JAPAN IN THE KAMAKURA AGE.

Dr. Andrew Goble Department of History.

361 McKenzie University of Oregon .

346-4800 HIST 407/507, Spring 2008.

Office Hours: Tu 0900-1000; W 1400-1500. Tu 1500-1750, PLC 627.

platypus@uoregon.edu . CRN 35569/35570.

General

From the late 12 th century through the early 14 th century Japan 's warrior class rose to political prominence for the first time. Though a new warrior regime sought to work with rather than abolish older institutions, that regime – the Kamakura bakufu – served as a catalyst for social, economic and intellectual changes that in the 14 th century led to a violent reworking of Japanese society.

In this class we shall examine the impact of the warrior emergence in a number of areas, in order to gain a sense of major social changes and the tensions that they engender – disparate, uncoordinated, but cumulatively transforming – coursed through this era, contributing ultimately to a major reshaping of society. We will observe a society that approached conflict resolution through arbitration and compromise transformed, under the weight of economic and social tensions, into one in which violent coercion was embraced at all levels of society.

Requirements

Active participation in class discussion; serving as a "discussion leader" at least twice (this is normally done in conjunction with one to three others, rather than being a solo effort). Discussion leaders collectively cover the readings for the week; the rest of the class covers a portion of them (to be designated later).

A term paper of around 4500-5500 words. Graduate Students will additionally submit a 3-4 page book review. The term paper is due no later than June 02 .

Texts and readings.

A. Goble, Kenmu: Go-Daigo's Revolution .

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down .

Books (or books in which articles appear) noted on the Reading Schedule (see below) are on course reserve in the Knight Library. Journal articles will be found either on-line in the journals, or on e-reserve.

In addition to Souyri, you can also get some useful background from the relevant chapters of J.W. Hall , Japan From Prehistory to Modern Times ; H.P.Varley, Japanese Culture ; G. Sansom, A History of Japan , 1334-1615 . More specialized treatment may be found in, for example, the articles in The Cambridge History of Japan , volume 3. The article “Medieval Japan” by A. Goble in W. Tsutsui ed . A Companion to Japanese History is also a useful guide. It is also useful to browse through the journal Monumenta Nipponica , which is available online through the Knight Library catalogue

DISCUSSION SCHEDULE

Week 1 (4/01/08): Course Introduction and Overview of Period.

Week 2 (4/08/08): The Kamakura Warrior Government.

Week 3 (4/15/08): Shaping Civil Society: Law and Arbitration.

Week 4 (4/22/08): Evolving Warrior Families: Property and Inheritance.

Week 5 (4/29/08): Salvation and Popular Religions.

Week 6 (5/06/08): Engaging Gender and Sexuality.

Week 7 (5/13/08): The Dynamics of the Imperial Court .

Week 8 (5/20/08): The End of Kamakura .

Week 9 [5/27/08): Individual Consultation on Papers.

Week 10 (6/03/08): Discussion of papers.

READING SCHEDULE

Week 1 (4/01/08): COURSE INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF PERIOD.

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapters 1 and 2.

A. Goble, Kenmu , Preface and chapter 8.

Week 2 (4/08/08): THE KAMAKURA WARRIOR GOVERNMENT.

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapters 3 and 4.

J.P. Mass, Yoritimo and the Founding of the First Bakufu .

J.P. Mass, The Development of Kamakura Rule , pp. 1-58.

A. Goble, Kenmu , chapter 4.

H. Paul Varley, “The Hojo Family and Succesion to Power,” in Court and Bakufu , 143-167.

A. Goble, “The Hojo and Consultative Government,” in Court and Bakufu , 168-190.

A. Goble, “The Kamakura Bakufu and Its Officials,” in J.P.Mass ed., The Bakufu in Japanese History , 31-48.

Week 3 (4/15/08): SHAPING CIVIL SOCIETY: LAW AND ARBITRATION.

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapter 4.

J.P. Mass, The Development of Kamakura Rule , p. 60 ff.

A. Goble, Kenmu , chapter 5.

J.C. Hall, “Institutes of Judicature,” in his Japanese Feudal Law , pp. 1-44.

C. Steenstrup, “The Legal System of Japan at the End of the Kamakura Period from the Litigant's Point of View,” in B. McKnight ed., Law and the State in Traditional East Asia , pp. 73-110.

C. Steenstrup, “Sata Mirensho, A Fourteenth Century Legal Primer,” Monumenta Nipponica , 35 (Winter, 1980), pp. 405-435.

Week 4 (4/22/08: EVOLVING WARRIOR FAMILIES: PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE.

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapter 6.

J. P. Mass, Lordship and Inheritance in Medieval Japan .

H. Tonomura, "Women and Inheritance in Japan 's Early Warrior Society," in Comparative Studies in Society and History , 32 (1990), pp. 592-623.

Hyungsub Moon, “Matsura-tô: Pirate Warriors in Northwestern Kyushu , Japan , 1150-1350.”

J.P. Mass, “Identity, Personal Names, and Kamakura Society,” in Mass, Antiquity and Anachronism in Japanese History , pp. 91-127.

A. Goble, Kenmu , chapter 4.

J.P. Mass, The Development of Kamakura Rule .

Week 5 (4/29/08): SALVATION AND POPULAR RELIGIONS.

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapter 5.

Gosho Translation Committee, The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin .

A. Bloom. Shinran's Doctrine of Pure Grace .

C. Steenstrup. “The Gokurakuji Letter: Hôjô Shigetoki's Compendium of Political and Religious Ideas of Thirteenth Century Japan,” Monumenta Nipponica , 32.1 (Spring 1977), pp. 1-34.

Miyazaki Fumiko. “Religious Life of the Kamakura Bushi: Kumagai Naozane and His Descendents.” Monumenta Nipponica , 47.4 (Winter 1992), pp.435-467.

D. Quinter. “ Creating Bodhisattvas: Eison, Hinin , and the "Living Mañju s r i, " Monumenta Nipponica , 62.4 (Winter, 2007), pp. 437-508.

M. Unno. Shingon Refractions .

A. Goble, “Nichiren Calming Karma: Fear, Sickness and Lotus Until Death.”

L. Meeks, “Reconfiguring Ritual Authenticity: The Ordination Traditions of Aristocratic Women in Premodern Japan ”, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies , 33.1 (2006), pp. 51-74.

Week 6 (5/06/08): ENGAGING GENDER AND SEXUALITY.

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapter 6.

J. Goodwin, Selling Songs and Smiles: The Sex Trade in Heian and Kamakura Japan .

H. Tonomura, "Black Hair and Red Trousers: Gendering the Flesh in Medieval Japan ," American Historical Review , 93.1 (Feb 1994), pp. 132-154.

H. Tonomura, “Sexual Violence Against Women: Legal and Extralegal Treatment in Premodern Warrior Societies,” in Women and Class in Japanese History , pp. 135-152.

H. Tonomura, “Coercive Sex in the Medieval Japanese Court : Lady Nijô's Memoir,” Monumenta Nipponica , 61.3 (Autumn, 2006), pp. 283-338.

B. Ruch, "The Other Side of Culture in Medieval Japan." in The Cambridge History of Japan , Volume 3, Medieval Japan , pp. 500-543.

H. Wakita, "Marriage and Property in Premodern Japan From the Perspective of Women's History," Journal of Japanese Studies , 10.1 (1984), pp. 73-99.

Week 7 (5/13/08): THE DYNAMICS OF THE IMPERIAL COURT .

A. Goble, Kenmu , chapters 1, 2, 3.

G.C. Hurst, “The Kobu Polity: Court-Bakufu Relations in the Kamakura Age,” in Court and Bakufu , pp. 3-28.

C.J. Kiley, “The Imperial Court as A Legal Authority in the Kamakura Age,” in Court and Bakufu , pp. 29-44.

Week 8 (5/20/08): THE END OF KAMAKURA

P. Souyri, The World Turned Upside Down , chapter 7.

J.P. Mass, “Of Hierarchy and Authority at the End of Kamakura,” in J.P.Mass ed., The Origins of Japan's Medieval World , pp. 17-38.

L. Harrington, “Social Control and the Significance of Akutô,” in Court and Bakufu , 221-250.

A. Goble, Kenmu , chapters 4-8.

A. Goble, “Visions of an Emperor,” in The The Origins of Japan's Medieval World , pp. 113-137.

H. Tonomura, Re-envisioning Women in the Post-Kamakura Age, in The Origins of Japan's Medieval World , pp. 138-169.

Week 9 (5/27/08): INDIVIDUAL PAPER CONSULTATION

Week 10 (6/03/03): DISCUSSION OF PAPERS.