Destination: Japan

Let's go to Japan! Our collection of images, audio and text is your passport to exploring the richness and beauty of Japanese arts and culture. Explore how Japanese poets use haiku, a highly structured form of poetry, to capture the fleeting beauty of nature. Experience a range of Japanese theater, from the melodramatic spectacles of the Kabuki theater to the solemn, highly ritualized Noh. Peruse the intricate Ukiyo-e, impressions of artisan-carved woodblocks, designed to depict “pictures of the floating world of the common man.” Japan’s art is inextricably woven into the everyday lives of its people; studying these artistic traditions will provide your students with a glimpse into the history, values, and aesthetics of the Japanese people.

Lessons:

The sound and movement of ocean waves may be called poetry in motion. This lesson uses the ocean to teach students about a form of Japanese poetry. After learning about haiku, and hearing haiku, students listen to the ocean to inspire them in writing their own haiku.

You Too Can Haiku

Students will write their own haiku, which they will publish on a Japanese-style scroll.

Students learn about the experiences of Japanese Americans who were relocated from their homes to detainment camps during World War II.

Students study the art of the Japanese Noh theater and act out a Noh play. In learning about the history, theatrical elements, music and dance, and costuming, they are also comparing and contrasting these to the other theater elements they have studied involving Greek, Elizabethan and Modern Theater.

This lesson explores the history and evolution of Japanese woodblock print. Students will study the Ukyio-e from its early beginnings to its height in the late 1800s, learn the about the techniques and development of this process, view prints from the time period, and create Ukyio-e of their own.

How-To:

Use elements of Kabuki theater to introduce students to Japanese arts and culture, and reinterpret theatrical works.

Look·Listen·Learn:

Celebrate the arrival of the cherry blossoms with this collection of Japanese-themed performances from the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage.

Learn more about the arts and culture of Japan with this interactive passport (iPass) to the Kennedy Center festival JAPAN! culture + hyperculture. Students explore interviews, video, slideshows, and more to boost their knowledge and crack "the code" for a free download not to be missed!