HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: Asian Studies

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. DAN SHERER

Coordinator Email: Dan.Sherer@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: Wednesday, 14:00-16:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. DAN SHERER

Course/Module description:
This Japanese warrior has become an international cultural figure, appearing in games, films, and books throughout the world. Books detailing “samurai” business management and ethics still sell. There are even samurai diet books. But who were these warriors, and what was their effect on the history of Japan?

Course/Module aims:
In this course will trace the history of the Japanese warrior by looking at the lives of 13 exemplary warriors.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
To analyze the role that warriors have played in Japanese history.
To identify the broad outlines of Japanese history until 1900.
To appraise the effect that war has had on society and the warriors themselves.
To learn to critically evaluate a wide variety of primary sources.
To recollect and debate major issues in the field of Japanese history.

Attendance requirements(%):
Attendance mandatory, 80%

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Primarily lectures along with with use of videos and movies.

Course/Module Content:
Schedule and Readings:

5/3 Introductory Class: Our Setting and the Origins of the Japanese Warrior

15/3 Taira no Masakado and the “Teeth and Claws” of the state

Selections from Shōmonki
Friday, Japan Emerging Chapters 10-12, 15-17 (Available on the library website)
Karl Friday, “Teeth and Claws. Provincial Warriors and the Heian Court,” Monumenta Nipponica 43-2 (1988): 153–85. (On JSTOR)


22/3 Taira no Kiyomori and the Rise of the Warrior-Courtier

Readings:
Selections from Tales of the Heike

29/3 Hōjō Masako and the Rise of Warrior Government

The Founding of The Kamakura Shogunate, 1180-1185: With Selected Translations from The Azuma Kagami
1180, 4th Month 27th Day, Yoritomo Receives Prince Mochihito's Pronouncement. P.150-2
1180, 8th Month 19th Day, Yoritomo Proclaims His Rule Over Kanto. P.163-4.
1180, 8th Month 23rd Day, Yoritomo Is Defeated at Ishibashi. P.165-6.
1180, 8th Month 24th Day, Yoritomo Flees; He Narrowly Averts Capture. P.166-9.
1182, 3rd Month 9th Day, Masako Is with Child. P.231.
1182, 6th Month 1st Day, Yoritomo Provides Quarters for A Concubine. P.235.
1182, 7th Month 12th Day, Her Ladyship Is Removed to Her Lying-In Quarters. P.236.
1182, 7th Month 14th Day, Nitta Yoshishige Incurs Yoritomo's Displeasure. P.236.
1182, 8th Month 11th Day, Masako Indicates That the Birth of Her Child Is Imminent. P.237.
1182, 8th Month 12th Day, Her Ladyship Gives Birth to A Son. P.237.
1182, 11th Month 10th Day, Masako Learns of Yoritomo's Concubine. P.241.
1182, 11th Month 12th Day, Yoritomo Punishes Maki Munechika. P.241.
1182, 11th Month 14th Day, Hōjō Tokimasa Is Displeased at Yoritomo's Punishment of Munechika.P.241.
1183, 1st Month 10th Day, Yoritomo Removes His Concubine to Kochita's Residence P. 243
1184, 2nd Month 7th Day, The Genji And the Heiji Battle at Ichinotani. P.249.
1184, 2nd Month 11th Day, The Court Deliberates on Whether to Permit the Genji To Bring the Decapitated Heads of The Heiji Into the Capital Via the Main Thoroughfare. P.250-1.
1184, 2nd Month 21st Day, A Former Retainer of Yoshinaka Brings A Grievance to Yoritomo. P.252.
1184, 4th Month 10th Day, Yoritomo's Court Rank Is Raised; His Bid for The Office of Shogun Is Rejected. P.260-1.
1184, 4th Month 21st Day, Yoritomo Orders His Son-In-Law Killed. P.263.
1184, 4th Month 26th Day, Tanai Mitsuzumi Kills Shimizu Yoshitaka. P.263.
1184, 6th Month 27th Day, Yoritomo Orders an Execution to Allay Masako's Anger. P.270.
1184, 8th Month 17th Day, Yoshitsune's Court Appointments Are Reported to Yoritomo. P.274.
1185, 3rd Month 24th Day, The Genji Defeat the Heiji At Dannoura. P.300.
1185, 4th Month 15th Day, Yoritomo Prohibits Vassals Who Had Accepted Appointments at The Court from Returning to The East. P.304.
1185, 5th Month 11th Day, Yoritomo Is Raised to The Second Rank. P.312.
1185, 5th Month 15th Day, Yoritomo Decides on Measures to Be Taken Regarding Yoshitsune. P.313.
1185, 10th Month 17th Day, Shoshun Attacks Yoshitsune, But Is Repulsed. P.339.
1185, 10th Month 18th Day, An Imperial Mandate Is Issued to Yoshitsune And Yukiie To Proceed Against Yoritomo. P.339-40.
1185, 10th Month 25th Day, Yoritomo Sends Out Troops to Kill Yukiie And Yoshitsune. P.343.
1185, 11th Month 3rd Day, Yukiie And Yoshitsune Leave Kyoto For the West. P.345-6.
1185, 11th Month 6th Day, A Storm Prevents Yoshitsune From Sailing and Reduces His Party to Four; The Ex-Sovereign Orders A Search for Yukiie And Yoshitsune.P.346-7.
1185, 11th Month 11th Day, The Court Reverses Its Position Regarding Yoshitsune And
Yukiie. P.348-9.
1185, 11th Month 29th Day, The Right to Post Constables and Stewards and To Levy A Commissariat Rice Tax Is Approved; Yoshitsune Flees to Totsukawa In Yamato Province; Yoritomo Prescribes the Law Relating to Post Roads. P.354.
McCullough, William. "The Azuma Kagami Account of the Shōkyū War." Monumenta Nipponica 23, no. 1/2 (1968): 102-55. (On JSTOR)
Japan Emerging Chapter 18

5/4 Takezaki Suenaga and the Mongol Invasion

Readings:
In Little Need of Divine Intervention (PDF on Moodle)
The Mongol Invasion Scrolls (Online athttp://digital.princeton.edu/mongol-scrolls/ )

12/4 Kusunoki Masashige and the Era of Northern and Southern Courts

Readings: “Kusunoki Masashige: A Guerilla of Unflinching Loyalty” and “Kō no Moronao: When a Warrior Falls in Love” in Legends of the Samurai (PDF on Moodle).
Japan Emerging Chapter 20
Excerpts from State of War

26/4 Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and the Golden Age of the Muromachi Shogunate
SHORT PAPER #1 DUE
Readings:
Von Verschuer, Charlotte. "Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's Foreign Policy 1398 to 1408 A.D.: A Translation from "Zenrin Kokuhōki," the Cambridge Manuscript." Monumenta Nipponica 62, no. 3 (2007): 261-97. (Journal on JSTOR here)

3/5 Ashikaga Yoshimasa and the Collapse of the Muromachi Order

Required Readings:
Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion (Online Here) 40-61, 139-166
Japan Emerging¸ Chapter 22-23

10/5 Oda Nobunaga and the Glory of Azuchi
Readings:
From The Chronicles of Lord Nobunaga (Online Here)
Required Sections:
Initial Book, parts 7, 9, 10
Book 1, parts 1-4
Book 2, parts 4-5
Book 4, part 5
Book 6, part 2
Book 8, part 4
Book 9, parts 1, 6
Book 11, part 13 (to page 299)
Book 15, parts 25-35
Japan Emerging¸ Chapter 29

17/5 Toyotomi Hideyoshi and The Unification of Japan
Readings:
Sources of Japanese Tradition Volume 1, 458-472 (PDF on Moodle).

24/5 Shinmen Musashi Fujiwara no Harunobu and the Life of a Legend

Readings:Watch at least 40 minutes of Miyamoto Musashi Documentaries.

31/5 Meckel Gasps: The Legend of Sekigahara


7/6 The Forty-Seven Ronin and the City of Edo
Readings:
“The Forty-Seven Samurai: An Eyewitness Account, With Arguments” from Legends of the Samurai (PDF on Moodle).
Japan Emerging, chapter 34


14/6 Katsu Kokichi and the Edo Warrior Family
SHORT PAPER #2 DUE
Readings:
Selections from Musui’s Story (PDF on Moodle)
Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan, Chapter 3 (Ebook Here).

21/6 Saigo Takamori and the End of the Samurai

Required Reading:
Required Readings:
Our main textbook will be Japan Emerging, edited by Karl Friday. However, the bulk of our readings will be primary sources. The books that we will use in this course are:
Thomas Conlan, In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga's Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan
William Theodore DeBarry, Sources of Japanese Tradition Volume 1
Karl Friday, Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850
Katsu Kokichi, Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai
*Donald Keene, Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan
*Jeroen Lamers, The Chronicles of Lord Nobunaga
*Judith Rabbinovitch, Shōmon ki: the story of Masakadoʼs rebellion
*Luke Roberts, Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan
Hiroaki Sato, Legends of the Samurai
*Shinoda Minoru, The Founding Of The Kamakura Shogunate, 1180-1185: With Selected Translations From The Azuma Kagami
Burton Watson, The Tales of the Heike
Books with a * are available free on the library website.

Additional Reading Material:
See Moodle2.

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 16 %
Project work 31 %
Assignments 35 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 18 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
Slight changes may occur in the final reading list and order of classes.
For the final list, please refer to the moodle2 platform.