Details
Tokyo emerged out of the ruins of war to become a large city of 10 million people in only a quarter of a century. During this process of change, the capital of a military empire that once invaded East Asia experienced occupation by the U.S. armed forces, hosted the Olympic Games, and transformed into a consumer hub where young people could enjoy economic “wealth.” It is important to know that this process was recorded in countless photographs, documentary films, TV programs, and so on. We will retrieve many of these archived pictures and videos and analyze what happened in postwar Tokyo from different perspectives. In Part 1, you will look at the changes that occurred in postwar Tokyo over a quarter of a century from four different perspectives: 1) occupation and Americanism; 2) imperial gaze and royal wedding; 3) The Olympic city; and 4) economic-cultural clash in Shinjuku. This examination of urban history will provide you with the insights necessary when considering changes in other large cities in Asia, such as Seoul, Beijing, and Bangkok, at the end of the twentieth century.
This course is in the series, Visualizing Japan, and it will be offered immediately after the first course in the series, Visualizing Japan (1850s - 1930s): Westernization, Protest, Modernity, by MITx and HarvardX.
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Note: This is an Archived course
This is a past/archived course. At this time, you can only explore this course in a self-paced fashion. Certain features of this course may not be active, but many people enjoy watching the videos and working with the materials. Make sure to check for reruns of this course
Outline
Speaker/s
Shunya Yoshimi is a Professor of Sociology, Cultural Studies, and Media Studies. He is the author of many books on cultural theory, urban culture, international exposition, media culture, information technology, the emperor system, and Americanization in modern Japan and East Asia. He has been a leading scholar in the field of Media and Cultural Studies in contemporary Japan. He has been a visiting fellow of El Colegio de Mexico (1993), Ecole des Hautes Etudes Sciences Sociales (1998), University of Western Sydney (1999), and Queensland University (2000). He is a member of the executive committee of Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (Routledge), editorial board of Cultural Studies (Routledge), associate editors of Theory, Culture & Society (Sage), and the editorial advisory board of Japanese Studies (Carfax Publishing).
