Thoughts on Class 5

[Anonymous]

I was so sorry to have missed this session due to illness...the reading was insightful however. I hope to catch up with the rest of you soon.

[Anonymous]

In the middle of testing period and I had to cut the cold war quite short. Didn't even get to Vietnam properly. Was anticipating next year when my school will go back to a traditional schedule instead of a 4X4 and how I may even have time to cover post-war Japan. That is something that I am looking forward to today's session. I would like to know how the people reacted after such a prolonged period of war and scarcity (according to some of our readings) to the American GIs. I read a while back the novel Geisha, and am wondering how common a reality that was.
It seems to me that the Japanese as a culture are easy adapters to their reality. The nation needed to modernize in order to compete with first world nations, what does it do? It sends emmissaries to study modern countries.... It needs to rebuild itself after devastating war losses, it constructs Tokyo to the mega modern city it is today. Amazing.

[Anonymous]

I found this evening’s class very interesting. I taught lesson on Japanese imperialism last semester and the students really enjoyed it. We also discussed questions about Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and their feelings about U.S. imperialism in the Pacific. This class gave me such valuable information about the fall of the Samurai and the Shogunate. The Mejji restoration as such a focal point for me last semester it will great to spend more time talking about the events leading up to the transition and the rise of the merchant class with modernization and industrialization. I found it particularly interesting to learn how the Samuari were forced be present at court part of the year. It reminded me of Louis XIV ‘s court.

[Anonymous]

This was my favorite seminar to date. My wife is of Japanese descent and I have visited Japan multiple times. I love the historical oerspective on something that is already somewhat familiar to me. Excellent PowerPoint. PowerPoints are slowly becoming the focus of my learning in these seminars. I have found that the quality of the presentation on the screen correlates directly to my retention.

[Anonymous]

It is interesting to see how the Japanese past and traditions are still respected and have influence on the present and the future. It seems to be a much more thoughtful type of society.

[Anonymous]

This seminar was very interesting because I learned how Japan evolved domestically and the role that European colonialist powers and the US had in Japan's history. It seems that the most significant event was the Meiji Restoration when the Emporer was reestablished. This event brought unity to the Japanese instead of the divisions under the warlords.

[Anonymous]

You live, you learn. Right now I feel like a sponge, absorbing so much fascinating information. As one of our colleagues mentioned, how is rice mass produced when it's such a labor intensive crop? My husband told me rice is imported to Nigeria where he's from because it's a major staple there. And I know we eat tons of it here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

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