Understanding Japan: A Cultural History

Discover Japan’s extraordinary civilization through 24 visually rich lectures featuring Smithsonian artifacts, from ancient myths to modern economic miracles.

Course Overview (No. 8332)

Produced in partnership with the Smithsonian, this course explores Japan’s unique cultural evolution through art, literature, religion, and politics – featuring rare artifacts from the Smithsonian’s collections that bring each historical period to life.

Video Lectures

1. Japan: A Globally Engaged Island Nation (34 min)
   Debunking Western misconceptions about Japan’s cycles of isolation and globalization.
2. Understanding Japan through Ancient Myths (30 min)
   Analyzing Shintō origin stories from the Kojiki text.
3. The Emergence of the Ritsuryo State (30 min)
   How Chinese and Korean influences shaped Japan’s first centralized government.
4. Aspects of the Japanese Language (33 min)
   Decoding kanji characters and the social context of Japanese speech.
5. Early Japanese Buddhism (31 min)
   From imperial adoption to Shingon and Pure Land traditions.
6. Heian Court Culture (28 min)
   Aristocratic life revealed through The Tale of Genji scandals.
7. The Rise of the Samurai (29 min)
   Warrior class origins and The Tale of the Heike epic.
8. Pure Land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism (30 min)
   How warrior culture transformed spiritual practices.
9. Samurai Culture in the Ashikaga Period (29 min)
   The evolution of loyalty codes under the Ashikaga shogunate.
10. Japan at Home and Abroad, 1300-1600 (30 min)
    Globalization’s second wave: Ming competition and Western contact.
11. Japan’s Isolation in the Tokugawa Period (31 min)
    The 250-year sakoku policy and its cultural consequences.
12. Japanese Theater: Noh and Kabuki (28 min)
    Contrasting Atsumori‘s elegance with Scarlet Princess decadence.
13. The Importance of Japanese Gardens (30 min)
    Zen rock gardens and strolling landscapes as spiritual expressions.
14. The Meaning of Bushido in a Time of Peace (29 min)
    Samurai nostalgia through memoirs and the 47 rōnin legend.
15. Japanese Poetry: The Road to Haiku (32 min)
    From ancient tanka to Bashō’s revolutionary 17-syllable form.
16. Hokusai and the Art of Wood-Block Prints (30 min)
    The Great Wave and the floating world of ukiyo-e.
17. The Meiji Restoration (30 min)
    How Japan modernized without revolution: 1868 transformations.
18. Three Visions of Prewar Japan (32 min)
    Competing democratic and militarist ideologies before WWII.
19. War without a Master Plan: 1931-1945 (29 min)
    Chaotic militarism from Manchuria to Pearl Harbor.
20. Japanese Family Life (29 min)
    Aristocratic uji, samurai ie, and postwar family models.
21. Japanese Foodways (28 min)
    Beyond sushi: soba, tempura, and yakitori’s global roots.
22. Japan’s Economic Miracle (31 min)
    435% growth (1955-1975): six factors behind the boom.
23. Kurosawa and Ozu: Two Giants of Film (29 min)
    Tokyo Story meets Yojimbo – East/West cinematic fusion.
24. The Making of Contemporary Japan (36 min)
    1989’s pivotal moments: from Hirohito’s death to bubble burst.