Abstract:

"A five-part video series about the origins of modern Japan and Japanese attitudes in the nation's 2000-year history. The programs explain such concepts as Zen, the invocation of supernatural spirits to bless business venture, Japanese disdain and distrust of foreigners, and Japanese concepts of nature, honor, loyalty, beauty, solidarity, and violence. These programs are 'Buddha in the Land of the Kami (7th-12th Century),' 'The Coming of the Barbarians (1540-1650),' 'The Age of the Shoguns (1600-1868),' 'The Meiji Period (1868-1912),' and 'The Essence of Being Japanese. ' BUDDHA IN THE LAND OF THE KAMI "This program begins with the creation myth of Japan and explains the origin and scope of the kami concept; explains the arrival of Buddhism and how Buddhism and the kami were assimilated; discusses Chinese culture, style, and writing in Japanese culture; and demonstrates how the Hapanese garden epitomizes the Japanese view of the relationship between humanity and nature." THE COMING OF THE BARBARIANS "In 1540, Portuguese navigators and Jesuit priests landed in a Japan of shoguns and samurai. Although Westernisms quickly became the rage in Japan, the Japanese soon recognized the long arm of colonialism and, in 1650, Japan shut its doors to the outside world." THE AGE OF THE SHOGUNS "This was the age of the Tokugawa family, the era of Edo, a period of over two-and-a-half centuries during which Japan was sealed off from the rest of the world. This program treats the history of Japan during this period: the established classes of daimyo, samurai, farmer, and merchant; the political organization of the shogunate; the growth of the merchant class and the development of Kabuki; the delineation of Japanese sensibilities and the meaning of seppuku." THE MEIJI PERIOD "The arrival of Commodore Perry in 1854 set the stage for Japan's dramatic leap into modernity. The ports of Japan were forced open. In 1868, the last shogun gave way to a 15-year-old emperor who dressed in Western-style clothes. Edo became Tokyo, education became a national passion, and the dichotomy between ancient values and new imported styles and forms deepened. The Japanese learned colonialism as well, spreading their influence and their sovereignty in Formosa and Korea." THE ESSENCE OF BEING JAPANESE "This program covers the cataclysmic events of the 20th century -- the devastating earthquake of 1923, the rise of militarism, the accession of Emperor Hirohito, the Pacific War, Hiroshima, and the American occupation of Japan -- but its primary focus is on what makes Japan Japanese: the Shinto rituals which are part of modern merchantile life, and such societal traits as conformism, determination, attitudes toward violence and brutality, business ethics, and the role of kami in modern Japan."