Understanding Japan: A Cultural History

This was a great basic overview of Japanese history. If you are already well versed, this may be too basic for you, but if you only have a limited background on Japan, this course will serve you well.

This work covers a lot of ground; but it trades depth for breadth. Suitable for someone seeking a general introduction to Japanese history and culture, but it stops short of offering deeper analysis/insights on “why”. Good (audio)book if you can live with this limitation. It would be perfect for a tourist in his/her 11-15 hr. flight to Japan.

This was a very interesting and comprehensive cultural history of Japan. Great context prior to my first trip there.

Such a helpful introduction to Japan! Professor Ravina covers, history, theater, food, poetry, economics, family life and more, in 24 half-hour engaging lectures. I embarked on this course to prepare for a trip to Japan, but I would have enjoyed it even without an upcoming trip. I highly recommend it.

The course offers exactly what the blurb suggests - a lot of information about a culture and society that would appear quite exotic to any foreigner. The pace is reasonably quick and the subjects covered are vast - from the Japanese art/literature/architecture to the religious practices, dress, mannerisms, values (including Bushido), food and of course history.To a degree, the course tries to stay as criticism-free as what the general Japanese mores would permit: it refuses to detail the atrocities perpetrated in China/Korea, or the rights and wrongs of the bombs that were perhaps unnecessary or even the roots of the ongoing economic problem. The course also stays away from the plurality that pervades Japan as well: various dissenters and dissenting views of what is normally seen as the "Japanese" way or the way the society is changing now.These are relatively small criticisms given the high information content delivered in an engaging style

This is a series of twenty-four 30-minutes lectures discussing the history and culture of Japan. If I could, I would rate it 4.8 stars. Of course that is not allowed so, I rated it 5 stars. Why the slightly less than 5 star rating? In lecture 18, the lecturer, Professor Mark J. Ravina, discusses Japan’s involvement in WWI. I knew that Japan was one of the combatants but I could not from his lecture ascertain on which side. I had to review my history. They were with England, et. al. Other than this one shortcoming, this is an excellent series. There is perhaps a little more focus on the culture than on the history of Japan. Professor Ravina discuses the Japanese language, its religion (primarily various forms of Buddhism), theater, language, poetry, bushido (the code of honor and morals developed by the Samurai), gardens, family life, foodways, cinema. Of these topics, what I found of the greatest interest was foodways, language, gardens, and cinema.Foodways - I had no idea that the major cities of Japan have far more restaurants per capita than probably any other city in the world. The reason is that Japanese homes are too small to allow for entertaining, hence they almost always entertain in restaurants. The restaurants are small and specialize in the type of food they offer.Language – I was amazed at the complexity of Japanese language and wondered if this was not a factor in the Japanese exceling in math and science.Gardens – Extraordinarily beautiful. Professor Ravina compares these gardens to those of England and France. He states that the orderliness of the latter two reflects a control of nature; whereas the Japanese gardens reflects a union with nature. To me, all are beautiful, but the Japanese gardens have greater appeal.Cinema – Professor Ravina discusses two directors how are considered the giants of Japanese cinema – Ozu and Kurosawa. Ozu’s films are filled with sweet sadness and acceptance; Kurosawa is known for his action films. Both principally borrowed from American writers, but in turn, European and American directors borrowed from them, in particular Kurosawa. His films became the basis for the Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns.In Professor Ravina’s discussion of the history of Japan, he emphasized that it has oscillated between isolation and globalization. His lectures clarified for me how Japan came under the rule of a military leader, Shogun, and also what was meant by the Meji Restoration. This was the abolishment of the Shogunate in approximately 1860 and the restoration of the Emperor as the supreme ruler of Japan.I have always been extremely impressed by Japan’s transformation from a feudal society in 1860 to a modern super power by 1910. No other country has ever made such a rapid transformation. It took the West several centuries. I was equally impressed by Japan’s transformation from the broken military power of 1945 to the industrial superpower of the 1980s. Professor Ravina gives several reasons for this transformation. Number one was the support of the United States. The US wanted to have a successful democratic government in the region to counterbalance the effect of Communist China, but another probably equal reason was that Japan had a highly motivated workforce. To quote Professor Ravina “workers were also highly motivated because Japanese management made sure that the gains realized during times of economic growth were reflected in worker paychecks. Further, in many large companies, workers could count on lifetime employment. A sense of allegiance to a company was also supported by the corporate pay scale. In Japan, the management-to-worker salary ratio was astonishingly small—in the teens, compared to a modern U.S. ratio of 350 to 1 (annual pay rate of an average U.S. CEO to an average worker). For all these reasons, workers felt a connection to their employers. ….A related factor in Japanese economic growth was the ability of Japanese businesses to motivate their workers to embrace quality targets. Workers were treated with respect and dignity and paid well; those who pointed out inefficiencies or defects were praised, and their insights on improvements were sought. As a result, everyone in the company felt responsible for, and proud of, the product.” America are you listening!In 1989, the asset bubble burst, the stock market crashed, and the Emperor died. Japan ceased to be the industrial superpower that it briefly was. Despite this gloomy financial picture, life in Japan has improved in several other areas. It has the longest life expectancy in the world, the lowest crime rate of any nation, and its people are the most frugal in the world so much so that several environmentalists have looked to Japan as the model for sustainability. Myself, I find it to be a remarkable culture.

This series was wonderful. The professor is engaging, he sets forth a theory of Japanese history that is easy to follow (and rings true), and he clearly cares deeply about the subject (important when you are studying a foreign country). It is so hard to find good historical documentaries about non-American/European countries. This satisfies that desire with respect to Japan.

The Great Courses can be fairly 'hit or miss' with regard to structure, presentation, and how comfortable the speaker is on camera. I found this course to be a breeze though. Dr. Ravina is great and he structures the course around Japan's ebb and flow of globalization/nationalism which has experienced more cycles that we tend to acknowledge. All in all, I would definitely recommend this course to anyone with an interest in world history.