Japanese Culture

GRADE LEVEL: 6th GRADE

SUBJECT: WORLD CULTURES

TOPIC:

Japanese Culture

TEKS:

6.18, 6.19

OBJECTIVE:

Identify various aspects of ancient Japanese culture.

MATERIALS:

See Images Below

Kunisada,
Female with Waterfall, ca. 1820

Hiroshige,
Sumo Match, ca. 1850

Kunisada,
Actor in Female Role, ca. 1820

Kunisada,
Actor with Flute in Snow, ca. 1820

Kunisada,
A Theatrical Scene, ca. 1850

Hokuei,
Musashi Drawing Two Swords, ca. 1830

FOCUS:

Show students the various Japanese wood block prints to generate discussion on early Japanese culture. Ask the students if they have ever watched a televised Sumo match. Research the tradition of Sumo wrestling. What kinds of rituals occur in a Sumo match? What sports in America today have rituals in them? Students probably do not realize that the Sumo wrestlers are revered in Japan the way professional football or basketball players are revered in the United States today.

As the students observe the various actor prints, have them make comparisons to posters that they may have hanging on their walls of television or movie actors.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY:

Assign small groups of student different aspects of Japanese culture to research such as Sumo wrestling, theater,  wood block prints,  food, traditional clothing styles, or the Japanese feudalism, etc.

CULMINATING PROJECT:

#1 - Have students could create a No play developed in the 1300s. In a No play,  actors use arm and body movements to retell a historical event as a group of narrators call out the lines of the play. Students will write a script based on Japanese culture and present it to the rest of the class

#2 - The production of a multicolor print involved an artist who made the original image. Next an expert woodcarver transferred the image on to a series of wooden blocks. One block would stamp the lines and each different color required a wooden block of its own. Have the students create their own design using three or four "wood blocks" made from potatoes or sponges (cutting or carving the design requires careful supervision) and several different colors.