This class will look at the ups and downs of Japanese history in the first decades of the twentieth century. Japan enjoyed military triumphs, a booming and industrializing economy, international prestige, and a lively cosmopolitan culture in its cities. There was also widespread protest and anger, a massive earthquake that destroyed Tokyo, a harsh crackdown on freedom of thought and expression, and urban-rural and other disparities were enormous and toxic. Examining these years will set the stage for the long war years of the 1930s and 1940s.