06f-05
HISTORY, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, AND INTERCHANGE
– ASIA AND JAPAN –

Tsuyoshi KATAYAMA, et al. (School of Letters)

Objective
  Asia (including Japan) is a pluralistic world which consists of multiple ethnic groups and cultures. Each ethnic group has their own history and has developed characteristic manners and customs in the course of history. At the same time, each of them does not exist selfcompletedly; they have accumulated close interchanges on the political, economical and cultural matters not only with others in Asia, but, occasionally, with the outer world of Asia. The history as well as the manners and customs of each ethnic group have been formed on that sort of various interchanges. This course provides an introduction to the history of Japan, China and Central Asia, the manners and customs which have been developed in the societies of ethnic groups in each region, and the various phases of diverse interchanges.

Course Outline
  Topics introduced in this course (These may be revised at the beginning of the semester.)

1. Introduction to Japanese pre- and protohistory based on archaeological evidence, covering from palaeolithic age to Kofun period(early state) (FUKUNAGA Shinya).

2. Historical background of the Japanese Emperor, Lord, and Samurai, and the comparison of them with the same kind of Europe (UMEMURA Takashi).

3. Influence of the conception of Kegare (sense of ritual impurity or defilement) on the Japanese life-style and the Japanese culture, such as eating meat and the sense of discrimination (TAIRA Masayuki).

4. Introduction to the history of the Central Asia, and the various phases of political, economical and cultural interchanges between the Central Asia and its surrounding world (ARAKAWA Masaharu).

5. Belief in the Afterlife and Ritual Practices for the Deceased in the Han Chinese Society: Past and Present (KATAYAMA Tsuyoshi).

Textbook
  No particular textbook is used. Various reading materials and references will be distributed in each class.

Grading
  Evaluation will be based on class attendance (50%) and a term paper or an examination in each class (50%).