A sociological look at the conditions that have contributed to Japan’s emergence as a world-class economic force. How did culture, social organization, lifestyle, ideology, and global political change fit together and react to affect Japan’s rapid rise to power? Is Japan a closed society? What significance do factors such as racism, religion, education, family, the military, class, and population changes hold for understanding what happened in Japan and in Japan’s relations with outsiders, particularly the United States? How does this analysis affect the future of American sociology? Note: This is an Honors course.