Commodore Perry and his "Black Ships" opened Japanese harbors for foreign shipping in 1853 and 1854. Music was important for this Japan Expedition that obtained a treaty between the United States and Japan. Bands and singers performed music for parades, impressive ceremonies, religious services, and entertainment for the sailors and…

The Japanese people's understanding of the Fifteen Years War (1931-1945) is still problematic. The problem of the war was commonly solved by transferring responsibility for the war to an obscure subject called the State, and by offering financial compensation to those who were directly affected. However, there has been no in-depth discussion of…

In the last two decades, the issue of comfort women--the women and girls who were forced into sex slavery for the Japanese army before and during WWII--has risen to global attention. Tens of thousands of comfort women (the average estimate is anywhere between 80,000 and 200,000) were confined at comfort stations managed by the Japanese Imperial…

The legacy of crimes committed during the Second World War in East Asia is still a stumbling block for reconciliation and trustful cultural relations between South Korea, China and Japan. The presentation of this issue in history school books is in the focus of a heated public and academic debate. This book written by historians and pedagogues…

A recent controversy in the USA centres on classroom use of Yoko Kawashima Watkins's semi-autobiographical "So Far from the Bamboo Grove" (1986), a novel focused on the flight of Japanese settler families to Japan after the liberation of Korea at the end of World War II. Taught in a literary and historical vacuum under the thematic…

This paper discusses the Japanese history textbook controversy over "comfort women" to tease out insights that help globalize the existing theoretical discussion of politics of school knowledge. I begin by documenting how the domestic struggles over Japanese history textbooks are empowered and dis empowered by the regional and…

The book is entitled History Wars in the Classroom: Global Perspectives and examines how ten separate countries have experienced debates and disputes over the contested nature of the subject, for example the "Black Armband" and "Whitewash" factions in Australia who adopt opposingly celebratory or denigratory views of Australian…

The Second World War stands as the most devastating and destructive global conflict in human history. More than 60 nations representing 1.7 billion people or three quarters of the world's population were consumed by its horror. Not surprisingly, therefore, World War II stands as a landmark episode in history education throughout the world and its…

This eight-lesson unit introduces students to developments in Tokugawa, Japan, from 1630-1867. Students explore art, literature, and other primary sources to compile a picture of the stable, hierarchical society that the Tokugawa rulers sought to establish and maintain; students then draw on these sources to analyze social, economic, and cultural…

Urges the frank examination of painful episodes in Western and other open societies' recent history to achieve glasnost and historical honesty. Cites the Klaus Barbie trial and the accompanying embarrassment for both France and the United States. Points out distortion in Japanese textbooks on the pre- and World War II years and in U.S. textbooks…

Contends that regional studies, such as Asian studies, can engage students more actively than a traditional global approach to world history. Delineates the author's objectives in teaching a course in Asian studies. Outlines the subjects covered in the course's units on China, Japan, and Korea. (DSK)

This study assessed the extent to which information about Japan is taught in secondary world history classrooms in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The sample used for this study was 475 world history teachers, randomly selected, in K-12 school districts scattered across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. A 21-item questionnaire was mailed to each of…

This unit covers the tumultuous period of 1894-1945 in modern Japanese history. The curriculum unit includes an assortment of Japanese arguments for and against government policies of expansion and war. The unit introduces a wide variety of Japanese materials, ranging from paintings to fiction to personal memoirs, that can enhance students'…

This annotated bibliography on Japan serves as a useful compendium and guide to the holdings of the Michigan Global/International Education Resource Center, housed at the International Institute of Flint. The holdings will be disseminated throughout Michigan at workshops, seminars, and institutes. The bibliography includes background and…

This curriculum guide is the outgrowth of a program developed by The American Forum for Global Education to help New York City teachers improve the teaching of Japan in their classrooms. The resource guide provides an interdisciplinary perspective on Japanese culture for secondary teachers and students. In addition to suggested classroom…