Taking this class in Fall 2020 during the infamous COVID-19 pandemic, this class is one of the easiest GE classes to take! Seriously, ALL you have to do is write one essay per week (500-700 word) for a total of 10 essays per semester and that's it! You even get to rewrite essays for a better grade (and the better grade will always be chosen, so there is no harm in resubmitting it). The remote lectures are very interesting because of the professor's clarity and occasional humor/sidenotes, especially if you have any interest in Japanese history (I mean, aren't you curious about why samurais came into rise of society, why did Japanese literary culture like mange or anime became popular worldwide, and such?)! As long as you can write fairly decent essays and you understand what the professor is saying, then you're 80% golden (just make sure you learn how to weave lecture information into essays, which the TAs will help guide you). Speaking of TAs, they are very helpful if you don't know where to get started, since they hint to you ideas that need to be discussed (and the deadline of the essays are about 9-12 hours after your Friday TA discussion, so you can technically go to Discussion section and then start writing the essay and still turn it in time). Overall, this class was very enjoyable, low-stressed (even though I am actually a terrible writer), and easy class. Also big thank you to my TA Thai (she was an amazing person :) ) You can essentially earn 5 unit credits for a relatively low-workload environment, so take it if you care about Japanese civilization or to get it for your GE.

My favorite class I've taken at UCLA! Duthie is a great lecturer and very understanding professor I hurt my hand near finals and he let me take an incomplete. I learned so much and even considered an Asian minor after this course even though I'm a stem major. The course load isn't bad at all: weekly 250 write ups on the weekly readings (which aren't bad and super interesting), one midterm (I remember it had ID sections and a section in which you were given a text excerpt and you had to give the title, author, year, and brief significance), and one non-cumulative final (same length/format as midterm). Section attendance is mandatory and worth it because you learn the significance of the readings you will be tested on, lecture wasn't mandatory but interesting and helpful for ID (Duthie is a great lecturer and I loved his accent), reading/ buying the book wasn't useful. In conclusion, 10/10 class very doable but memorization heavy which I personally like.

Easy class that just requires a lot of memorization. Go to test bank to look at previous midterms -- it's almost the same midterm every year.

The class is overall easy. Attending lectures and sections is helpful.

I took this class last minute for a GE as a P/NP. It was easy and I only attended the discussion. My TA gave us study guides for the test, and if you studied that enough your test grade was fine. I had to study a lot for the final (over the period of a day). If I had just attended lectures, no studying, I would have been fine. If you attend the lecture and try even a little bit in the discussion, you could probably get an A.
One thing I did not think about when taking the class, is that I have zero knowledge/understanding of the Japanese language so everything sounded like jibberish to me making memorization way harder. The people in the class with me who knew a bit more of the language found it way easier than I did.

Selling textbook for the class (text me **********) as of Dec. 2018

This class was pretty easy; as long as you pay attention during every lecture/discussion and write your weekly 250-word paragraph, you should get a good grade.

Duthie is an above-average lecturer who explains information clearly and makes you feel like you were very productive during the time you were in lecture. He throws in jokes occasionally and dresses snazzily. His exams are fair and reasonable with very little unexpected content. Make sure you participate in discussion sections, as that's the most volatile part of your grade depending on your TA.

I would highly recommend this class for the literature/culture GE. The professor is very clear and engaging. He often incorporates visuals and interesting videos into the lectures and is pretty funny.

The midterm and final are very straightforward. They are mostly memorization of the information presented in the class, with some light analysis. Old tests are available in the test bank and the format and material covered is mostly the same.

Discussion involved reading a work from the time period then writing a short response. Some of the readings were long and boring but they were mostly ok/good. To me, these were helpful for remembering the cultural aspects of the different time periods.

Overall, 10/10 would recommend.

Japan 50 is an excellent class to take as a GE and also if you're interested in Japan in general. The professor is very approachable and organizes his lectures very well. He includes videos in lecture, so it's not just him talking the whole time. The workload is very manageable, with just a couple readings and a short 500 word written response a week. Discussion sections are mostly spent going over the weekly assigned readings and responses, and attendance is mandatory. The exams were mostly memorization and were not too difficult--there weren't any twists or surprises. I ended up taking an upper division Japanese poetry course with Professor Duthie because I liked his class and teaching style. I'd definitely recommend him for J50 and other courses as well!

This class was a great GE. The lectures were generally very interesting and Duthie is quite engaging. If you make notes of the key points from each of his lectures and from each period, the midterm and final should be fine. His past papers are a good representation of what you'll get on the final and midterm.

Each week you have one paragraph to write on readings which aren't too hard.

Reading the textbook is useful for getting a good understanding of each period and for studying but it is quite expensive and very hard to find pdf version. If you need one however, contact ********** for cheaper price.

I went to every lecture of this class and I love it.
The professor's voice is not loud so I often sit in the front rows. Make sure you have a nice TA because for different discussion section the score and the criteria for the weekly discussion post is a little bit different. There are weekly response essay, two midterms and one final. The midterms are not hard as long as you can memorize the materials in class and the readings assigned. It is a old-school history class and would make you clear about most of the big pictures of Japanese history.
Overall the class is not hard , but make sure you put effort in it. If you attend class and finish all the reading and memorize most of the materials, you will be fine with the exams.