Japanese Literature

[clay dube]

Whatever the question or observation, be it on poetry or modern short stories, please feel free to raise them here.

Especially welcome are ideas about which topics/materials might work with students and what sorts of activities could students engage in as a means of exploring these works.

Among the resources available to you are:

A lesson using proverbs to teach about Japanese culture:
http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/japan/lessons/proverbs.htm

A series of lessons on the classical period. (Historical overview by Sam Yamashita and literary overview by Lynne Miyake.) http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/japan/classical/overview.htm

Links to lessons: http://www.isop.ucla.edu/eas/web/asia-web.htm[Edit by="Clay Dube on Jul 31, 12:55:29 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Definitely having students write Haiku and Tanka poems is something that could be considered. I have my students write a Listing poem which is exactly like the "Pillow Book"
poems. You have students write down different images - one image per line. I usually have my students write down 15 or more different images about one topic without using abstract terms like love, hate, or beauty but rather exactly what they hate, love, or think is beautiful.

[Anonymous]

I very much enjoyed Lynne Miyake's presentation today. Afterwards, it occurred to me, that modern Japanese society has some of the same instrinsic opposites we've seen in the literature. For example, in Japan, I noticed a frankness about sexuality and the human body (in the public baths even when visiting some of the most elegant resorts), along with an almost shy social politness (i.e., they're open, but they don't talk about it?) I wonder whether these (what seems to me) contradictions were always in Japan, or developed over time as the population grew and physical proximity was a necessity. The literature we read for today and next week seems to suggest it may have always been there.

BBK

[clay dube]

Curious what Japanese worry about? There's a terrific volume, Jinsei Annai, which collects questions sent to a newspaper advice column. Entire chapters are given over to discussions of the ideal mate and so on. Your students might enjoy comparing today's ideas with those evident in The Pillow Book and The Tale of Genji.

Want a quick sample? Recent columns are available online!

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/advice/advice.htm

Among the topics: "Wife tired of cheating hubby" http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/advice/20030503wp01.htm

"Son's choice of wife worries mother" http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/advice/20020323wp01.htm

smiling,
clay

[Anonymous]

I'm not an expert on Japanese socialization, but to answer Beth's thought of the contradiction of Japan's social interaction, I once heard the social politeness is not due o shyness, but rather respect for those around them. I'd agree that the physical proximity perhaps has encouraged the 'quietness,' but I think it's has to do more with not hurting someone's feelings or disrespecting someone.

Caryn

[Anonymous]

Last year my class (actually 60 kids) went to the Japanese American Natiiional Museum in Little Tokyo for free. Mostly we saw older kids there --MS and HS--. If your school is a Title 1 school, they will give you transportation, class/hands on, origami, and docents ( one for every 8 kids). It was a fabulous trip---we also went to the grocery store there in small groups and then sat outside on the plaza eating our Japanese food. I'd be sure to give the kids a lot of background on the WWII relocation of Japanese Americans before you go. LAUSD has a free kit that includes two film versions of Farewell to Manzanar, lesson plans,and free book. There are also trips to Manzanar for educators that are excellent. I went this year--even though there is virtually nothing left there, the narration on the trip there by a survivor-- was incredible. I found out about both the kit and the trip in the Grapevine of the United Teachers. I'm planning to put some biblio. references on Japanese-Americans--relocation--on my web page-- when I ever get it done!

Emily

[Anonymous]

I think Clay's idea of comparing current Japanese concerns with those found in The Tale of the Genji and The Pillow Book is a terrific idea. Just the idea of students reading those two classics (and Pillow Book seems especially accessible for young students) to answer a questions such as "What was important to these people, and how does that compare with what is important to people in the U.S. today?" seems like a wonderful way to personalize history. It also can help students break out of their provincial mindset and examine why is it that certain things are regarded as important in our society today? (yeah, I wrote a shorter post!)

[Anonymous]

A good website for general background information about Japanese literature and other aspects of Japanese culture is http://www.kanzaki.com/jinfo/jliterature.html It describes Japan's literature from the Heian to the Meiji period in one or two paragraph summaries for each period, presenting dates, important names, and the prevailing styles. Perhaps even more useful are the links to texts of the writings mentioned, descriptions of genres, e.g., Classical Theater including Noh, Kabuki, etc., and many other subjects such as music, calligraphy, and art. This site could be used by teachers and by high school students for an outline of basic facts and as an overview of the many areas of achievement in these different periods.

[Anonymous]

A site that I definitely want to use with my students is http://www.taleofmurasaki.com/explantionpage.htm This was put together by the writer Liza Dalby who wrote the book Tale of Murasaki From the front page you can click on links to "Characters" both real and fictional in her book, and "Subjects." I like that the descriptions of the details of the lives of the characters is tentative rather than authoritative in tone because it shows that history is often interpretive and not settled--a good lesson for students. The "Subjects" page is a wonderful resource with categories of all aspects of Japanese life during that time: Beauty Secrets (care of hair, face, teeth, etc.,) Fashion, Food, Music, Home and Garden, citylife, Games, Religion, literature, Seasons, Pets, and more. Each is warmly and thoroughly described with interesting details. I plan to give my students some general questions and then just let them explore this rich site.

[Anonymous]

Here is a beautiful haiku by Moritake that I share with my students during the poetry unit.

The falling flower
I saw drift back to the branch
Was a butterfly

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting this haiku. It is beautiful. My students in Juvenile Hall reallly love poetry and Haiku especially appeals to them.

[Author]

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