Japan

Students will create their own books and stamps, and can inscribe poetry or good wishes on each others books. They will then take their books with them on a pilgrimage to the Asian Art Museum, the Japanese tea garden, or the beach, and record their impressions.

Create a helmet out of folded paper, called origami. Decorate it with added embellishments and markings to simulate the patterns of lacing and other details.

Students will: 1.) create a pocket size version of kamishibai and illustrate a Japanese folktale; 2.) learn the history of kamishibai; 3.) use oral, written, and visual language in presenting Japanese folktales; 4.) discuss the similarities and differences in American and Japanese storytelling traditions; 4.) gain an awareness of Japanese culture and Japanese society in early to mid-20th century.

Make a (katazome) kimono using this template.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about Amaterasu, the sun goddess, in the museum’s Japan galleries.

Students will summarize and illustrate the main events of a folktale from Japan in the format of kamishibai slides and retell their stories using their kamishibai slides.

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry made of three lines (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables) that is commonly a meditation on nature. Make an image using colorful paper and ink, and then write a haiku inspired by your creation.

Create your own brush-painted masterpiece.