Lesson: Popular Culture and Japan’s Gross National Cool
Grade Level: SecondarySubject Area: Social Studies
Modern Japan's pop culture, from Hello Kitty to Wii, has been successfully exported worldwide. This lesson explores the varied roots of these cultural trends and their significance in a global context.
Lesson: The Bubble Economy and the Lost Decade
Grade Level: Secondary,Post-SecondarySubject Area: English and Language Arts,Social Studies
This lesson uses well-know editorials, speeches, and poems to explore the Japanese reaction to the Bubble Economy and Lost Decade.
Lesson: Japan in the World Since 1945
Grade Level: SecondarySubject Area: Social Studies
This lesson explores Japan's politics after the Allied Occupation, in particular the close but conflicted relationship with the United States, the sometimes strained relations with China and South Korea, and Japan's military policy.
Lesson: Community Identity?
Grade Level: Elementary,SecondarySubject Area: Visual & Performing Arts
By comparing "The Boxing Papers (Shinohara B)" by Kunie Sugiura and a scene from "Boxing Painting" by Ushio Shinohara, students will expand their knowlege of different artistic techniques while analyzing the concept of "community."
Lesson: Defining "Home"
Grade Level: Elementary,SecondarySubject Area: Visual & Performing Arts
"Rocking Chair and Window" by Mayumi Terada and "Untitled" by Satoru Eguchi are used as a basis to start discussion about the definition of "home."
Lesson: A Remade Environment
Grade Level: Elementary,SecondarySubject Area: Visual & Performing Arts
By comparing "Study for Metropolis #2" by Katsuhiro Saiki and "The Hudson" (Detail) by Junko Yoda, students expore the connection between art and environment. Topics discussed include the ways the artists' feelings about the landscape influenced the artwork, along with a more general discussion about "accurate" representation in art.
Lesson: Empire At All Costs, 1932-1945
Grade Level: SecondarySubject Area: Social Studies
In retrospect, the decision for war clearly led to disaster for Japan. Through the use of maps, diaries, and photographs, this lesson helps students understand why Japan pursued this course towards destruction, consider alternatives Japan could have followed, and understand the cost of the war for the Japanese populace.
Lesson: Changing Times, Changing Styles: New Japanese Literary Styles of the Late 19th Century
Grade Level: SecondarySubject Area: English and Language Arts
Kunikida Doppo’s story, "Unforgettable People," provides an example of a style of Japanese literature that developed in the 1880s and 90s as a result of encounters with European literature and other changes in the Japanese lifestyle related to the Meiji Restoration. The author(s) of this lesson suggest ways in which a discussion of the impact of this type of cultural contact may be introduced into the classroom.
Unit: Imperial Democracy and Colonial Expansion, 1890-1945
Grade Level: SecondarySubject Area: Social Studies
In five activity and primary source-intensive lessons that address the major social and political shifts of the period from 1890 to 1945, the authors emphasize that these shifts were interdependent forces that operated on both international and national levels.
Lesson: After the Meiji Light: The Transition to Taisho, 1905-1912
Grade Level: SecondarySubject Area: Social Studies
Using a combination of literature and political history, this lesson examines the complex changes in Japanese political and social life during the years following the Russo-Japanese War.
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