Sep 18, 2017

Words Spun Out of Images: Visual and Literary Culture in Nineteenth Century Japan

In their ambition to capture “real life,” Japanese painters, poets, novelists and photographers of the nineteenth century collaborated in ways seldom explored by their European contemporaries. This course offers learners the chance to encounter and appreciate behavior, moral standards and some of the material conditions surrounding Japanese artists in the nineteenth century, in order to renew our assumptions about what artistic “realism” is and what it meant. Learners will walk away with a clear understanding of how society and the individual were conceived of and represented in early modern Japan. Unlike contemporary western art forms, which acknowledge their common debt as “sister arts” but remain divided by genre and discourse, Japanese visual and literary culture tended to combine, producing literary texts inspired by visual images, and visual images which would then be inscribed with poems and prose. Noticing and being able to interpret this indivisibility of visual/literary cultures is essential in understanding the social and psychological values embedded within the beauty of Japanese art.

Robert CAMPBELL (Emeritus Professor)

Nov 10, 2015

Visualizing Postwar Tokyo, Part 1

Tokyo emerged out of the ruins of war to become a large city of 10 million people in only a quarter of a century. During this process of change, the capital of a military empire that once invaded East Asia experienced occupation by the U.S. armed forces, hosted the Olympic Games, and transformed into a consumer hub where young people could enjoy economic “wealth.” It is important to know that this process was recorded in countless photographs, documentary films, TV programs, and so on. We will retrieve many of these archived pictures and videos and analyze what happened in postwar Tokyo from different perspectives. In Part 1, you will look at the changes that occurred in postwar Tokyo over a quarter of a century from four different perspectives: 1) occupation and Americanism; 2) imperial gaze and royal wedding; 3) The Olympic city; and 4) economic-cultural clash in Shinjuku. This examination of urban history will provide you with the insights necessary when considering changes in other large cities in Asia, such as Seoul, Beijing, and Bangkok, at the end of the twentieth century.

YOSHIMI Shunya (Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)

May 11, 2026

Biomedical Ethics and Public Health Ethics

This course examines the ethical challenges of contemporary healthcare through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on medicine, health sciences, political philosophy, law, philosophy, and ethics. Participants will explore the ethical dilemmas encountered not only by healthcare professionals but also by related practitioners, such as medical interpreters, and learn practical approaches to ethical reasoning and decision-making in professional settings. Using real-world case studies spanning the entire course of human life—from reproductive and genetic medicine to end-of-life care and euthanasia—the course cultivates the ability to analyze complex ethical issues from multiple perspectives and make thoughtful, well-informed judgments.

Oct 9, 2024

Adapting to the Effects of Climate Change on Quality of Life

As stated in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, human activities are causing global warming, primarily through greenhouse gas emissions, and the Earth's surface temperature is rising. Climate change affects people's lives in many ways, including health, crop damage, and disasters. To cope with global climate change, mitigation and adaptation must be pursued simultaneously. In this course, participants will gain an understanding of the global and Japanese context of climate change, and learn about the impact of climate change on the quality of life of local people and adaptation measures, using Japanese case studies. The course, which consists of four modules, introduces the global and Japanese situation regarding climate change, basic information on the impacts on people's quality of life, impacts and responses in fruit tree production sites, adaptation measures in the field of urban planning and design, impacts on urban infrastructure and assets and their management Mitigation and adaptation through the management of urban infrastructure and assets, and understanding the impacts and risks of climate change on transport systems, through case studies.

Kiyo KURISU (Associate Professor, Dr. (Eng.), Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo) Akito Murayama (Professor, Ph.D. in Urban Engineering, Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo) Junya Yamasaki (Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo)