Skip to main content

MITx: Visualizing Japan (1850s-1930s): Westernization, Protest, Modernity

A MITx/HarvardX collaboration, this course explores Japan’s transition into the modern world through the historical visual record.

Visualizing Japan (1850s-1930s): Westernization, Protest, Modernity
6 weeks
3–5 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

36,608 already enrolled! After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts Mar 19
Ends Nov 15

About this course

Skip About this course

This course is taught by MIT, Harvard, and Duke historians, and was developed in a first-time collaboration between HarvardX and MITx. Japanese history is seen in a new way through the images made by those who were there. You will examine the skills and questions in reading history through archival images now in the digital realm.

The course looks at the methodologies historians use to “visualize” the past, the themes of Westernization, in Commodore Perry’s 1853-54 expedition to Japan; social protest, in Tokyo’s 1905 Hibiya Riot; and modernity, as seen in the archives of the major Japanese cosmetics company, Shiseido.

  • Introduction: New Historical Sources for a Digital Age (Professors Dower, Gordon, Miyagawa). Digitization has dramatically altered historians' access to primary sources, making large databases of the visual record readily accessible. How is historical methodology changing in response to this seismic shift? How can scholars, students, and the general public make optimal use of these new digital resources?
  • Module 1: Black Ships & Samurai (Professor Dower). Commodore Matthew Perry's 1853-54 expedition to force Japan to open its doors to the outside world is an extraordinary moment to look at by examining and comparing the visual representations left to us by both the American and Japanese sides of this encounter. This module also addresses the rapid Westernization undertaken by Japan in the half century following the Perry mission.

  • Module 2: Social Protest in Imperial Japan: The Hibiya Riot of 1905 (Professor Gordon). The dramatic daily reports from participants in the massive "Hibiya Riot" in 1905, the first major social protest in the age of "imperial democracy" in Japan, offer a vivid and fresh perspective on the contentious domestic politics of an emerging imperial power.

  • Module 3: Modernity in Interwar Japan: Shiseido & Consumer Culture (Professor Weisenfeld, with Professors Gordon and Dower). Exploring the vast archives of the Shiseido cosmetics company opens a fascinating window on the emergence of consumer culture, modern roles for women, and global cosmopolitanism from the 'teens through the 1920s and even into the era of Japanese militarism and aggression in the 1930s.

Other Visualizing Cultures courses you may be interested in: Visualizing the Birth of Modern Tokyo (VTx) and Visualizing Imperialism and the Philippines (VPx).

At a glance

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated programs:
  • Associated skills:Digital Data

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • Methodologies to "visualize" Japanese history between the 1850s and 1930s
  • An understanding of Westernization, social protest, modernity in Japanese history through digital imagery
  • Strategies for learning--and teaching--history through visual sources

More about this course

Skip More about this course

The course is based on the MIT "Visualizing Cultures" website devoted to image-driven research on Japan and China since the 19th century (visualizingcultures.mit.edu).


In addition to MITx and HarvardX, this project is supported by the U.S. Japan Foundation, the University of Tokyo, and the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University.

MITx requires individuals who enroll in its courses on edX to abide by the terms of the edX honor code. MITx will take appropriate corrective action in response to violations of the edX honor code, which may include dismissal from the MITx course; revocation of any certificates received for the MITx course; or other remedies as circumstances warrant. No refunds will be issued in the case of corrective action for such violations.

Learners who register for an MITx open online course agree to participate in research intended to improve MITx's offerings and to improve education generally. As a part of this research, learners may be experience variation in course material. MITx may share the information gathered during an MITx course, including personally identifiable information, with researchers both within and outside of MIT. All disclosures of information will be in compliance with applicable law and will be subject to an agreement to protect the data being disclosed. MITx may publicly share aggregated data that does not personally identify learners, and any research findings will also be presented in a way that does not identify individual learners. Please refer to the edX Privacy Policy for more information and/or report your experience through the edX contact form.

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

This course is part of Visualizing Japan XSeries Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
3 high-quality courses
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
5 months
2 - 4 hours per week

Interested in this course for your business or team?

Train your employees in the most in-demand topics, with edX For Business.