Asia in the Modern World: Images & Representations
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this course on Japan's emergence as a modern state, tracing the visual record of the country's contact with the outside world after centuries of feudal isolation. Lessons work through photographs, prints, and film depicting Japan's opening to foreign trade and diplomacy, then move into postwar Tokyo, covering city planning after World War II and the staging of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The course ran concurrently with two University of Tokyo edX MOOCs, Visualizing Postwar Tokyo and Four Faces of Contemporary Japanese Architecture, and drew on their materials for much of its second half. Site materials include the syllabus, session-by-session topics, readings, and image sets used in class discussion. No certificate is offered through OCW; the course is meant for self-study using MIT's published course materials rather than a graded credential.