I highly recommend this for a GE! Professor Hirano is super nice, but lectures aren't mandatory so I never went. Your grade is basically based off discussion participation (basically just show up to discussion), weekly one page double spaced responses, and a midterm and final essay (no tests). All you really need to do for this class is go to discussion and skim the weekly readings to write a one page response since they're only graded for completion. Lectures aren't super important because you go over material in the discussion and you can write the papers solely off the readings. The TAs are also super nice and helpful. Take this class!!!

Maybe it was just me but this class was a lot harder than expected. Yes, it was good to have only a paper for the midterm and final but the prompts are convoluted. If you bomb one, then you kind of already bomb the class. Had a really good TA and he was incredibly nice and helpful so go to discussion to understand what's going on. He doesn't take attendance anymore in lecture but go to lecture to get the gist of the class for the essay.

This was an amazing class! Professor Hirano is such a great and engaging lecturer and I looked forward to his classes. He gave such great insight and though this is a rather unconventional history class, I enjoyed it. Grade is basically participation and 2 essays, so it is very heavily dependent on TA. Shoutout to Xiaowen, who was absolutely amazing!! Would definitely recommend this GE!

Kats is really cool and smart. However, this class isn't very well structured and you don't end up coming away with much. You jump around history constantly in a way that doesn't really make sense. You have to do weekly vocab write ups which are graded on completion so it's just busy work. If you're interested in Japanese history take the class, it can offer a lot if you want it to. Otherwise you just don't gain that much. There are easier GEs too.

Class:
This class is about themes, for example, examining how myths were created and utilized by different governments to achieve their goals, not chronology/historical events. The discussion sections complemented the lectures well and helped us understand the readings better. I would definitely take this class again and I think it's a pretty easy GE.

Professor:
Very engaging lectures, fun to listen to. I feel that I probably could have gotten a decent-ish essay grade without listening to the lectures but doing the readings + looking at lecture slides which Kats uploaded while we wrote our essays + going to my TAs office hours. But the lectures do help you understand the overarching ideas and break down the essay prompts and formulate a thesis.

Grade breakdown:
Weekly assignments: 17 points
The weekly assignments were basically a one page response paper based on the readings due at the start of every lecture. Graded based on completion.
Section discussion: 9 points
These points were based on attendance and 'participation' in the discussions.
1st paper: 34 points
2nd paper: 40 points
Extra credit: We got 3 points extra credit for going to and writing about a symposium and a film screening that complemented our course work, which were extremely meaningful. 8 students also got extra credit because their essay prompts were chosen.

Professor Hirano is a really engaging lecturer, and I really enjoyed the way he structured his class. He makes you examine the themes in history which allows you to see history in a different lens. The class is not a lot of work just a biweekly assignment for completion and two essays. I really recommend taking this class with him.

This class is a philosophical approach to understanding the socio-political context of Tokugawa period Japan leading into the early modern era. Beware, this is not your typical history class. The professor teaches abstract intellectual concepts that intercept with historical contextualization of major events. Professor Hirano is a gem, he truly is passionate about what he teaches and genuinely cares for his students. However, the course is definitely dense at times (I'm a history nerd so I geek out about this type of stuff) but if you're not in the history department and you're taking this class for an upper div credit I would recommend finding a more straight forward history course that doesn't require so much work. We had daily essays due before every class, one midterm paper (which was a killer), and a final. Overall, I probably wouldn't take this class again but if you need to fulfill your eastern history credits this class isn't a bad place to start.

Japan history is no longer a dull subject thanks to Professor Hirano and my best TAs!

BTW, here shows how the grades calculated for this course:

15% Weekly assignments (one-page, double-spaced reading response each week)
20% Participation (as long as you attend the discussions and make meaningful points)
30% Midterm Paper
35% Final Paper

Class:
This class is about themes, for example, examining how myths were created and utilized by different governments to achieve their goals, not chronology/historical events. The discussion sections complemented the lectures well and helped us understand the readings better. I would definitely take this class again and I think it's a pretty easy GE.

Professor:
Very engaging lectures, fun to listen to. I feel that I probably could have gotten a decent-ish essay grade without listening to the lectures but doing the readings + looking at lecture slides which Kats uploaded while we wrote our essays + going to my TAs office hours. But the lectures do help you understand the overarching ideas and break down the essay prompts and formulate a thesis.

Grade breakdown:
Weekly assignments: 17 points
The weekly assignments were basically a one page response paper based on the readings due at the start of every lecture. Graded based on completion.
Section discussion: 9 points
These points were based on attendance and 'participation' in the discussions.
1st paper: 34 points
2nd paper: 40 points
Extra credit: We got 3 points extra credit for going to and writing about a symposium and a film screening that complemented our course work, which were extremely meaningful. 8 students also got extra credit because their essay prompts were chosen.

Professor Hirano is a great lecturer and very knowledgeable about the time period. The material is much more philosophical than I expected, but I learned a lot and would highly recommend taking this class. There were readings and reflections required before each class. The readings were sometimes a lot but you got participation credit as long as you wrote anything for your reflection. The midterm and final were essays. Both weren't too bad, but make sure you go to the workshops to understand what is expected for both.