Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Understand and analyse key processes, transformations, and themes in contemporary Japanese politics.
2. Analyse and evaluate key scholarly debates on Japanese politics.
3. Apply analytical reading skills through careful reading of relevant literature in the field of Japanese politics.
4. Develop analytical writing skills in the field of Japanese politics through completion of written assessment tasks.
5. Demonstrate and develop presentation and discussion skills in the field of Japanese politics through active participation in class debates and discussions.

Indicative Assessment

1. Seminar Attendance and Participation: 10% (LO 1, 2, 5) (10) [LO null]
2. Presentation: 10% (LO 1, 2, 5) (10) [LO null]
3. Mid-term Essay: 20% (LO 1, 2, 3, 4) (20) [LO null]
4. Research Essay: 30% (LO 3, 4) (30) [LO null]
5. Final Exam: 30% (LO 1, 2, 4) (30) [LO null]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

The course consists of a 1.5 hour lecture and 1.5 hour seminar per week. It demands seven hours per week of independent preparation, including assigned readings, review of lectures, and written assessment tasks. The total workload for the course is 130 hours including in class time and independent study.

Inherent Requirements

Not applicable

Requisite and Incompatibility

Prescribed Texts

An electronic reading brick will be provided on Wattle.

Preliminary Reading

Yoichi Funabashi and Barack Kushner, eds. Examining Japan’s Lost Decades (London, New York.
Routledge, 2015).
Louis D. Hayes. Political Systems of East Asia: China, Korea, and Japan (New York and London: M. E.
Sharpe, 2012)
Ronald J. Hrebenar and Akira Nakamura, eds. Party Politics in Japan: Political Chaos and Stalemate in the
Twenty-First Century (New York and London: Routledge, 2015)
Chalmers Johnson. MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975 (Stanford,
CA: Stanford University Press, 1982).
Jeff Kingston, ed. Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan (New York and London: Routledge, 2014)
T. J. Pempel. Regime Shift: Comparative Dynamics of the Japanese Political Economy, Cornell Studies in
Political Economy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998).
T. J. Pempel. "Between Pork and Productivity: The Collapse of the Liberal Democratic Party." Journal of
Japanese Studies (2010) no. 36 (2):227-254.
Frances M. Rosenbluth and Michael F. Thies. Japan Transformed: Political Change and Economic
Restructuring (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010).
Jacob Schlesinger. Shadow Shoguns (Stanford University Press, 1999).
Leonard J. Schoppa, ed. The Evolution of Japan’s Party System: Politics and Policy in an Era of Institutional
Change (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011).
J. A. A. Stockwin, Governing Japan: Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell
Pub., 2008)

Assumed Knowledge

No prior knowledge of Japanese politics is required

Majors

Minors

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links