Professor Hirano is one of my favorite professors at UCLA. He's an expert in the field, gives interesting lectures, and is very open to helping understand material outside of class. He's all about giving you information that will get you thinking about the material yourself, rather than memorizing facts.

He does take attendance in class, so you will have to go, but you will enjoy his presentations, and he doesn't have any 8AMs (took two classes with him), so it is not that bad. He also bases your grade on three essays (he gives a choice of questions) and has no midterm or final. I think this is a much better way to go, because the essays are easy to write and you can get a good grade if you understand the readings and try a bit. The subject of your essays also stays with you longer - I still remember the topics I wrote on very well.

Overall, I highly recommend this class to History majors who need their distribution for non-Western history, and anyone who is interested in Japanese history.

Great professor. I had a terrible TA who did not give good reasons for assigning poor grades. My TA was not very helpful. Professor Hirano made the class enjoyable.

Really really great professor in my opinion. Very knowledgable yet humble.

I felt like I really learned a lot from his class, and not just about Japanese history. He didn't just present the facts, but forced us to analyze history in more depth than other history and social classes I've taken. I also appreciated that this class forced me to realize the biased views I applied to history, how many of us are used to forcing the past to fit modern ideas and concepts. I left this course a significantly different person. Sounds dramatic, but it's true.

Highly recommend any course with him. He knows what he's talking about so you'll definitely learn. Only downside are the harsh TA's. Hopefully you'll get one that realizes you're not an expert at Japanese history since it is an intro class.

Great lecturer, I learned a lot from his class but I had a terrible TA. The TA basically determines your grade for all three essays so I'm really bummed out that my TA was a harsh grader. Nonetheless I recommend this professor for great insight for the history of Japan