Documentary on Meiji period/Japan's modernization?

[Melek Ortabasi]

Hi all,

A practical question for you. I'm looking for a 1 to 1 1/2-hr. documentary on the 1850s to, say, the early part of the 20th century. Bonus points if there's a series that goes up to the present day! It's for a class entitled East/West, where I use the case of Japan to explore Orientalism and other forms of cross-cultural encounter (and conflict). My students are not Asian studies students, and may not know a whole lot about Japan, so I'd like to get through some of the preliminaries in an efficient (but not reductive) fashion. Any suggestions?

Best,
Melek 

-- 
Melek Ortabasi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
World Literature Program
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Unit 250-13450
102 Ave., Surrey, BC
V3T0A3 CANADA
Phone: 778-782-8660

"I do not accept that anyone is permanently fixed by his or her 'identity'; but neither can one shed specific structures of race and culture, class and caste, gender and sexuality, environment and history. I understand these, and other cross-cutting determinations, not as homelands, chosen or forced, but as sites of worldly travel: difficult encounters and occasions for dialogue.” James Clifford, _Routes_