Firefly Symbolism in Japanese Art and Literature
I know for certain that I am revising the Holocaust unit I teach to include the anime from Ghibli Studios Grave of the Fireflies. A significant part of the film's plot, setting, and mood are the fireflies that I learned symbolize love and war and allude to a more pastoral time in Japanese history illustrated in classical art and literature such as The Tale of Genji. I read a few articles, blogs, and reference sites about the symbolism of the butterfly and I settled on the Kyoto Journal article because the overall resource offers an easy to navigate site to learn about Japanese culture in a more "teacher approved" entertainment-type format.
http://www.kyotojournal.org/the-journal/nature/fireflies/

I am planning on using the Banana Yoshimoto novella Kitchen in comparison with the novel Like Water for Chocolate. The Kyoto Journal website publishes food articles with vibrant, appetizing pictures as well, which will be particularly useful during the aforementioned lesson. The home page of Kyoto Journal features a new publication called Food! that features nicely photographed dishes.
http://www.kyotojournal.org