BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The objective of the course is to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of Japanese cultural history, intellectual traditions, and artistic and cultural production. Students will be able to discern and effectively synthesize the interconnections between significant historical events and cultural transformations. Additionally, they will be able to utilize the acquired knowledge for a critical analysis of everyday life contexts and social interaction in Japan, fostering a constructive attitude towards intercultural exchange.
Course Prerequisites
A basic understanding of the principal categories employed to define the fundamental structures of a culture is required. These include geographical, historical, legal, linguistic, and economic categories. The ability to identify these categories in a new culture is also essential.
Foreign and Erasmus students are required to have at least a B1 level of proficiency in the Italian language.
Teaching Methods
The lectures will be conducted in Italian, with the aid of PowerPoint slides and supplementary materials in Italian or English, available on the Moodle platform in the section dedicated to the Japanese Culture course.
The lectures may be supplemented by conferences held by experts on specific topics relating to Japanese culture. It is expected that students will actively participate in both the lectures and the conferences.
Assessment Methods
An oral examination will be conducted to verify the students’ knowledge of the contents of both modules. The examination will be evaluated by each lecturer for the part they are responsible for. The final mark will be the average of the two assessments.
The contents of the examination for attending and non-attending students are specified on the Japanese Culture page on the Moodle and Leganto platforms.
The exam bibliography is available at the LEGANTO URL link at the bottom of this page.
Assessment Grid (out of 30 points):
• Excellent (30 cum laude): Comprehensive skills, applied with precision and autonomy. No errors.
• Very Good (30–27): Solid skills, correctly applied. Minor and non-recurring errors.
• Good (26–24): Adequate skills, with some inaccuracies. No serious or systematic errors.
• Sufficient (23–18): Basic skills, with evident errors but sufficient overall understanding.
• Insufficient (<18): Lacking skills, numerous errors that compromise the exam outcome.
Contents
The course elucidates the foundational tenets of Japanese culture through an analysis of religious, intellectual, and artistic production across Japanese history. Cultural processes are contextualized within the broader political, social, and institutional trends that have shaped the nation from its origins to the threshold of the 21st century.
The course is divided into two modules.
Module 1: Pre-modern Japanese Culture.
Lecturer: Francesco Eugenio Barbieri.
The module will present an overview of the principal characteristics of Japanese culture from the ancient and medieval eras (Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi, Azuchi-Momoyama periods) up to the threshold of modernity (Tokugawa period). The module will introduce elements of the historical-anthropological geography of Japan, elements of the cultural history of Japan from its origins to the Tokugawa period, essential elements of the philosophies and religions of Japan (with particular reference to Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism) and their role in Japanese society.
Module 2: Modern and Contemporary Japanese Culture.
Lecturer: Marco Taddei
The module will present a general overview of the historical, cultural, political, economic, and social developments in Japan during the Meiji (1868-1912), Taishō (1912-1926), Shōwa (1926-1989), and Heisei (1989-2019) Eras. In particular the modernisation process from the end of the 19th century, military expansionism, the post-war boom and the bursting of the economic bubble in the 1990s will be analysed.
Online Resources
More information
This syllabus replaces the Japanese Culture syllabus taken in AA 2024-25. Consequently, effective May 2026, all students from previous academic years who have examination debts will be required to take their examinations in accordance with the new syllabus.
While attendance is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged given that the topics are new and have not been previously covered during the previous school years. Both attending and non-attending students will find information on the required and recommended supplementary readings on the Japanese Culture page on the Leganto and Moodle platforms.
Should the course be taught in a blended or online-only mode, modifications may be made to the syllabus to ensure its usability in these modes.