Fall 2018 Japanese Courses

For past course offerings, please visit the Class Search Tool.

Japanese 001. Elementary Japanese (5 units)

Course Description: An introduction to spoken and written Japanese in cultural contexts, with emphasis on communication.  (Students who have successfully completed Japanese 002 or 003 in the 10th or higher grade in high school may receive unit credit for this course on a P/NP grading basis only.)

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours.

Textbooks:

• Eri Banno, et al., Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese [2nd Edition]  (Japan Times/Tsai Fong Books, 2011)
• Eri Banno, Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese Workbook [2nd Edition]  (Japan Times/Tsai Fong Books, 2011)

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Japanese 004. Intermediate Japanese (5 units)

Course Description: Intermediate-level communication skills in spoken and written Japanese in cultural context, based on language skills developed in Japanese 003.

Prerequisite: Japanese 003 or Language Placement Exam.

GE credit (New): Arts and Humanities, Oral Literacy and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours.

Textbooks:

• Eri Banno, et al., Genki II: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese [2nd Edition]  (Japan Times/Tsai Fong Books, 2011)
• Eri Banno, et al., Genki II: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese Workbook [2nd Edition]  (Japan Times/Tsai Fong Books, 2011)

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Japanese 010. Masterworks of Japanese Literature (4 units)      In English  
Joseph Sorensen

TR 10:00-11:50A
223 Olson Hall
CRN 43558

Course Description: This course serves as an introduction, in English, to selected masterworks of Japanese literature from the 7th century into the 21st. We will read from a wide variety of genres: poetry (both ancient and modern), myths, tales, novels, plays, and short stories. The course is organized chronologically around a central theme: depictions of love in literature. We will consider the historical and cultural context of each work, as well as the conventions of the various genres we encounter in our readings. Among the questions to be considered throughout the course are: What kinds of love and what aspects of love are depicted in literature? How are they represented? What is not represented? What does it mean to be a “masterpiece” of literature? This course has no prerequisites, and there is no assumption of prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture. Students' grades based on quizzes, in-class discussion, term paper, midterm and final exams.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

• TBA

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Japanese 101.  Japanese Literature in Translation: The Early Period (4 units)      In English
David J. Gundry

TR 10:00-11:50A
106 Olson Hall
CRN 27837

Course description: This course focuses on poetry and prose written in Japanese from the 700’s through the 1000’s, a period during which Japanese writers both followed Chinese models and established their own distinctive literary tradition, culminating in one of the great landmarks of world literature, The Tale of Genji. This novel focusing on amorous intrigue in the Japanese imperial court is long and complex enough to be the sole focus of a college course, but since there is much else of importance produced during the period in question we will only read part of Genji, albeit a sizeable enough portion that the second half of the quarter will be devoted to it.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 4 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks: 

• H. Paul Varley, Japanese Culture [4th Edition]  (University of Hawaii Press, 2000)
• Modern Language Association, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers  (Modern Language Association of America, 2009)
• Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems, translated by Jane Hirshfield  (Vintage, 1990)
• Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, translated by Royall Tyler  (Penguin Classics, 2002)
• William Puette, The Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide  (Tuttle Publishing, 2009)
• William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, Elements of Style [Fourth Edition]  (Pearson Education, 1999)
• A Course Reader

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Japanese 105. Modern Japanese Literature: The Hero and the Anti-Hero (4 units)     In English
Michiko Suzuki

TR 12:10-2:00P
90 SS&H Building
CRN 27838

Course description: What is a “hero”? And what constitutes an “anti-hero” in modern Japanese literature? In this course we will read a wide variety of fiction from the late nineteenth century to the present in English translation, and explore various characters as they engage with each other and their sociohistorical contexts. Major themes may include topics such as war, modern identity, gender and sexuality, and the individual and society.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours.

Textbooks: 

• TBA

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Japanese 111. Modern Japanese: Reading and Discussion (4 units)

Course Description: JPN 111 is the second in the sequence of third-year Japanese courses at UCD (equivalent to the former JPN 112).  In JPN 111, students learn to present information and opinions in logically connected, coherent, and culturally appropriate ways. They also learn to read and to write for various purposes and audiences.  Students do extensive reading about Japanese culture and learn to think and speak critically about this information.  The topics of readings include Japanese culinary culture, religions, pop culture and traditional theatrical arts.  Written styles needed for different purposes and audiences are also studied and practiced.  Students are expected to retain 504 kanji by the end of JPN 006 and learn an additional 210 new kanji in JPN 111.

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or better) of Japanese 006 or the equivalent language proficiency.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

• Oka Mayumi, Tobira: Power Up Your Kanji  (Kuroshio Publishers, 2010)
• Oka Mayumi, Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning through Content and Multimedia  (Kuroshio Publishers, 2010)
• Jack Halpern, The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary: Revised and Expanded  (Kodansha USA, 2013)

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Japanese 121. Advanced Japanese I (4 units)
Nobuko Koyama

MW 10:00-11:50A
205 Wellman Hall
CRN 27842

Course Description: This course is the first of three courses in a series of 4th year Advanced Japanese which focuses on the levels of formality or politeness in conversation as well as socio-cultural aspects and topics in the Japanese society. The first of three courses will have a special focus on everyday genres of readings and writings.

The course is designed to accomplish five major objectives. First, it will help students develop a higher level of reading and writing skills as they familiarize with socio-cultural topics. Second, it will help students improve their levels of formality in speaking in different situations, both public and non-public. Third, it will also help students develop critical thinking and manners for discussion in Japanese. Fourth, it will help students learn idiomatic expressions and more complex syntactic forms. Lastly, it will help students acquire overall proficiency equivalent to N2 of Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). 

To achieve these goals, the course will provide students with the readings from a variety of genres and require them to write from a short prose to an essay. Based on their reading and writing, students will be engaged in round-table discussions and make oral presentations.

Prerequisite: Japanese 113 or consent of instructor (nkoyama@ucdavis.edu).

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

• All readings provided online.

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Japanese 136. Readings in Newspapers and Magazines (4 units)
David J. Gundry

TR 2:10-4:00P
1116 Hart Hall
CRN 27843

Course Description: This course emphasizes reading comprehension and kanji literacy. It is a model of simplicity. Students will read articles freshly culled from the websites of Japan’s major dailies and translate them aloud in class. The instructor will choose articles with a view toward holding students’ interest and exposing them to a variety of issues of cultural and political significance. Students will be expected to memorize a designated portion of the vocabulary contained in the readings. Reading comprehension and vocabulary retention will be tested through daily quizzes, a midterm and a cumulative final.

Prerequisite: Japanese 113 or the equivalent language proficiency.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

• Nihongo Bunkei Ziten: A Handbook of Japanese Grammar Patterns for Teachers and Learners, edited by Group Jamashii  (Kurosio Shuppan, 2015)

[RECOMMENDED]

• Yoko Matsuoka McClain, Handbook of Modern Japanese Grammar  (Books Nippan, 1992)
      *This book is out of print and students interested in purchasing the book may want to look at different outlets for this title

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Japanese 152. Traditional Japanese Drama (4 units)       In English 
Joseph Sorensen

TR 6:10-8:00P
168 Hoagland Hall
CRN 43568

Course Description: This course is a survey, in English translation, of traditional Japanese dramatic forms. We begin with an examination of the earliest performance practices, which include Shinto music and dance, ritual poetry, agrarian rites, and folk songs. Our focus will be on the four major theatrical traditions of pre-modern Japan: the stately and ritualized action of noh drama, the universal humor of kyôgen plays, the dramatic tension in the military tales and love-suicide plays of bunraku puppet theater, and the highly affected and stylized acting that characterizes kabuki. Finally, we will examine contemporary representations and briefly consider the influence of traditional theater on early Japanese film as well as more avant-garde forms such as butoh. In addition to analyzing the plays as literary texts, we will also consider the stage conventions of each genre and view video productions of full performances to see how the stage, the text, the actors, and the music come together. Secondary readings will include playwrights on writing, and actors on acting, as well as contemporary scholarship to assist in the analysis of the plays. There are no prerequisites for this course, and there is no assumption of prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Visual Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

• TBA