This seminar, taught at University of Tokyo and Peking University, with students from Princeton University and each of the two hosting universities, focuses on developing an understanding of contemporary Japanese and Chinese societies - their histories, cultures, politics, and economies - through lectures, readings, discussions, and tours in Japan and China. Excursions include an overnight trip to rural Japan to examine the role of population aging and rural depopulation on peripheral regions and a trip to Shanghai to experience a rapidly changing Chinese cultural setting.