[Rachel Knowles]

I find it interesting how it seems that so much of the Japanese culture revolves around building and putting things together. The samurai puts together the sword and the tea master puts together the tea (and then coupling it with next week's idea of recreating the Ise Temple every 20 years). 

[Rachel Knowles]

The Fumi-E seems like such a theraputic way to get anger out. I have ripped up many ex-boyfriend pictures but not I feel that I should've trampled on them some too. 

I envision Noh theater to be captivating for the samurai, maybe because they could change who they are. The masks allow people to see wide emotions and the chorus allows the emotions to shine in a different way. It also tells the tales of heroic samurai so I can also picture samurai being excited to watch and emunate what they see as well as hoping to be like them some day. 

I think Japan used the edicts to definitely control westerners in their land. They kept trading with Korea and Ryukyu Islands (and then China by extension). As we discussed, the Bhuddist temples and land had a lot of power in Japan during this time. The limitations to the ships themselves could come from trying to control the pirates in the area.

[Rachel Knowles]

8 AM!!!

[Rachel Knowles]

-how has Japan’s geography shaped its agriculture?

I really liked learning more about Japan's geography. Japan seems to be almost like the "end of the world" where a series of migrations led to the population of the different islands and despite the constant ecological dangers, people stayed there forging a culture out of its geography. I was struck by the different deforestations of the islands. I knew that Japan puts value in wood but it didn't occur to me that at many different points in its history forests have been systematically cut down for it. 

Simon Kaner, “Flames of Creation”

-how does the archaeology of Japan compare to other countries and regions of the world?

I loved looking at the differences and connections in archaeological evidence of Japan. Japan created its own unique culture and then adapted and adopted others aspects that they considered beneficial. And by looking past just the object one can imagine what technology and craftmanship it had. 

-to what degree can we know the people who made these remarkable ceramics, using only the material remains?

I don't think we can fully know the people who made the ceramics. One of my favorite scenes in Doctor Who is the Doctor at a museum looking at what the historians hypothesize about what the objects were used for. He flits from object to object saying "wrong....wrong...definitely wrong." I feel that way a lot about prehistoric objects with no written records.

“The Earliest Records of Japan”

-how do these records of early Japan illuminate the importance of the proximity of China and Japan?what differences do you see between the early Chinese and early Japanese records of Japan?

I find that the simple fact that the early records of Japan are Chinese shows the connection between the different areas. 

-

[Rachel Knowles]

Hello,

My name is Rachel. For the past 16 years I've been teaching history at a regional school district in western mass (Southwick). For the first 10 I taught middle school but 5 years ago I moved up with the 8th grade to high school. I primarily teach world history but have been known to teach American as well as film techniques. 

[Author]

Posts