The Dutch played a significant role in developing the Japanese interest in Western culture. The primary sources in the textbook both offer evidence of this influential role that the Dutch played in Japanese culture. The Japanese were very intrigued with the west and studied the western culture over a period of two centuries of trade with the Dutch. The articles by Engelbert Kaempfer and Grant Goodman are related to each other in that they both show the level of interest the Japanese had about western culture, specifically around medicine, politics, religion and other such topics during the Japanese Tokugawa period. The article by Kaempfer as well as the article by Goodman were written in completely different time frames. Kaempfer wrote his in 1727, while Goodman’s was more recent, with him having written it in 1986. The Kaempfer extract on page 48 and 49 of the textbook is an extract from his “The History of Japan” and contains a history of the Dutch experience with the Japanese, specifically trips to visit the shogun on Dejima. The article by Goodman on pages 48 and 49, which was written in 1986, is from his “Japan: The Dutch Experience”. It is about how the Japanese viewed the West during the Tokugawa period, which is the same period that is covered in the article by Kaempfer. …show more content…
It is interesting that they were both written centuries apart, yet touch on the same topics. The article by Kaempfer is written from the perspective of the Dutch, while the article by Goodman is written from the perspective of the Japanese. Both demonstrate the Japanese interest in western ways, and the curiosity the Japanese had with the west. The purpose of both is to demonstrate how western culture impacted the Japanese, and what they were able to adopt from the west and work into their own
This book reflects the author’s wish of not only remembering what has happened to the Japanese families living in the United States of America at the time of war but also to show its effects and how families made through that storm of problems and insecurities. The story takes in the first turn when the father of Jeanne gets arrested in the accusation of supplying fuel to Japanese parties and takes it last turn when after the passage of several years, Jeanne (writer) is living a contented life with her family and ponders over her past (Wakatsuki Houston and D. Houston 3-78). As we read along the pages
The young girl is prevented from entering the church where her grandmother has prayers. As a person from the old world, the young girl is not allowed to play with boys from the new world. On the other hand, “in response to executive order” by Dwight Okita is about Americans of Japanese origins that were supposed to report to relocation
Japan’s rich history of power, wealth, and influence had many remarkable eras. One of the more notable periods in Japanese history was that of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868). The Tokugawa Period was talked about in Musui’s Story, an autobiographical book, written by Kokichi Katsu. (Katsu ix) Katsu wrote Musui’s Story for three main reasons: to share how he had transformed from a low-ranking samurai to a well-known hero, to show his sense of self, and to serve as a cautionary tale for his descendants.
Part III, The War in Japanese Eyes, allows the reader to receive a Japanese perspective and also grasp how devastating the results of war were. Chapter 8, “The Pure Self,” Dower explains the Japanese traditions and culture, along with the humiliation and discrimination the Japanese received. The Japanese believed their culture was unique, and spent this period of time during the war focusing on themselves and their race. Whereas yellow was the color of illness and treason and the Japanese were usually referred to as yellow, the color white symbolized purity which stood for the American race. On the contrary, the Americans were also known as demonic.
Some Prefer Nettles takes place in Japan in the late 1920’s, after the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923. This is an important period because they were still economically recovering from the effects of the earthquake. Also, Japan was moving towards a more modern society, and they were starting to gain recognition as a world power. In 1920 Japan joined the League of Nations (McClain, 335). Japan was no longer looked at as a country that imperialistic nations could take advantage of.
Life is Beautiful Set in rural Japan during the Japanese Army’s invasion of China near the beginning of World War II, Gail Tsukiyama’s novel tells the story of Stephen, a young Chinese man who is sent to his family’s summer home to recover from tuberculosis. During his stay, Stephen develops friendships with three older residents and a beautiful Japanese girl. Throughout the course of The Samurai’s Garden , Gail Tsukiyama uses the character of Sachi and her experiences with her garden and meeting Michiko to illustrate the idea that true beauty is revealed in one’s character by their actions and not just looks. Sachi, a beautiful woman with leprosy learns that true beauty is deep within and is not what appears on the surface, she understands
Walker does not just take the reader on a tour of the decision-making process of President Truman and shows what made him to order the use of Atomic bombs on Japan, but he also provide an exploration of the historical situation that prompted the decision. He also examines the viewpoint of the Japanese, not only regarding the impact of the bombings on their ultimate decision to surrender, but also how their Allies called for an unconditional surrender. This call could possibly have led to the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, being tried on counts of war crimes, which may have possibly made the Japanese to be reluctant on surrendering even in light of a crushing defeat (Huczko). Samuel Walker also provides useful insights into contribution made by the decision to use Atomic weapons on Japanese decision to surrender.
‘The Good Earth’ and the Possibility of ‘Anti-Orientalist’ Orientalism In 1931, American author Pearl S. Buck published The Good Earth, an English-language novel depicting a peasant’s life in rural China. The novel was immediately a financial and critical success; after selling millions of copies, it would win the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. Buck’s writing was praised for its evenhanded and insightful portrayal of Chinese culture and society. Retrospectively, however, many scholars have criticized it as a well-intentioned but reductionist and Orientalist treatment of China. Using Said’s conception of Orientalism as an analytical framework, this essay examines and evaluates charges of Orientalism in The Good Earth.
Knowing how to interact with people of other cultures has become an increasingly important issue as international communication and travel becomes more common. With more interactions between cultures, cultural misunderstandings become more common. The satirical book Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb attempts to address this issue, pointing out what people often do wrong. Fear and Trembling is a story which follows Amélie, a young Belgian woman who goes to work for a Japanese company and struggles to fit in, committing many cultural faux pas along the way. Nothomb uses contrasting sentence structure between Amélie 's thoughts and her dialogue and actions to demonstrate the way that Westerners often ignore other cultures despite knowing better because they view themselves as more important.
Imperialism in Japan Background: Japan prior to the Meiji restoration was ruled in a hierarchy very similar to other European countries. The hierarchy was that of lords, samurai and then peasants. The Japanese equivalent to a king at the time was a military dictator called a shogun. During this time the capital was Kyoto and the shogun was part of the Tokugawa clan. That is why this period is referred to as the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Book Review #1: “Confucius lives Next Door” When T. R. Reid became chief of The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau, he and his family moved to Japan for an extended stay. Moving from the wide-open spaces of Coloroda to the noise, rush and crush of Tokyo. As Reid and his family were opting for total immersion in Japanese culture, they decided to live in a Tokyo neighborhood and send their children to public schools within Toyko. The book “Confucius Lives Next Door” is T.R Reid's account of their experience as an American family living in a country with the population of roughly 28,000,000 people. The book is also an analysis of East Asia's postwar economic miracle and what Reid sees as it’s even more important "social miracle," the creation of ordered, civil societies marked by "the safest streets, the strongest families, and the best schools in the world," where lost wallets are returned to their owners with cash intact, baggage can be left unattended in the busiest train station, and no one locks their cars or bicycles.
Last, but most important is political. A quote that supports my causal factor for political is on page 13 is, “ Meanwhile tremendous political pressure was put upon President Roosevelt by Californians an their congressmen to intern all Japanese Americans. ”The way this quote showed political is because they are talking about putting all Japanese Americans intern which also says political pressure on the president so that kinda gives it away. Another quote that supports the political causal factor is on page 18, “Congressmen passes the Immigration Act 1924 effectively ending all Japanese immigration to the U.S.” The way this quote supports my causal factor for political is because the now banned Japanese immigrants because I think America was scared the Japanese some info from America an what weapons they had and what were their plans to do a war or not.
The societies of Tokugawa Japan (c.1603-1867C.E.) and medieval Europe (c.1000-1500C.E.) had two things in common; a feudal system. A feudal system is something that features hierarchies or social structures. The feudal system normally starts with a religion, which is at the very top of the social pyramid, then it’s the King or monarch for Europe and the shogun for Japan, then there are the nobles for Europe and the daimyos for Japan. As we go down the pyramid there are the warriors, like the knight in Europe and the samurai in Japan, then there are the peasants. The peasants were included in both eras and are at the lowest part of the pyramid.
Youssef Marakby ID:900130817 Instructor: Richard Byford Rhet 1020 The Samurai’s affect on Japan’s culture For many years, the legendary Japanese samurai warriors showed that they are the most well known class of ancient Japan and also known with their supremacy of honor, service, and duty which the Japanese society still have today. The samurai helped lay the foundations of Japan 's culture.
What happened to me was a great confirmation of the feeling I had and work I had myself done before I got there.” If we carefully search for those traces left by Japanese culture in his works, we can