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Kayla KoleanI was invited to a group to discuss a Japanese style of game called Sugoroku. This type of game is like Chutes and Ladders, but is richly colored and detailed on the board. These are boards are mass produced in magazines and newspapers during and after World War II. These provided not only entertainment, but also were a teaching tool. The game board we focused on taught about the making of the atomic bombs. The main characters on the board are a Neutron, Proton, Electron, and a Meson. Each square on the board will depict a fact about how these parts of the atom are involved with an atom, and later with the construction of an Atomic bomb (nuclear fusion). It also shows the key scientists involved in atomic research and bomb development.
These board games are a way to teach the Japanese citizens a bout new concepts and craft a national identity and rules of morality. It is very similar to government propaganda.
Check out the sugoroku board games at these links:
Types of Games: https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2013/12/japanese-board-games/
Atomic Sugoroku explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9QfKKlYktA
Kayla KoleanI teach about population decline in Japan and have started mentioning the solutions to this as getting a larger outside work force. With the number of refugees abroad, I know that Japan does take in several each year, but this could also be a solution to their issue.
I have also seen Alex Kerr's videos. They are so neat! I have seen ads for Japan, and also Italy, selling rural houses to have people who buy them fix and maintain. Due to Covid, Alex did not get many guests and is taking up rural gardening to provide fresh produce for himself and the community. It is so neat to see this example of population solution.
Rural living is definately not for everyone, but the videos are very fun the watch. I showed a trailer I made to my students to show how the population issue might be managed.
Kayla KoleanI agree. I was very surprised at the request to have China turn over Hong Kong so that the British would have a place to harbor and fix up their ships. Wow! I was thinking of having students look at treaties like this to see if there are one-sided treaties like this one and more fair treaties. How did your students' small treaty lesson go?
-Kayla Kolean
Kayla KoleanMy students do learn about the time period that Japan was closed to the rest of the world (expect for one port) from the 17-19th century. We talk about how art and Japanese culture flourished during this time, but that when Japan started to open its borders, under the strong persuasion by American war boats, it felt the need to play catch-up with the modernization of technology and weapons with the rest of the world.
I think that this pandemic is one way of looking at how countries are responding to a global issue and either closing or restricting access beyond its borders. Students can see in real time what countries are doing, how the virus is spreading, and what steps they take. One such example can be Japan during the 2021 Olympics. This event allowed more people to enter Japan than allowed previously in 2020 or 2021, and then you can see a spike in cases happening during and after the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
I would also like to show students what it looks like when other countries have either encountered another culture with differences in perspectives and/or technology, and have them then think about what might happen if they ran a country that experienced a similair event. This can lead to topics such as nationalism, global thinking, leaps in technology advancement, etc. For example, I like to talk to students about how countries in Africa, like South Africa, do not have the telephone poles that they might see everyday, and instead have access to the internet via mobile devices and wifi or satilite. This shows a leap forward in communication technology for these countries that students can see represented today.
Kayla KoleanI really was blown away by the graph shown on 4:14 of the second part of the lecture. There are two ways I would love to use this graph, to first use it as a stepping point to show the differences of the countires during the early 1800s and that their economies were like. Japan and China, as Professor Dube mentioned, were old civilizations with large populations and economies. Meanwhile, the America that we recognize in the early 1800s was not the size it is today (geography wise) and was largely a place with many rural towns and farms.
Second, you can use that graph to show both American history as well, by moving the focus to comparing 1880s or 1900s to show the rise of America's economy and shift of China's and Japan's too. This can be used as a way to show other countries' power and historical growth in both World History and American History classes.
I wish I had seen a chart like this in my high school classes, because I was never really struck by how young American history (colonialist history) is compared to other countries in Asian like China, India, and Japan. It was not until I went to Japan and stood in temples older than the American constitution that the arc of time for all these countries really sank in.
Kayla Kolean
Kayla KoleanMy students in Japanese 1 and 2 do learn about the population issues in Japan. I would love to bring in the information about China and Korea as well since they too are experiencing this issue.
One way I am considering talking about this issue is to highlight the way Japan is addressing the aging population via technology. There has been a big push to have robotics enter the workforce in Japan, from caregivers in nursing homes to servers at robot-run restaurants. This would be a great way to introduce this issue as well through the lens of technology to see how technology is being applied to create solutions to our current and future issues. This could then be expanded to show other applications of technology (to go in a tech path) or show other changes happening in China, Japan, and Korea about the population issue (China changing its family policy).
Is this something you could use in your courses?
Kayla Kolean
Resources
Robot Waiter Company (KeenOn) https://www.keenonrobot.com/EN/index/Page/index/catid/7.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2sqOBhCGARIsAPuPK0j8x2vKo2NcNhtoUH2gIrSKUVw7dsZIDnAeDELjQGcmS2I8umMckRcaArYQEALw_wcB
Robots in Japanese Nursing Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xUkVrJUB20
Kayla KoleanTeaching Japanese Language and Culture Levels 1 and 2 online for middle and high school students, I really liked the visuals Professor Dube showed us to outline the geography of East Asia. I use the comparison of Japan with the state of California, as well as the comparison of the latitudes of different islands of Japan to show the different climates. I would also love to use a map of the population density that was mentioned to show that so many people in Japan live in cities, like Tokyo and Osaka that Professor Dube mentioned.
I learned a bit about the rice issue that Japan is dealing with from the 2015 article that was attached. Rice is such a staple in Japanese cuisine, but the article showed that there is a decline in demand for rice (either as a food itself or a material for other products such as sake (fermented rice wine beverage)). I also wonder if the water shortage Professor Dube mentioned in video 1 around 15 minutes, since the farms need water to grow rice. I hope to add this topic to my unit on Japanese foods as a current event and issue, and then tie this in with the unit on weather as well to show the climates of Japan and how climate change is affecting the country.
Kayla KoleanI really like Day 2 activities with the Political Cartoons. Visuals are a wonderful way to draw attention, and you have some wonderful warm-up to deep thinking questions. Well done Jennifer!
Kayla Kolean
Kayla KoleanIn my Japanese Language Culture online courses for Level 1 and 2, I have a variety of topics that I can cover. I host weekly lessons and discussion boards about Japanese culture, history, tips, and current events. Thanks to this course, I have gained a better understanding of this evolving history of Japan and its neighbors that can help me answer students and teach with a deep understanding for the context and nuances of the area.
One topic I really found my student enjoy were the issues related to the people of Japan today. They were wondering what issues people like them in Japan were worried about and how might they perceive the issues that they themselves find important like gender equality, global warming, diversity, and Covid-19.
Thank to lectures on Covid-19, Olympics, Southeast Asia economy, Population issues (small youth population vs. large elder population), and gender disparity in Japan, I feel better at teaching these perspectives thanks to the information I gained from our experts in the field.
I have created a large PowerPoint for my students to explore with my in our synchronous lessons, or on their own, that feature indigenous groups of Japan, gender-roles in Japan, and the current population issues plaguing Japan (as well as other Southeastern countries like South Korea and China). This way my online learners can choose to learn at their own page and pursue their own interests, but also have help understanding the topics with teacher guidance via synchronous lessons.
What other topics might you add to this presentation that I might have missed?
Kayla KoleanI teach a unit of Ukiyo-e to my Japanese 2 class. I would be very interested in adding this film to my additional resources for students to view if they are interested. Would this be alright for middle school and high school students?
Our lessons also try to show students all the work that goes into these prints (in Edo Japan the artistis would sketch, get government approval, send it to wood block carvers, check the carvings, then create a print using a set of carved blocks). I would love to show them how this is done still today by hobbiests and traditional artists!
Looking at the movie page for this film on IMDB, I noticed that the prints this artist made are ones I have seen are like prints I have seen from other modern Ukiyo-e artists on Instagram and Etsy where they use pop culture and modern references like game characters in their Ukiyo-e prints.
Thank you for the wonderful suggestion!
-Kayla Kolean
Kayla KoleanThis article is highlighting three women in Japan and their struggle to get a vote in the Japanese democratic government. This is due to the strick laws of how to get a vote (foreign born citizens need reside in Japan for an extended period of time, get a Japanese passport, and renounce any foriegn passport). Another point brought up was the feeling of not being "Japanese" due to family roots from other Asian countries (Korea and China) and the Japanese culture not treating them as equals even thought they were either born here or moved here many years ago and Japanese is their first-language. Very interesting look at the populations not getting a voice in decisions and their campain for change.
2019. Muted in country of birth, three women fight for voice and choice in Japan (The Japan Times).
Kayla KoleanI really liked the speaker's presentations today! Amazing!
I have many Asian-American students, and they are usually second, third, or fourth generation. Susan Kamei's lecture on the Japanese-American interment camps. Many of these students, and others not Asian-American, want to know more about not only American history, Japanese history, and Asian-American history. Because of this interest, I will talk about some ideas I had after listening to Kamei's lecture.
I start lessons by highlighting culture and putting that at the hook of interest to get student intenterest. I found this wonderful teacher created resource with shows the history of this time through political cartoons of the time: https://japaneseinternmentlp.weebly.com/political-cartoon.html
I think this would be a great starting point, and you can use it cross-curricular as well:
This site has several images that could be used. I want to highlight the attached image.
I would like to point out a few parts of the cartoon to teach students and challenge them to think critically:
These are just a few thoughts I had. Do you have any suggestions on changes or more prompts? Thanks for reading!
Kayla Kolean
Kayla KoleanI teach Japanese, and we talk a lot about the population issue that is going on in Japan with lower birthrates and a large group of aging working age people. This issue is also seen in South Korea, and as the professor mentioned in the lecture today, and issue in China as well.
In our seminar featuring 3 speakers a few weeks ago, I learned a lot about the reasons behind Japan's lack of children from the perspective of women's roles in the Japan society (homemaker vs. career, why not do both?, overwhelming responsibilities).
I would like to add information about other countries who are experiencing this issue and possibly have students research the causes to this in small groups with individuals teaming up under prefered countries (Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Spain, Greece).
I also really liked the image of the pigs. This image can be tied into the lesson I have on New Year's Cards that are sent in Japan (like Christmas Cards to Americans) that can feature the zodiac animal of the coming year. I might have them analyze this image and notice that there is more than one baby pig in the image, which then could lead to a discussion about why might China be showing this pig family of 5 (when 3 or 4 is more typical).
Kayla KoleanI just had this conversation with some friends recently during Halloween. We talked about if wearing a kimono, hanbok, or hanfu (Japanese, Korean, and Chinese traditional clothing) for Halloween was cultural appropriation since we are caucasian. One of my friends brought up the point that instead of them being called a costume, instead it should be called traditional wear/dress. I personally bought a yukata (cotton version of the silk kimono) from Japan, and my Japanese native friends have said that they do not see an issue with me (not of Japanese decent) wearing a yukata, and that is was good that I bought it from a Japanese vendor. I have seen similair sentiments from hanbok and hanfu sellers that are Asian-America. I think that for sure some traditional clothing made by master artisans and designers are works of art and should be considered material cultural treasures.
I am not sure if it is applicable to bring this up, but I know that when I think of Native American traditional clothing, I know that to buy and wear this type of clothing as a causasian would be seen as cultural appropriation and looked down on as. Just an interesting thought I had when trying to think of how the Korea/China traditional clothing issue looks to America.
I personally love revised clothing styles and the evolution of clothing around the world. I am very interested in traditional clothing and its influence on today's clothes.
Kayla KoleanI am very interested in the Korean War. Having been to South Korea, I talked with older adults there who believed the war might not end in their lifetime, but thought it would for sure be done and they would reconsile with North Korea within their children or grandchildren's lifetimes.
Dr. Jung-Kim's second video was a wonderful overview of the events of this civil war (which is still ongoing). Thank you so much for the detailed overview! It was very interesting to learn how much interaction South Korea has had with America throughout this cold war with North Korea.
I looked over both Files, and really interested in the Lee, J.'s October article about North Korea and America ending the war. I believe that thanks to the "Korean Wave" and the influence of Korean soft export of culture (music and movies becoming popular in America) has put more pressure on the American government to focus on Korea and the soft culture has energized the American population.
The article stated, "...Washington does not yet appear willing to consider Seoul’s proposal with the sense of urgency and seriousness it deserves" (p.2). This was refering to the opportunity that Biden's administration has to continue with the Trump administration's work with North Korea and continue to make plans and talks to end this conflict. With this in mind, I was not surprised that Lee's conclusion was that Republicans need to continue their work with North Korea to build our relationship and reunite the Korean Penninsula.
Besides the "Korean Wave", the North Korean acts of weapon testing is also bringing more international attention to this conflict and this area of the world. The article starts out by describing a recent North Korean weapons test. I remember being in Japan in 2011-2012 when North Korea was weapon testing and the Japanese government was building anti missle weapons in order to fend off any missle attacks from North Korea, and this was a big worry I had since it was heavily mentioned in both Japanese and American media at the time.
These are my thought while listening to the lectures of Dr. Jung-Kim and reading Lee's article.
