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SOSCI Seminar Introduction to Japanese Political Economy

Vak
2024-2025

Admission requirements

None.

Description

This seminar introduces students to the domestic and international political economy of Japan in the postwar (1945-) era. A major emphasis in the first part of the course will be placed on understanding the debates about what underpinned Japan's rapid (some say "miraculous") economic growth of the 1960s and 1970s and the subsequent bursting of the "bubble" that led to the relative stagnation of the 1990s and early 2000s. In the first part of the course, we will explore various explanations, and disagreements, about the institutional, cultural, and (geo)political underpinnings of Japan's economic successes and failures. In the second part of the course, we will focus on specific elements of Japan's political economy, including the role of political parties, the bureaucracy, private business and demographic change. In the final section of the course, we will explore contemporary developments in Japan's domestic and international political economy, including the eclectic "Abenomics" agenda since 2012 as well as Japan's revitalized efforts at regional economic leadership in Asia.

Students of the BA Japanstudies, in addition to this seminar, are required to take a writing tutorial to support them in the process of writing papers (unless this tutorial has been previously completed or is already being taken at another seminar).

Course objectives

This course provides an introduction to key developments and challenges in the domestic and international political economy of modern Japan.

By the end of the course students will obtain a better understanding of the following interrelated aspects of the Japanese political economy:

  • The historical development and cultural roots of the Japanese state

  • The strengths, challenges and relative uniqueness of Japan's model of political economy

  • The institutions and key contemporary issues regarding the Japanese state, society, and economy

  • The international causes and consequences of Japan's domestic political economy

Timetable

See timetable

Mode of instruction

Seminar

Assessment method

Assessment

  1. Attendance and active seminar engagement (25%)
  2. Midterm exam or research paper proposal (25%)
  3. Final exam or research paper (50%)

Weighing

The final grade is established by determining the weighted average of all elements. In order to pass the course all components must receive a passing grade.

Resit

There are no ‘resits’ for the participation element. Two deadlines will be provided for the submission of the paper.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

In addition to readings announced on Brightspace, the course will rely on the following core texts (available through the university library):

  • Flath, David (2022). The Japanese Economy (Oxford University Press, 4th ed.)

  • Hoshi, Takeo and Philipp Lipscy (eds.) (2021). The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms (Cambridge University Press).

  • Solis, Mireya (2022). Japan's Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific (Brookings Institution Press).

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr

Remarks

None.