• The American Occupation of Japan, 1945-1952 [Asia for Educators]
A teaching unit with an essay outlining Japan's political and economic transformation under the American Occupation, with discussion questions, a supplementary reading list for student reports, and additional student activities.

• The Allied Occupation of Japan [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
Essay providing "an overview of the reforms and examin[ing] the controversy surrounding an especially contentious period in Japanese history, the Allied Occupation."

Lesson Plan • The Occupation of Japan and Democratic Reform [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
Learning goals for students: 1) Understand the relationship between the Japanese people and the Occupation, and the nature of the Occupation’s democratic reforms; 2) Understand the origins, content, and implications of the 1947 “MacArthur” Constitution; 3) Understand why the decision was made to retain Emperor Hirohito on the throne and what the larger, long-term implications of this decision might have been.

• Postwar Japan, 1952-1989 [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
Essay examining "the positive and negative reactions to the changes that occurred in postwar Japan, specifically in regard to the quality of life."

• Contemporary Japan, 1989–Present [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
Essay examining "the economic, social and international challenges facing contemporary Japan."

• Framing Twentieth-Century Japan: A Top-Ten List [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
"A leading professor of modern Japanese history offers his provocative thoughts about the ten most important themes for American students to learn about 20th-century Japan."(Sign-in required; registration is quick and free.)

Video • Top Ten Things to Know about Japan in the Early 21st Century [Asia for Educators]
An audio-visual presentation designed for teachers and students by Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor of History and Professor of East Asian Language and Cultures, Department of History and Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University – covering 10 important understandings of Japan. (This video parallels the article by Carol Gluck which follows below.) (Sign-in required; registration is quick and free.)

• Top Ten Things to Know about Japan in the Early 21st Century [PDF] [Education about Asia]
"Contemporary Japan is a modern society, an instance of the multiple patterns of modernity that characterize the twenty-first-century world. Images of samurai and sumo wrestlers, of geisha and cherry blossoms should not mislead: Japan is no exotic Lotusland, no topsy-turvy Asian version of Western-style modernity, as nineteenth-century Westerners once liked to think of it...”

Note to Teachers • Education about Asia
The journal Education about Asia has many excellent teaching resources on-line on all topics related to East, South and SE Asia.

• Japan's Government and Politics [Asia for Educators]
An introduction to Japan’s government and political system, from the role of the Emperor to elections and interest groups, with interesting comparisons to U.S. politics. Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Columbia University, former Director of Columbia's Weatherhead East Asian Institute and preeminent specialist advisor in both the U.S. and Japan on Japanese politics and U.S.-Japan relations.

Lesson Plan • Japan in the World Since 1945 [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
"This lesson explores Japan's politics after the Allied Occupation, in particular the close but conflicted relationship with the United States, the sometimes strained relations with China and South Korea, and Japan's military policy."

Primary Source w/DBQs • Article 9 and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty [Asia for Educators]
Both Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution [PDF], which prohibits Japan from maintaining military forces for settlement of international disputes, and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which allows the U.S. military to maintain bases on Japanese soil, have been at the center of controversy both in Japan and the United States. This unit includes an essay that explores the changing attitudes towards these two agreements, as well as two primary-source readings: the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty of 1951 [PDF] and the revised security treaty of 1960 [PDF]. With discussion questions for students.

• Classroom Debate: Should Japan Increase Its Defense Effort? [Asia for Educators]
An introductory essay and six differing opinions are offered to students who then debate how Japan should manage its defense force.

Video • Japan's Foreign Policy Today and the 70th Anniversary of the End of WW II [Asia for Educators]
An audio-visual presentation with accompanying outline tracing the evolution of Japan’s foreign policy and place in the world from 1945-2015, including its alliance with the United States. The speaker is Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science; Director, Toyota Research Program, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University; Senior Research Fellow at the Tokyo Foundation. (Sign-in required; registration is quick and free.)

• Understanding Okinawa’s Role in the U.S.-Japan Security Agreement [SPICE, Stanford]
"Today, Okinawa plays host to over 52,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel, the majority of whom live in central Okinawa. Conversely, 57,000 U.S. personnel are assigned throughout the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. Thus, roughly half of all U.S. forces in Japan are concentrated in a land area representing less than 0.6 percent of Japan’s territory."

• Japan's Foreign Relations and Role in the Late 20th Century [Asia for Educators]
A brief outline of Japan's historical role in international relations, and a synopsis of Japan's relationship with various countries and regions in the post-war period. Includes a suggested classroom activity for students.

Video • Japan's Foreign Policy Today and the 70th Anniversary of the End of WW II [Asia for Educators]
An audio-visual presentation with accompanying outline tracing the evolution of Japan’s foreign policy and place in the world from 1945-2015, including its alliance with the United States. The speaker is Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science; Director, Toyota Research Program, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University; Senior Research Fellow at the Tokyo Foundation. (Sign-in required; registration is quick and free.)

• Examining the Japanese History Textbook Controversies [SPICE, Stanford]
"The controversy surrounding the adoption of middle school history textbooks in Japan raises the question, Why are textbooks — history textbooks in particular — important enough to fight over?"

Lesson Plan • The Bubble Economy and the Lost Decade [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
"This lesson uses well-know editorials, speeches, and poems to explore the Japanese reaction to the Bubble Economy and Lost Decade."

• Understanding the Japanese Economy (Research Exercises for Students) [Asia for Educators]
Eight exercises that ask students to use the internet to research specific aspects of Japan's economy and trade. Background information and questions are included with each exercise.

• Japan's Economy and Trading Patterns: A Fact Sheet [Asia for Educators]

• The Age of the Middle Class [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
Essay examining "the impact of middle-class lifestyle and taste on Japanese culture in the early 20th century."

Video • The Top Ten Things to Know about Japan in the Early 21st [Asia for Educators]
An audio-visual presentation by Carol Gluck, George Sansom Professor of History and Professor of East Asian Language and Cultures, Department of History and Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University. (Sign-in required; registration is quick and free.)

Video • A Few Important Things to Know about Japanese Society [Asia for Educators]
An audio-visual presentation from 2016 by Theodore C. Bestor, Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology and Director, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University. Professor Bestor was the President for the Association for Asian Studies in 2012. (Sign-in required; registration is quick and free.)

Primary Source • "The Pomegranate," by Kawabata Yasunari [Asia for Educators]
The full text of "The Pomegranate," a short story by Kawabata Yasunari (1889-1972), the first Japanese writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Includes discussion questions.

Primary Source • "Japan, the Beautiful and Myself" [The Nobel Foundation]
The full text of Kawabata Yasunari's Nobel Lecture, delivered on December 12, 1968.

Lesson Plan • National Identity and Literature from Okinawa [About Japan: A Teacher's Resource]
"Through examples of Okinawan literature and its relationship to the larger genre of 'Japanese literature,' the author(s) of this lesson addresses problems in the definition of ethnic and national identities."