Course Description

This course offers students a survey of comparatist approaches in the discourses on Japanese culture (Nihon bunka ron) from the Meiji period to the present day. It introduces students to a wide range of primary sources as well as key debates. The fist part of the course focuses on the comparatist approach applied by Nitobe Inazo (1862-1933) in the author's famous Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1900). This lecture is designed to help students to engage in an informed discussion about Japanese culture from a comparatist perspective in their future professions.