The Rise of Modern Japan

Course Overview

Course No. 8146

Trace Japan’s extraordinary journey from postwar devastation to economic superpower with Professor Mark J. Ravina.

This 12-lecture course examines:

• The US Occupation’s controversial reforms
• Japan’s “Economic Miracle” and global dominance
• Cultural shifts reflected in cinema and society
• The 1990s bubble economy collapse
• Challenges after the 2011 Fukushima disaster

Video Lectures

01: Japan’s Global War Vision Unravels (30 min)

Analyze Japan’s WWII motivations and the Soviet attack that sealed its defeat.

02: How the US Occupation Remade Japan (34 min)

Explore MacArthur’s decision to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and other pivotal reforms.

03: The Japanese Economic Miracle (33 min)

Discover how land reform and the Korean War kickstarted Japan’s postwar boom.

04: Japan’s Civil Society Protests of 1960 (32 min)

Witness the crisis over US security treaties that reshaped Japanese politics.

05: Japan Inc. and Its Upstart Challengers (30 min)

Study MITI’s economic planning and Sony’s defiance of government direction.

06: Japan Faces the Nixon Shocks (28 min)

Understand how dollar devaluation and China’s opening rocked Japan’s economy.

07: The Rise of Japanese Cinema (29 min)

Track national moods through films from postwar dramas to bubble-era satires.

08: How Japan’s Carmakers Outmaneuvered Detroit (32 min)

Analyze Toyota’s quality revolution and Japan’s software industry struggles.

09: From the Heights of Japan’s Bubble Economy (26 min)

Chart the 1990s crash that erased 75% of asset values and triggered stagnation.

10: Jobless and Divorced in Japan (24 min)

See economic collapse’s human toll through films like Tokyo Sonata.

11: Japan Confronts the Collapse of a Bubble (30 min)

Explain the LDP’s political dominance despite economic catastrophe.

12: Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (27 min)

Assess how the 2011 triple disaster reshaped energy policy and national identity.