by Noam Schimmel • Oct 7, 2025 • 2-min read
One of my tasks as a teacher is akin to a museum curator.
About the Author
Noam Schimmel is a Lecturer in Global Studies at University of California, Berkeley teaching courses in African Studies, Japanese Film and Society, global studies, and human rights. His research and publications address human rights, humanitarian aid, global justice, and international development. For more of his research and teaching, please see: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/faculty/noam-schimmel
I teach a course on Japanese society and culture as reflected in Japanese film at University of California, Berkeley. Every summer, as I teach the course, my appreciation for Japanese culture in its extraordinary richness and depth expands.
As the summer comes to a close, I find myself reflecting with gratitude on the ways in which Japanese culture contributes to my understanding – and hopefully that of my students too - of our personal relationship with nature, Buddhist teachings about non-attachment, humility, self-awareness and self-control and impermanence, Buddhist commentary on the biases and limitations of human perception and cognition, and the unique forms of insight and beauty that take shape in Japanese cultural expression.
From the delicate immediacy of haiku to the color and sweep of woodblock prints and the ethical wisdom and humanistic values of peace and respect for the sacredness of both nature and people found in the anime films of Studio Ghibli, teaching about Japan inspires wonder in teacher and student alike.
One of my tasks as a teacher is akin to a museum curator.
In a three-week intensive class, I have a focused opportunity to introduce my students to Japanese films and culture, but within a limited amount of time and, consequently, a dense pedagogical context that necessitates careful selection of what to include in the course.
Selecting what to include is always challenging in the context of immense cultural richness and the need to provide both foundational knowledge about Japanese history, society, and culture while simultaneously seeding student interest in further study beyond our course.
As the summer closes, I’d like to share some of my pedagogical resources and I hope that they will be helpful to those teaching Japanese Studies and East Asian Studies. My syllabus changes from year to year, reflecting new books, journalism, films, artwork, and photography.
The links below are not exhaustive for an introductory course on Japanese film and society and Japanese history and culture more broadly. But they provide a thematically diverse way to examine Japan from a wide range of experiences and viewpoints. I have grouped these resources into the categories of photography, film, journalism, and books.
Photography:
Journalism: