JAPN495: Special topics- okinawa memories
Course Description:
Studies a particular topic relative to the Japanese language or cultures. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
From Syllabus:
This seminar course will focus on the long history of Okinawa, from the premodern to the present day. Okinawa has long played multiple roles in the Japanese imagination. It has been thought of as both a backwater and a “palm tree hell,” or romanticized as a pristine and isolated region where the essence of Japaneseness has been preserved. At the same time, Japan has been both a source of loathing and opportunity for many Okinawans. How did this complicated relationship develop and what does it mean for Okinawans and Japanese today? What role did the place of Okinawa play in the Japanese empire and identity formation?
In addition to readings by historians, sociologists, environmentalists, feminists, and anthropologists, we will read contemporary Okinawan short stories and watch films.
In addition to learning about Okinawa generally, We will also be archiving a collection of materials from the late Chalmers Johnson.
Studies a particular topic relative to the Japanese language or cultures. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
From Syllabus:
This seminar course will focus on the long history of Okinawa, from the premodern to the present day. Okinawa has long played multiple roles in the Japanese imagination. It has been thought of as both a backwater and a “palm tree hell,” or romanticized as a pristine and isolated region where the essence of Japaneseness has been preserved. At the same time, Japan has been both a source of loathing and opportunity for many Okinawans. How did this complicated relationship develop and what does it mean for Okinawans and Japanese today? What role did the place of Okinawa play in the Japanese empire and identity formation?
In addition to readings by historians, sociologists, environmentalists, feminists, and anthropologists, we will read contemporary Okinawan short stories and watch films.
In addition to learning about Okinawa generally, We will also be archiving a collection of materials from the late Chalmers Johnson.
reflective narrative
In 2018, I took a school trip to Okinawa and learned much about the rich culture, unique language, and harrowing stories of wartime experiences. The trip I went on was a mission for peace, and I attribute my ongoing curiosity in Okinawa to that very trip.
Taking this course not only brought up familiar topics that I could chime in on during our weekly seminar-style meetings, but it also taught me lots of new information I probably wouldn't receive in other courses. Through watching documentaries, reading short stories, and reading full length novels, I developed an improved vision of what Okinawa means to people around the world. I found myself wanting to travel back in time to when I was in Okinawa so that I could tell myself to take everything in and to properly understand what the lives of the people around me could be like.
With the amount of readings assigned each week, this course was certainly a challenge to keep up with. Without knowledge of the assigned readings, it was difficult to participate in the seminar discussions about the reading. However, I found myself often enamored with the readings assigned and took plenty of notes, enough to lead multiple discussions and present questions as well as answers during each class.
I was especially fond of the full length novel we were assigned towards the end of the semester, "Speak, Okinawa" by Elizabeth Miki Brina. The memoir is based off of the author's own experiences having an Okinawan mother and an American father. She isn't afraid to write the harsh things she has said and thought, and she wasn't afraid to give her readers the dirty truth of her life. The vulnerability she possesses made for an unforgettable reading experience. Through reading "Speak, Okinawa," I learned so much about World War II from an Okinawan perspective over the American one I had been taught all my life, and learned a lot about simply being a human and improving my own outlook on life. Overall, all of the materials in this course had the same effects on me, and I think over the past semester I've used lessons I've learned in Okinawa Memories in real life situations.
As this is a project based course, our main sources of grading came from our discussion posts, seminar participation, and contribution to the Chalmers Johnson archive. The Johnson archive was a hands-on project which was periodically worked on during the semester, but mostly handled towards the last few weeks. Each student or group of students was assigned a box of raw materials surrounding Okinawa which were originally sourced from the late Chalmers Johnson. I personally handled the entirety of Box one with the exclusion of about 5 files out of 15 which were completed by other students. Box one was composed of materials from 1995 to 1997 which were mainly about the topics of the US-Japan Security Treaty, Okinawan citizen and politician reactions to the reversion from US to Japanese governmental rule, and protests surrounding misconduct and issues stemming from the American military bases. I was so glad to have a project that was unique and really made you think about what material you are taking in. I also benefit in harnessing my scanning/skimming skills that I previously learned in JAPN304 as well as learning some more difficult Japanese vocabulary that was within the original Okinawan/Japanese newspapers and other sources.
I hope with the background information on Okinawa I've gained from this course, I can return to Okinawa in the near future and soak every last bit of it in. I want to continue to spread the mission of peace that was taught in my 2018 trip as well as this course, and utilize it in my own journey towards becoming a Japanese language teacher.
Taking this course not only brought up familiar topics that I could chime in on during our weekly seminar-style meetings, but it also taught me lots of new information I probably wouldn't receive in other courses. Through watching documentaries, reading short stories, and reading full length novels, I developed an improved vision of what Okinawa means to people around the world. I found myself wanting to travel back in time to when I was in Okinawa so that I could tell myself to take everything in and to properly understand what the lives of the people around me could be like.
With the amount of readings assigned each week, this course was certainly a challenge to keep up with. Without knowledge of the assigned readings, it was difficult to participate in the seminar discussions about the reading. However, I found myself often enamored with the readings assigned and took plenty of notes, enough to lead multiple discussions and present questions as well as answers during each class.
I was especially fond of the full length novel we were assigned towards the end of the semester, "Speak, Okinawa" by Elizabeth Miki Brina. The memoir is based off of the author's own experiences having an Okinawan mother and an American father. She isn't afraid to write the harsh things she has said and thought, and she wasn't afraid to give her readers the dirty truth of her life. The vulnerability she possesses made for an unforgettable reading experience. Through reading "Speak, Okinawa," I learned so much about World War II from an Okinawan perspective over the American one I had been taught all my life, and learned a lot about simply being a human and improving my own outlook on life. Overall, all of the materials in this course had the same effects on me, and I think over the past semester I've used lessons I've learned in Okinawa Memories in real life situations.
As this is a project based course, our main sources of grading came from our discussion posts, seminar participation, and contribution to the Chalmers Johnson archive. The Johnson archive was a hands-on project which was periodically worked on during the semester, but mostly handled towards the last few weeks. Each student or group of students was assigned a box of raw materials surrounding Okinawa which were originally sourced from the late Chalmers Johnson. I personally handled the entirety of Box one with the exclusion of about 5 files out of 15 which were completed by other students. Box one was composed of materials from 1995 to 1997 which were mainly about the topics of the US-Japan Security Treaty, Okinawan citizen and politician reactions to the reversion from US to Japanese governmental rule, and protests surrounding misconduct and issues stemming from the American military bases. I was so glad to have a project that was unique and really made you think about what material you are taking in. I also benefit in harnessing my scanning/skimming skills that I previously learned in JAPN304 as well as learning some more difficult Japanese vocabulary that was within the original Okinawan/Japanese newspapers and other sources.
I hope with the background information on Okinawa I've gained from this course, I can return to Okinawa in the near future and soak every last bit of it in. I want to continue to spread the mission of peace that was taught in my 2018 trip as well as this course, and utilize it in my own journey towards becoming a Japanese language teacher.