1. Bow Down in Asia
Japan

2. Meet Japan
• Japan is a large island off the east coast of north Asia. An
island is a tract of land surrounded by water and smaller
than a continent like Asia or North America. Have Ss
count how many islands are in Japan and then tell them
each of the names. How many Islands are in Japan? The
country has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shiloku, and Kyushu.
Japan is close to North &
South Korea

3. Meet Japan
• Explain that Japan is one of the most ancient of cultures
in our society. The Japanese culture has a beauty of its
own and they are famous for:
• Beautiful crafts like Origami.
• Most of their meals consisting of rice, fish, and sushi.
• Out of respect for each other, they bow as a way to say
hello.
• Japan
Videohttp://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/destinati
ons/japan-dest

4. The People
• Geisha are famous female traditional entertainers, who
sing, dance, play traditional Japanese musical instruments
and engage their clients with interesting conversation.
Today there are still some active Geisha in places such as
Kyoto and Kanazawa.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiBYGugc17k
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oui8lWwKHd4

5. The People
• Samurai were a traditional warrior class in Japan, who
were recognized by the two swords they carried and the
heavy armored clothes they wore. They were similar to
our military men like the Army because they protected
the people from danger.

6. Language
• Hi : Konnichiwa
• Goodmorning : Ohayo Gozaimasu
• How are you? : Ogenki desuka?
• Fine : Genki Desu.
• Good bye : Sayounara.

7. Writing
• In Japanese, there are three writing systems called
Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Hiragana and Katakana
are both made up of 46 basic letters. Each of these letters
represents one syllable. Hiragana is used to write
Japanese words, and Katakana is often used to write
words from foreign languages. Japanese children start
learning to write with Hiragana and Katakana in first
grade.

8. Writing
• Kanji, originally from China, is the writing system made
of thou- sands of characters. Each character represents
specific meaning. By putting characters together, you get
new words with new meanings. Once first grade students
have mastered Hiragana and Katakana, they start
learning Kanji, but that takes a lot longer. By sixth grade,
students will have learned 1,000 characters; to read
newspapers, it’s said you need to know 2,000 Kanji
characters.
• Besides these three writing systems, Rōm aji, the
romanization of Japanese, is also commonly used.

9. Ethnic Snacks
• Pocky Stick
• Japanese Assorted Candies
• Oriental Rice Crackers
• Wasabi Peas
• Mochi Rice Cake

10. Ethnic Food Activity
• Let’s Make
Sushihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLRL18LvVyo

11. Homes We Live In
• In a traditional Japanese house, you don't sit on chairs or
sleep on beds. You sit and sleep on the floor using
cushions and futon bedding. The way the Japanese room
was designed made this possible because of tatami mats
that covered the floor. Japanese rooms were divided with
sliding, paper-screens called shoji or fusuma instead of
doors and windows. During the daytime the traditional
Japanese room serves as a living and dining room, and at
night, it was used as a bedroom by laying out the futon.
The futon is folded up in the morning and stored in the
oshi-ire (closet).

12. Homes We Live In
https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=gJazvumHNyk

13. Transportation
• Modes of transportation in Japan: Explain that Japan has
one of the best transportation systems in the world due to
their rocket fast trains, large buses, taxis, scooters and
bicycles and underground subways. Show pictures of
different transportation modes or a video like;
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=27
356 .

14. Etiquette & Manners
• People put on and take off their shoes in the genkan, or
entranceway.
• Japanese eat meals sitting on tatami mats, not on chairs.
They also roll out the futon on which they sleep on the
tatami floor. Therefore, they take their shoes off when
entering the house to avoid getting the floor dirty. The
genkan - or the entranceway just inside the front door
where shoes are removed - is slightly lower than the
hallway and the rooms of the house.

15. Etiquette & Manners
Chopsticks
• Japanese chopstick manners are
amongst the most important rules of
etiquette in Japan. They are taken quite
seriously. For example, it's considered
rude to use your chopsticks to point at
something such as a menu.
Stabbing Food With Chopsticks
• When you're having difficulty picking
food up with your chopsticks it's
tempting to stab the food with them.
This is mildly rude although the locals
occasionally do it.

16. Games
• Martial Arts
• Judo which means “the gentle way” is a recent sport
popular at the Olympics.
• Karate is the most popular martial arts and is primarily a
striking martial art from the island of Okinawa. A blend
of Chinese and Japanese fighting styles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWL-qqrNU6E
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evStD-S9sa4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwKqJ3rSlyQ

17. Clothing We Wear
• JAPANESE CLOTHES- Talk about Japanese traditional
clothes and show pictures. Then show modern clothes.
• The kimono is the traditional dress of Japan. It's got long
sleeves and reaches from the shoulders all the way down to the
heels. Different types of kimono are worn depending on the
occasion; kimonos for everyday wear are a lot simpler than
those for formal occasions. It usually comes in one size,
although distinctions are made between what men, women,
and children wear. When choosing which kimono to wear,
people think about the designs and materials that best match
the season and how well it goes with the belt.

18. Clothing We Wear
• Most kimonos are made of silk, although they also come
in cotton, wool, and linen. Compared to Western dress,
the kimono tends to limit one's movement, and it takes a
lot more time to put on and store properly. So, most
Japanese today wear kimonos only on special occasions
like formal gatherings and traditional events.
• Examples include the New Year holidays, the Shichi-go-
san festival to pray for the healthy growth of children,
weddings and funerals, the coming-of-age ceremony to
mark one's twentieth birthday

19. Clothing We Wear

20. Clothing We Wear

21. Clothing We Wear

22. Clothing We Wear

23. Make a Change
• The country often suffers such serious natural disasters as
typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Although
these disasters can claim many lives, as in the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Japanese have been
working hard for years to minimize their damage. Japan
uses state-of-the-art technologies to design quake-
resistant buildings and to better track storms.
• Tokyo's Natural Environment video-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo2BZoOTxno
• Japan nature documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_u9G-3Aguo
• Beautiful Japanese Gardens-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKpM132sE-Y

24. Make a Change
• The Japanese currency is the yen (円, en). Bills come in
1,000 yen, 2,000 yen (very rare), 5,000 yen and 10,000
yen denominations. Coins come in 1 yen, 5 yen, 10 yen,
50 yen, 100 yen and 500 yen denominations. Show Ss
currency in Japan and explain the value.

25. Credits
• Lesson Plans created and used by Tour-A-Culture™ Inc.
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