Japanese

Chair: Akira R. Takemoto, Foreign Languages and Literatures

Japanese

• Hitomi K. Johnson
• Akira R. Takemoto

Courses in Japanese are designed to develop proficiency in speaking, writing, and reading the language and to acquaint the student with Japanese literature and culture. The courses in Japanese literature in translation (listed in the World Literature section) will offer students an introduction to classical and modern Japanese literature. Students also can choose to gain an introduction to traditional Japanese art and aesthetics (Art History 248), and studio art classes in calligraphy and tea ceremony (Studio Art 301), or take courses on traditional and modern Japanese history.

Placement in language courses: Students with previous Japanese language experience must complete a placement test with Professor Takemoto before enrolling in Japanese 205 or 305.

The Foreign Languages and Literatures/Japanese minor: The minor in Japanese will consist of Japanese 205 and 206 (or the equivalent of two years of college-level Japanese) plus a minimum of 12 credits in Japanese language, literature, history, or art from courses higher than 200. Courses on Japan offered under Asian studies, world literature, art history, studio art, and history may be used to satisfy the requirements for this minor.

Note: Courses taken P-D-F prior to the declaration of a language major or minor will satisfy course and credit requirements for the major or minor. Courses taken P-D-F may not be used to satisfy course and credit requirements for the major or minor after the major or minor has been declared.

105, 106 Elementary Japanese
4, 4 Takemoto

The grammatical basis for reading modern Japanese literature and for conducting conversations on general topics. Five periods per week.

205, 206 Intermediate Japanese
4, 4 Takemoto

This course continues to introduce new grammar patterns and kanji, while providing the student with the opportunity to practice conversational skills and to read cultural and literary materials. Five periods per week. Prerequisites: Japanese 106 or consent of instructor.

305, 306 Third-Year Japanese
4, 4 Johnson

A comprehensive grammar review plus continued instruction and practice in Japanese conversation, grammar, and composition. Focus on development of strong reading and translation skills in order to explore ways to recognize and communicate intercultural differences. Students must know how to use a kanji dictionary. Prerequisites: Japanese 206 or consent of instructor. Students who have not taken Japanese at Whitman previously are required to take an oral and written placement examination for entrance.

405, 406 Fourth-Year Japanese
4, 4 Johnson

The course will begin with a program to develop proficiency in the four communication skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing as well as cultural understanding. Approximately 250 kanji compounds will be introduced and kanji introduced in the first, second, and third year classes will be reviewed. The focus of the program will be to help students gain a broader background in Japanese language and culture by reading contemporary literary texts and essays, and to explore the challenges of translating those texts into English. Students will also be expected to express themselves orally without having to rely on heavily prefabricated phrases. Prerequisites: Japanese 306 or equivalent.

491, 492 Independent Study in Japanese Language
1-4, 1-4 Staff

This class is designed for students who have completed three years of college-level Japanese and who desire to pursue further study in Japanese language, literature, or culture. The instructor will choose texts on topics in which the student shows interest; students will read and prepare translations of selected readings and write a critical introductory essay. Prerequisites: Japanese 306 or equivalent.

The program in Japanese also includes courses in world literature. These classes are listed below and in the World Literature section of the catalog.

WLIT 327 Masterworks of Classical Japanese Literature
4; not offered 2009-10

Japanese prose and poetry from the eighth through the 19th centuries. Works include The Manyoshu, Japan’s earliest poetic anthology; The Tale of Genji, the first novel in the world to be written by a woman; The Tale of the Heike, describing the rise of the samurai ethic; the poems of Saigyo and Ryokan; and the haiku of Basho and Buson.

WLIT 328 Haiku and Nature in Japan
4; not offered 2009-10

This course will enter the haiku / haikai world by reading poems and essays by two haiku poets, Basho (1644-1694) and Issa (1763-1827), and stories by Japan’s first Nobel Prize winning novelist, Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972). The course will explore the nexus between Haiku and Mahayana Buddhist thought and trace how writers and poets and monks shared a literary and religio-aesthetic vocabulary to express an insight into the human condition, the nature of reality, time and eternity, world and nature.

Environmental studies students may use this course to satisfy humanities distribution requirements in the major. Environmental humanities students may use this course as one of the three elective courses required for their major.