PS640 POLITICS OF JAPAN
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Fall 2009
M, W, F 1:20-2:10
Instructor: Kimiko Osawa
Office: Room 222 North Hall
Office Hours: Wednesday 2:30-3:30 and Friday 2:30-3:30 or by appointment
E-mail: kosawa@wisc.edu
(I will respond to your e-mails within 24 hours)
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
This is an introductory course to Japanese politics and an opportunity for you to learn
about the politics of non-US countries in depth. The goal of the course is to provide the
basic information about Japanese politics (in historical and societal contexts), about
arguments and analyses of various dimensions of Japanese politics made by scholars, and
encourage you to find out your own interests based on the facts and arguments presented
in the course and explore them further. Thus, throughout the semester, I would like to
encourage you to: (1) Learn the facts and the scholars’ arguments about Japanese politics,
(2) Learn the analytical lenses used by these scholars to study Japanese politics and their
arguments, (3) Make your own analysis and arguments, incorporating (1) and (2).
The content of the course is chronologically organized and divided into three sections.
1. The first section focuses on pre-1945 Japan, starting with the Meiji Restoration,
when Japan started to transform itself to a modern nation-state. The purpose of this
section is to provide a historical background to understand Japanese politics and
society today.
2. The second section focuses on the emergence and consolidation of Japan’s “1955
system,” a political and economic order that began with the formation of the Liberal
Democratic Party. The emergence of this system, how it has operated and been
legitimized, and the gradual loss of its legitimacy will be examined in this section.
3. The third section focuses on the post-1993 political disorder up until now that
emerged with the end of the Liberal Democratic Party’s 38 years of uninterrupted
rule. The 1990s is also called “the lost decade” for Japanese economy, which was
epitomized by the burst of bubble economy. Many social issues (such as crime,
declining birth rate, and nationalism) also started to be recognized. How political
actors have responded – or not responded – to these political, economic, and social
issues will be the central theme of this last part.
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By the end of this course, you should be able to…
 Understand and remember the overall historical development of Japanese political
systems.
 Understand and remember the political systems, how they function, and major
political issues in contemporary Japan.
 Use Japanese politics as a comparison in analyzing other countries’ politics of your
interest.
 Identify and critically analyze the different ways in which politics and other realms,
such as society and history, interact.
 Analyze why certain things happened in Japanese politics, using political scientific
frameworks.
REQUIRED READING
The following textbook is required and available at the University Bookstore.
Richard J. Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children: Leaders and the Legacies in Italy and Japan
Other readings in this syllabus are available at learn@UW. Books are also available at
College Library Reserve.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Participation
This is a small, upper-level undergraduate course and I expect your active involvement in
our collective intellectual development. My lectures present the facts and examples of how
we can analyze the ways in which Japanese politics works, to which readings can be
situated.
After each lecture, I will ask if you have any questions or comments. You can also ask
questions during lecture, but the basic plan is to spend at least the last 10 minutes of each
class for discussion of the material covered on that day. This is your opportunity to share
your questions and thoughts with your fellow classmates and to contribute to our
understanding of the readings, lectures, and the connections between the two. In
discussion, making connections – with the readings, lectures, topics discussed in the
previous classes, and the comments made by others – is especially helpful to you and other
students. I will try to help you articulate your thoughts and explore them further.
If you are a type of person who is hesitant to speak up in front of many people or if you
miss the opportunity to share your thoughts in class, please visit my office hours.
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Readings
The readings for this class will be both long and challenging. You should complete the
readings before lecture so that you can discuss them in class. Those of you with little or no
experience in Japanese studies should expect to spend extra time and care, because
Japanese names, places, and historical moments may be unfamiliar to you and it will take
you longer to comprehend and retain what you will need in the course. My lectures will
draw from the readings but they will NOT recapitulate them.
I will send out reading questions for all the readings by Saturday nights. The purpose of
these questions is to help you navigate through the readings by suggesting places where
you want to pay attention. Of course, if you notice any other themes and issues that catch
your attention while you are reading, please bring and share them with us in class.
In-class Midterm Exam and Final Exam
These exams are to encourage you to understand and memorize the important parts of the
material (readings, lecture, current events mentioned in class, films) covered in the course
up until the time of the exam and make sure you have attained correct understanding of the
facts and arguments in the literature. They will consist of a combination of multiple
choices, short answers and longer essays. These exams should not be too difficult as long
as you keep doing what you are required to do – do the readings carefully, pay attention to
the lectures and discussions, read news, and watch the films.
Final Exam is partly cumulative – there will be more essay questions that ask you to
integrate the course material covered in the entire semester. The exam is scheduled at
10:05 A.M. TUE. DEC 22.
Short Discussion Papers
You will write two short papers (3-4 pages, double spaced) that present your own take of
the readings and lectures for the sections 2 and 3 of the course. In these papers, you are
required to not only summarize the readings and lectures but present your own critical
thinking of them. You can choose whichever readings or topics covered in each section. A
good discussion paper should present your own arguments clearly and back them up using
the material.
Current Events
To keep on top of events in Japan, you should be reading at least one of America’s
newspapers with significant international coverage. English-language resource in Japan
include:
 The Japan Times (www.japantimes.co.jp)
 English-language coverage from the left-leaning Asahi Shimbun
(www.asahi.com/english).
 Japan’s most popular newspaper, the right-leaning Yomiuri Shimbun’s Daily Yomiuri
(http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy).
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Notes on Assignments
I expect you to fulfill the requirements on or by the set dates. These deadlines will not be
changed and no extension will be given on papers.
However, if you have any problem that might interfere with your ability to fulfill the
requirements on schedule, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can discuss the
matter. Any special treatment can be only provided with valid written documents, such as
medical excuse, though.
Students with disabilities that would affect their work for this course, please see me at the
beginning of the semester.
Grading
These four requirements are counted toward your final grade.
Participation (class attendance, quality of contribution)
Midterm Exam
Short Discussion Papers
Final Exam
15%
25%
15%+15%
30%
To receive a grade, you must complete and submit all assignments.
Final grades will be calculated and assessed as follows:
Letter Grade
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
Numerical Grade
93-100
88-92
83-87
78-82
77-70
60-69
Below 60
Description
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Satisfactory
Marginally acceptable
Minimal Pass
Fail
I do my best to grade your exams and papers as quickly, accurately, and fairly as possible.
However, if you believe that you have been penalized unjustly on an exam or paper, you
may appeal the grade to me, according to the following rules. 1. You have to wait at least
24 hours after I have returned the exam or paper before you contact me about it. 2. You
have to resubmit the entire exam and also – in writing – the reason you believe the grade
was in error. 3. I re-evaluate the entire exam, which makes it possible that your grade will
go down. The last rule is not to punish you or to even out the final grade. This is to make
sure that anyone who appeals a grade really believes that they have been treated unfairly,
and are not simply fishing for an extra couple of points.
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Office Hours
I recommend you to utilize office hours to your advantage! If you have any questions and
comments about the material covered in the course and news events, which you could not
present in the classroom, and if you have any concerns and questions regarding your
performance in the course, if you wonder how you can write discussion papers or prepare
for the exams, or if you simply want to chat about Japanese politics, please come see me.
Academic Honesty and Courtesy in Classroom
Academic dishonesty is not tolerated. Students found cheating on exams, recycling the
work of others, taking materials from print or electronic sources without giving proper
credit will fail the course without exception.
My commitment is to create a climate for learning characterized by intellectual diversity
and a respect for each other and the contributions each person makes to class. I ask that
you make a similar commitment.
- No cell phone. They should be firmly put inside of your bags. Turn it off before the
class starts.
- Do not engage in any activity that are irrelevant to the class. Do not use laptop
computers for the activities unrelated to the class. When I find you doing any of
these, I will ask you to leave the room and you will be marked absent for that day.
- Please be courteous to your classmates and me. We can disagree, but do so in a
civilized manner. Presenting your opinions/arguments/comments/questions
properly and disagreeing with others in a constructive manner is also an important
training you can undertake while you are in college.
COURSE SCHEDULE
September 2: Course Introduction (No Reading)
1. Historical Roots: The Prewar State and The Occupation
September 4: Discussion of the election results
 Read newspapers and bring information about the election results
September 7: No Class – Labor Day!
September 9: Prelude to Meiji – Decay and Decline of Tokugawa Bakufu
 Eiko Ikegami, The Taming of the Samurai, Ch11: “The Vendetta of the Forty-Seven
Samurai”
 Robert Hellyer, “Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Sakoku Theme in
Japanese Foreign Relations: 1600-2000”
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September 11: Meiji Restoration 1
 Richard J. Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, “Introduction,” and pp.49-62
September 14: Meiji Restoration 2
 Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, p.32-37
September 16: The rise and fall of Japan’s prewar proto democracy 1
 Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, pp.102-105, 114-119
September 18: The rise and fall of Japan’s prewar proto democracy 2
 Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, pp.78-85, 126-133, 140-150
September 21 : The Occupation and Postwar Reforms 1
 John Dower, Embracing Defeat, Ch7: “Embracing Revolution”
September 23: The Occupation and Postwar Reforms 2
 Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, pp.200-211
September 25: Catch-up and Discussion
2. The 1955 System
September 28: What is the 1955 System?
 Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, pp225-249
 Masumi Junnosuke, “The 1955 System: Origin and Transformation” in Kataoka
Tetsuya ed. Creating Single-Party Democracy: Japan’s Postwar Political System
September 30: The 1960s crisis and consolidation of the conservative rule
 T. J. Pempel, Regime Shift, pp.103-110
October 2: Parliamentary System and Electoral System (No Reading)
October 5: LDP and Electoral System
 Gerald Curtis, The Japanese Way of Politics, Ch3: “The Liberal Democratic Party: The
Organization of Political Power”
 Masaru Kohno, Japan’s Postwar Party Politics, Ch6: “The Evolution of the LDP’s
Intraparty Politics”
October 7: Opposition parties in the 1955 system
 Masaru Kohno, “Why Didn’t the Japanese Socialists Moderate Their Policies Much
Earlier to Become a Viable Alternative to the Liberal Democratic Party?” in Political
Science as Puzzle Solving
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October 9: Bureaucrats vs. Politicians
 Chalmers Johnson, “Japan: Who Governs? An Essay on Official Bureaucracy”
 J. Mark Ramseyer and Frances McCall Rosenbluth, Japan’s Political Marketplace, Ch7:
“Bureaucratic Manipulation”
October 12: Legitimating the Political System I: Labor
 Sheldon Garon, Molding Japanese Minds, Ch5: “Re-creating the Channels of Moral
Suasion”
October 14: Legitimating the Political System II: Class and Nation
 William W. Kelly, “Finding a Place in Metropolitan Japan” in Postwar Japan as History
October 16: Legitimating the Political System III: Nation, National Purpose and Nationalism
 David Leheny, The Rules of Play, pp.73-91; 175-182
 Ian Buruma, The Wages of Guilt, pp.189-201; 219-232
October 19: Gender in the 1955 System
 Robin LeBlanc, Bicycle Citizens, Ch5: “Toward a ‘Housewifely’ Movement”
October 21: Catch up and Discussion
October 23: Midterm Exam
3. Political Realignment and Economic Stagnation in the 1990s
Social Changes, Reform, New Politics?
October 26: Cracks in the System 1
 Richard Katz, Japan: The System That Soured, Ch7: “The System Sours”
October 28: Cracks in the System 2
 T.J. Pempel, Regime Shift, Ch5: “Japan in the 1990s: Fragmented Politics and
Economic Turmoil”
October 30: The Split and the Fall of the LDP
 Gerald Curtis, The Logic of Japanese Politics, Ch2: “The End of One-Party Dominance”
November 2: New Electoral System and the LDP
 Ellis Krauss and Robert Pekkanen, “Explaining Party Adaptation to Electoral
Reform: The Discreet Charm of the LDP?”
November 4: Opposition Parties [First Discussion Paper Due in Class]
 Ethan Scheiner, Democracy without Competition in Postwar Japan, Ch5: “Local
Opposition Failure”
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November 6 and 9: Film Campaign
November 11: Vague Anxiety in the 1990s
 David Leheny, Think Global, Fear Local, Ch2: “A ‘Vague Anxiety’ in 1990s Japan”
 Tomiko Yoda, “A Roadmap to Millennial Japan,” in Japan after Japan
November 13: Social Changes 1 – Changing Lifestyles
 William Kelly and Merry White, “Students, Slackers, Singles, Seniors, and Strangers:
Transforming a Family-Nation,” in Beyond Japan
November 16: Social Changes 2 – Civil Society
 Robert Pekkanen, “Japan’s New Politics: The Case of the NPO Law”
 Simon Andrew Avenell, “Civil Society and the New Civic Movements in
Contemporary Japan: Convergence, Collaboration, and Transformation”
November 18: Social Changes 3 – Rising Nationalism
 Matthew Penney and Bryce Wakefield, “Right Angles: Examining Accounts of
Japanese Neo-Nationalism”
November 20: The New Conservatism in Politics
 Samuels, Machiavelli’s Children, pp.326-343
November 23: Rethinking Security and Article 9
 David Leheny, Think Global, Fear Local, Ch6: “Self-Fulfilling Afterthought”
November 25: Discussion of current events – attendance optional, but counted as the bonus
participation grade
November 27 – No Class – Thanks Giving!
November 30: Economic Reform
 Leonard J. Schoppa, “Japan: The Reluctant Reformer”
December 2: The Koizumi “revolution” 1 – mass media and politics
 Ellis S. Krauss and Benjamin Nyblade, “ ‘Presidentialization’ in Japan? The Prime
Minister, Media, and Elections in Japan”
 Ikuo Kabashima and Gill Steel, “How Junichiro Koizumi Seized the Leadership of the
Liberal Democratic Party”
December 4: The Koizumi “revolution” 2 – centralization of the LDP
 Margarita Estevez-Abe, “Japan’s Shift Toward a Westminster System: A Structural
Analysis of the 2005 Lower House Election and its Aftermath”
 Patrick Kollner, “The Liberal Democratic Party at 50”
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December 7: The Koizumi “revolution” 3 – postal savings reform
 Jennifer Amyx, Harukata Takenaka, A. Maria Toyoda, “The Politics of Postal Savings
Reform in Japan”
December 9: Post-Koizumi Japanese politics
 Reading TBA
December 11:Catch-up and Discussion
December 14: Concluding Lecture and Review for the Final Exam
December 17: Second Discussion Paper due by NOON in my mailbox (Room 101
North Hall)
December 22: Final Exam from 10:05 A.M.
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