Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire (2004) – Documentary Questions – 0607a

Questions for Part 3

1. What led to the rise of the merchant class to power in Japan? What was the effect?

2. What does the story of the “Dog Shogun” say about the idea of monarchy as a political system?

3. How did the Shogun treat Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer and the Dutch?

4. What was Edo/Tokyo like in the 18^th century?

5. What percentage of the population of Edo/Tokyo was literate in the 18^th century?

Stop film at 26:33 and give students time to answer the questions.

Skip ahead to 37:04 to avoid somewhat boring and besides-the-point prostitution voyeurism that can only be associated with “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

6. How did the Japanese begin to realize that they had fallen well behind the Europeans in technology?

7. For what reasons did the United States decide to force Japan to open to foreign trade?

8. How did Admiral Perry and the United States government treat the Japanese?

9. What did the Shogunate choose to do with the Americans? Why? What was the outcome?