Session 13: Japan

[Anonymous]

Wow! Great website! I particularly appreciate the collection of Japanese proverbs. I teach proverbs in relation to my unit on Africa, and I think I'd like to do the same with my unit on Japan-- possible other units as well. I think my students learn a lot African culture through the proverbs we study. We also look at our own proverbs to compare and contrast with the African. Perhaps doing a little of this with each new culture we study would be a good warm-up or opening activity some days.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed the historical part of this morning's discussion and find it incredibly fascinating how different occupations take on different social statuses throughout various time periods. I think that really speaks to the culture in a country at the time, the value system and beliefs, and the importance on different parts of society. We have definitely seen these changes in our brief history as a country and I think that is a great way to make connections to the past and discuss how various events and belief systems change what a society values.

I also find it very interesting that stories such as The Tale of Genji are passed down through generations and are still so revered today. Not only that, but manga tells historical tales and events in ways that appeal to various readers, engaging them in history without them even realizing it. I would challenge my students to pick a time in history and create a comic for kids or adults that relates to that time, in a way that is engaging, entertaining and educational for their particular audience.

[Anonymous]

Again the heavy dependance on poetry and songs in defining the period. I must pay more attention of the periods poetry.

[Anonymous]

It was interesting that because of the desire to continue the Dynasty's heritage, that educated women were valued because they could give birth to the next leader.

[Anonymous]

Dan, that was interesting to me as well, but again, educated women were not valued because of how they could contribute directly to society with their knowledge. It appears to me that it was important for women to be educated, but more for status than for the actual value of education. A woman's education was used to gain power, but not in the typical way we would think an educated woman would become powerful...

[Anonymous]

Another great passionate professor. I enjoyed Professor Miyake's morning lecture. Here are some highlights that I learned:

• The Japanese women moved on their knees during Heian time. Therefore the women had different perspective in viewing the world.
• The women and men were not allowed to see each other face to face (also during Heian period).
• The peoms were used as the communication media between men and women. This was due to that men were separated from women.
• In Japan, there are cartoons made for girl readers, elder readers, and regular readers.

[Anonymous]

It was nice that Professor Miyake would provide suggestions and examples of what you could do with your students after each segment of her presentation. This is very helpful.
edited by dlau on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

I've previously posted the quote "demographics is destiny." While I understand there are historically valid reasons why men, by viritue of their superior strength and inability to bear children (vulnerable down time), have been the formal leaders of societies, the loss of human potential through the subjugation of women in roles of responsibility or technical expertise has been a waste of human capital. But how to balance that with the need to sustain the human race (meaning "downtime" for women to reproduce and raise children)? It seems to me that the low fertility rates in East Asia (to include high infant mortality rates in North Korea) presages some significant societal challenges for those nations. By contrast, the exponentially high birth rates in other areas of Asia will impact East Asia profoundly as well. The provided reading on Japan and acceptance of immigrants is just the first wave. Stay tuned!

[Anonymous]

I found the information on the Bunraku puppet theater to be very interesting and it reminded me of the musical Avenue Q. This spring I saw this show at the Pantages and was a little thrown off at first to see that the puppeteers were not covered up in any way. It was definitely a little distracting at the beginning, but I (and those I was with) got used to it fairly quickly. It is kind of like subtitles in a foreign language film; the first time you watch a subtitled film, it can prove to be a little difficult to concentrate on anything but the words, but this is easily overcome as the film progresses or as you watch more foreign language films. I actually find that I concentrate more on the content when there are subtitles or when I'm trying to ignore something else, as in Avenue Q or a Bunraku puppet theater - I'd like to encourage my students to experience foreign films with subtitles when possible.
edited by kmoore on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

Dr. Miyake's presentation was fascinating today. I especially loved the resources she shared on Japan, as well as the suggestions for student assignments. Spent some time on Lisa Dalby's website tonight, along with Asia Today and the UCLA resource provided by Dr. Dube. All are terrific resources....have had an interest in manga for some time, but Dr. Miyake was able to dispel some of the misconceptions I had about manga - I always thought it was aimed primarily at adolescents...it was also interesting to see how so much of manga is based on literature and drama in ancient Japan. Today's discussion about poetry was exciting, as I think that haiku is a format that today's kids, with their limited attention spans, can learn quickly and begin to create poetry on their own...the fact that haiku always has an element that incorporates modern trends lends itself to lots of possibilities in the classroom. I'm sure that manga is also something that can inspire kids creatively as well...Dr. Miyake covered a lot of ground today, but she did it with great passion and energy - the day ended with a beautiful film (Twilight Samurai). More on that a bit later, but I did love the film... many thanks for the recommendation. Both films are wonderful additions to this program.
edited by agreenberg on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

Before I went to Japan to study, I always had an impression of Japanese women being submissive and insignificant in a family as well as in the society. However, from today's seminar we learned that women were actually valuable commodity to an Heian court family because family status could be secured or promoted through their marriages to the royal family or a court family. What were valued in women as merits during Heian period still make sense in today's Japanese society. Because in today's Japanese society, men and women's territrory and responsibilities are still clearly divided. Men are working to earn money to support their families, while women are working as house makers to manage their spendings and savings. Women take care of all household chores and raise children. Of course, there are few career women in Japan who work full-time. Because women's role in each families, they are actually very strong and important to both individual families and the entire society. Many women have control over their family decisions, although it appears on the surface that their men are the dominant ones. In Japan, it is very common that husbands turn in all of their pay checks to their wives and then get some spending money from their wives.

[Anonymous]

In the afternoon session, we not only learned the Muromachi/Momoyama and Tokugawa periods, Professor Miyake also shared with us about the Kabuki dance, the puppet theater, woodblock print, and also many illustrations about Japanese art, nature, and people. I am always fascinated by Japanese art and wanted to know about it in more details. Today we had this great opportunity.

The other thing which is amazed me is that "Japanese people never thrown things away, " as Professor Miyake said. They are good in keeping traditional ways in religion rituals, food, and costume.

[Anonymous]

iBesides the information on many historical aspects of Japan, I especially appreciate Professor Miyake's Classroom Activities suggestions. Now I know that there are many methods I can use to adapt and integrate the information into teaching. Moreover, I also like the idea of using cartoons to engage students in stories and discussions.
edited by sliu on 8/9/2011
edited by sliu on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

Thanks for Professor Dube's great arrangement, I really enjoyed the passionate Professor Miyake’s lecture, she puts the classical Japanese history to the way we can follow, understandable and engaged. Through the discussion, What I learned from this fascinating lecture as follow:
1. Different occupations take on different social statuses in various time periods.
2. The men and the women were not allow to see each other face to face except their family members ( father, brothers or husband )
3. The Poems with the beautiful hand writing were the major media to show off or communicate to women from men.
Finally, I liked the Classroom Activities Suggestions, they came to us handy, so we don’t need to reinvent the wheels when we give the Classical Japanese history lesson to our students.
edited by wchu on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

Today was especially beneficial for lesson plan ideas. It was very interesting to know that since women and men couldn't see each other face to face, they had to use other means to find beauty and attraction for courtship. Beauty can be found in poetry, handwriting, and the talent in playing a musical instrument. I definitely plan on turning this into a unit. I liked Professor Miyake's suggestion of posing questions to students such as, "How do you find beauty if you can't physically see someone?" I also can't wait to read and create some activities with, "The One Inch Boy." Additionally, I plan on incorporating the poems we read into a poetry unit. I will have students write different stanzas to create a 17-syllable Renga, the linked verse. My notebook is full of ideas. I feel very inspired!

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