The Japan Forum > Click Nippon > Class Ideas

Students read the interview article about Aoyanagi, a tatami maker who makes bags with tatami, and explore traditions in their own environment and how they have been passed down. Students then create a commercial or flyer for the tatami bag.

Read the interview article, “Yokosuka, the town of Curry” and learn how Yokosuka used its ties with the history of serving curry in the Japanese navy in local economy revitalization efforts. Students research food festivals in their regions and recognize its history and natural features. Then they think of what kind of food festival would promote the region, and create a poster or an article in Japanese to promote the festival, reflecting the knowledge gained from their research. Students may also enjoy cooking Kaigun Curry with the recipe close to the original.

Students will read the interview article about Nakaya Chikako, who runs emakizushi workshops to promote instruction in its techniques. Students get to know about emakizushi, and think about the positive influence of making emakizushi together for the family today.

The students will watch a video of Mr Komoto who launched a new wave of kendama, answer questions and talk about what they saw. Making kendama and doing kendama dance/exercise are opportunities to connect with other key learning areas. Students will also research the history of kendama and learn about the changes to games and lifestyles over time.

Learn about Ikeda Mikio by reading the article and watching the video of his training for Paralympics and see examples of Ikeda's resilience.

Study the importance of preparing ourselves in case of disaster, especially storing emergency food, which leads to a discussion of what we can do to protect ourselves. Then, by studying some simple recipes, learn about some examples of traditional Japanese dried ingredients. Compare these with ingredients familiar to students, then have students create their own recipes for emergencies.

Mikio Ikeda is an athlete who is training hard for the Paralympics. Students will read the text and watch the video of his training, and learn Mikio’s disability, challenges, dreams and goals. Using their knowledge about Mikio, students will participate in a hot seating activity to gain deeper levels of understanding of the text.

By reading an article of a father who makes Kyara-Ben, students will learn about Kyara-Ben as a Japanese food culture and understand what he wants to express through making them. Students will also design their own Kyara-Ben and explain their thoughts for each item. The recipes of Kyara-Ben are available to expand the lesson to cross curricular learning.