Course description

This course aims to introduce students to the history of Japan's interaction with the rest of the world, with a focus on Japan's path to modernization and its relationship with Australia. The course begins by examining Western views of Japanese history and questions some common stereotypes. Japan's history is marked by extensive borrowing from other nations and this was particularly the case during the nineteenth century. There was contact with Australia during this time and growing fears regarding the Japanese empire's southward advance. The Pacific War and the experience of POWs had a major impact on Australian attitudes to the Japanese people. The postwar period was marked by a growing mutual interdependence between the two nations and growing economic, political and cultural ties.

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