Assignment

Textbook readings for March 8 are below. Questions for your one-page paper will be posted by Feb. 30.

• Bushido (samurai spirit) page 49
• Do Spirit (The Way) page 81
• Ie System (family line/master) page 125

The question for your essay is: How are the concepts of "bushido" and "ie" informed by the larger concept of "do"? Can you identify ways that "bushido" and "ie" diverge from "do"? What, if anything, has changed over time regarding the expression of these concepts?

We will have a special guest in class - Ikuhiko Shibata - our host in Tajimi. Shibata-san is a seventh generation ceramic artist and will teach us to make tea bowls in his studio. We have some very fun activities planned for class so that you'll get to know Shibata-san.

Samurai To Salaryman Here's Helen's presentation for this class if you'd like to view it again.

You can also print out the presentation using this PDF Samurai To Salaryman (PDF, 419kb)

Steve's presentation on Japanese colors and numbers or as a PDF.

For March 8 class: spreadsheet for collecting information for plane tickets, rail pass, home stay, etc. Contact Information 2012 (xl, 29kb)

Tokyo Elle Decor Magazine's April 2010 issue has a very interesting article about Tokyo, highlighting many trendy businesses. The slide show has some lovely photos, but it does load slowly. Enjoy!

Nobuko Tsujimaki, Intern (PDF, 40kb) Ms. Tsujimaki worked with Kao Corporation in Japan for 11 years. Now she's in the US with her husband and interning at a PR firm. She makes very interesting comparisons between doing business in the US and in Japan.

Troubles for Toyota(PDF, 40kb) Would you believe it? Sales of Toyota cars are falling - in Japan. Read why young people are changing the way Toyota markets their cars.

JAL and Unneeded Airports - An Expose' (PDF 44kb) The Japanese Government directs their economy much more that our government does in the USA. Here's an example of a very big scandal.

Land of Hope, Japan 2015 (PDF, 134kb) Here is an overview of the vision for Japan's economy and culture in 2015, developed by the Keidaren, the Japanese Business Federation. The ideas and phrasing are very typical for communications from the Japanese government and business organizations like Keidaren.