<p>This collection serves to end the unit on Edo Japan and retake the discussion of how the period fits within the greater scene of world history. In our class, seclusion and openness of countries is an common through line, and so the arrival of the Americans effectively ending the Sakoku period is an important historical milestone. The main goal of this collection is to lead students into this dialectical reflection of how these two countries interacted and what this meant for a Japan that had consciously shut down most trade relations.  The <a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/usMqMyLDnzdUYDJb">opening lesson on Edo Japan</a> puts in doubt how closed the country really was; this last lesson highlights how Edo Japan had evolved since the edict of 1635, and how it had to open its ports and face the conjunctions of the 19th century's international scene. </p> <p>This collection also brings into light reactions on both sides of the American arrival. Images and archives from both Japanese, as well as American witnesses, allow students to understand the motivations coming from East, as well as the West. </p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Lesson plan (2 hours) </strong></p> <p>1. Provide the students with the resources "4c United States-Japan Treaty single." "Black Ships and Samurai," "Founding Fragments - Commodore Perry," and "Matthew Calbraith Perry." Allow students time to browse at least two topics from the website and play the video "Founding Fragments - Commodore Perry" for the entire class. </p> <p>2. Using all the resources in Step 1, lead class through the visible thinking routine "True for who?" While completing this routine, highlight how each country struggles to defend their views. </p> <p>At the end of this unit, students have a fairly strong understanding of Japanese national interests. For this reason, the teacher can help provide information of the U.S.'s international stance during the 19th century. While the U.S. plays a background role in our curriculum, we do a quick mention of the Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine, as ways in which the students’ own country emulate cycles of international openness or seclusion. Following this through line, it is necessary to stress the arrival of Commodore Perry to Japan as a thematic intersection. The moment marks both the end of Edo period for Japan, and the United States’ efforts to expand their field of influence.</p> <p>3. Allow students time to read further into the "Black Ships and Samurai" website. Students can also conduct quick research on the arrival of the Americans in 1853, and Japanese-American relations previous to this date.</p> <p>4. Provide students a copy of Commodore Perry and President Fillmore's letter to the Emperor of Japan. Use resource "Letters of the Commodore Perry and President Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan (1852-1853)"  Do a close reading of the letters and highlight the main passages. </p> <p>5. Present the remaining images and complete a visible thinking routine "Parts/People/Interactions." Allow students to cite the letters in Step 4, as well as the images in this collection. At the end of this lesson, students are able to compare, as well as to question each country’s discourse of seclusion or non-intervention.</p>

<p>This collection serves as a pre-assessment activity to a unit on Edo Japan. The artwork in the module is heavily influenced by the Edo period. The goal of this short lesson is to activate imagery and ideas of Japanese art during the Edo period. </p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>Lesson plan (&lt;1 hour)</strong></p> <p>Complete *ONE of the following activities:</p> <p>1. Use the resource "One Step, First Step, Apple Computer, Osaka, Japan" to lead a "Think/Puzzle/Explore" routine. </p> <p>2. Use all four resources of the Japan Railway Company to complete a "See/Think/Wonder" visible thinking routine. </p> <p>3. Use either "How Japan Does It" or "MacDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan/Tokyo Ginza Shuffle" to lead the "3-2-1 Bridge" visible thinking routine. </p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>*For all three routines: </strong></p> <p>As you complete the routine, evaluate how much students already know about Japan and the lexicon that they use. Highlight key concepts written in the routine's poster. What do students know and how do these artifacts corroborate or oppose their initial ideas of Japan? Can students discern the historical nature behind some of these ads and posters? For instance, the railway ad displays a screen, and the poster for ‘How Japan Does It’ has a heavy ukiyo-e influence. In this way, these examples of commercial art tie in lasting impressions of a culture with contemporary takes on the country in a fun way. </p> <p>These three routines could also be completed in unison. Divide the class in smaller groups, provide each group with the images of the collection, and guide each group through one of the routines listed. The result as a class will be a much richer lexicon bank. </p>

<p>This module is designed to compliment a unit on Heian Japan or of feudalism in Japan in general. The goal of this collection is to purposely include the role of women within an evaluation of feudal Japanese society and history. The lesson plan highlights Japanese women in leading roles, with a focus on historical representations of women during Heian Japan; it also includes similar examples of female characters from the Kamakura and Edo period. The two main categories of the collection are warriors and noble women, with the inclusion of the writer Murasaki Shikibu and illustrations of The Tale of Genji. The idea is to study ‘women’ as its own historical component, and the group as actors exerting historical agency. <br /></p> <p>Given that the purpose of this collection is to concentrate on the role of women, it includes artwork that was achieved after the Heian and Kamakura periods and that are representations of salient women from the feudal era. </p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>Lesson plan (3-4 hours) </strong></p> <p>1. Teacher leads an introduction to the feudal system and its particularities in Japan. If the class is by topics, this discussion could easily stem from a general discussion of feudalism in Europe. In our particular case, we have already discussed feudalism in Europe earlier, and so the teachers highlight parallels between the two systems in order to activate the main keywords of the unit and review ideas of how the feudal economy worked. </p> <p>2. Students read a textbook chapter on feudal Japan and answer comprehension and analysis questions from the text. Key concepts are established following this reading such as: daimyo, samurai, land distribution, family clans, and feudal social pyramid, among others.  </p> <p>See: </p> <p>Spielvogel, Jackson J. <em>World History: Journey Across Time</em>. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print.</p> <p>3. In small groups, students analyze original documents from the feudal period. Documents from the book cited below include: the Bushido code, family letters, and excerpts of laws, among other primary sources. Each group of students is in charge of one particular document. Students should identify: main idea, intended audience, who wrote it, and how does this particular document help understand Japanese feudalism. These documents should also help activate many of the key concepts studied earlier. Once all tables have their findings, the class comes together to present and discuss all documents. </p> <p>See: </p> <p>Stearns, Peter N. <em>World History in Documents</em>. New York, USA: NYU Press, 2008. Print.<br /></p> <p>4. Use this collection to shine the light on women during the feudal period. Lead a "Step Inside" routine with the resource "Ohatsu avenging her mistress Onoe." </p> <p>Students may well have noticed the silence regarding women's role at this point in the unit. In my classes, for instance, students automatically assume that there are working women alongside male merchants and farmers, but they have doubts as to women occupying higher roles in society. This routine can clarify some doubts as to their presence among higher social ranks. </p> <p>5. Allow students to browse the collection, play one of the videos on female samurais or lead other Project Zero routines with the other paintings of female warriors and writers. Once the class is familiar with the resources in the collection, lead the visible thinking routine "People/Parts/Interactions" to reevaluate society as a whole. </p> <p>Discuss how their reading of the texts in Step 2 and Step 3 has changed based on this new information. How do they now imagine women in feudal society?</p> <p>6. Close the unit with the visible thinking routine "Circle of viewpoints." In our class, we use the routine's questions as a prompt for a one-page essay. Students answer the questions of the routine as if they were a person living in feudal Japan; they can choose to write a journal entry or an essay in the third person. Students should use the resources in this collection and in the texts provided to describe the life of their chosen character. This exercise allows students to explore context, society, thoughts, limitations and daily life from the point of view of a historical actor.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Extension activity </strong>(1 hour) </p> <p>Instead of leading a written routine of "Circle of viewpoints" students can create postcards written from the point of view of their historical characters. Students also design the flip side of their postcards and the artwork should illustrate the environment or experiences of their historical character. </p> <p><br /></p>