2nd 8 weeks.

This course examines US-Japan relations from the 19th century to the
present. The first half of the course goes through a general history
of relations between the two countries before 1945.  In the second
half, we will turn into a discussion of the Pacific War, the US
occupation of Japan, the trade disputes between the two countries
during the 1980s, and Japan’s response to the First Gulf War of
1990/91 and the Iraq War of 2003.

The focus of the course will be on Japanese politics.

Assignments will be: midterm & final exams, quizzes and short
discussion papers.

No background of Japanese history or politics is necessary for this
course.