. 349-452.

Thursday, Feb. 16Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926-1939, pp. 453-514.

Week 5 Life as a Recruit in the Japanese ArmyTuesday, Feb. 21Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1939-1944, pp. 1-140.

Thursday, Feb. 23Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1939-1944, pp. 141-284.

Week 6 Battles of Midway and GuadalcanalTuesday, Feb. 28Visit to Olin Special CollectionsReadings TBA.

Thursday, Mar. 2Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1939-1944, pp. 285-380.

Week 7 On the Ground with Japanese Soldiers

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Tuesday, Mar. 7Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1939-1944, pp. 381-456.

Thursday, Mar. 9Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1939-1944, pp. 457-538.

Week 8 War of DesperationTuesday, Mar. 28Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953, pp. 1-116.

Thursday, Mar. 30Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953, pp. 117-208.

Week 9 War’s End and RepatriationTuesday, Apr. 4Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953, pp. 209-304.

Thursday, Apr. 6Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953, pp. 305-392.

Week 10 Allied Occupation and Korean WarTuesday, Apr. 11Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953, pp. 393-472.

Thursday, Apr. 13Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1944-1953, pp. 473-530.

Week 11 Social Change, Political Violence, Economic GrowthTuesday, Apr. 18Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 1-108.

Thursday, Apr. 20Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 109-210.

Week 12 Revisiting Old Battlegrounds, Political ScandalTuesday, Apr. 25Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 211-288.

Thursday, Apr. 27Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 289-372.

Week 13 Boom Years and the End of an EraTuesday, May 2Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 373-450.

Thursday, May 4

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Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 451-531.

Week 14Tuesday, May 9Mizuki, Showa: A History of Japan, 1953-1989, pp. 538-end (color section).

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