ASIA 416
The Many Lives of Tokyo
Last Offered Fall 2021
Division II Writing Skills
Cross-listed HIST 416
This course is not offered in the current catalog

The city of Tokyo has had many lives from its early modern founding as the shogun’s capital of Edo to its contemporary incarnation as a global megacity. This seminar explores how and why the city has changed–how an unassuming fishing village was transformed over four centuries into a vibrant early modern city of over a million people, the heart of a modern nation and metropole of an expansive empire, an emblem of urban cosmopolitanism, and a sprawling metropolis. Our focus will be on how people have lived, conceived, and shaped Edo/Tokyo. We will consider how different and various people have moved through the city; where and how they have lived, worked, and enjoyed themselves; how they have interacted with the natural and built environments; and how they have expressed their discontents with, and aspirations for, the city. Topics to be examined include: physical expansion, urbanization, and suburbanization; destruction and reconstruction from fires, earthquakes, and war; cultivation of opportunities to consume; and creation of urban popular cultures. The centerpiece of the seminar is the research and writing of a substantial and original paper that delves into a question of interest to you about the history of Tokyo.