Lesson 2: Social Geography of Japan

So far you have learnt about the Geography of Japan; now it is time to learn about its culture.

Culture can be defined as “the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.” With this in mind, today we will be focussing on the different arts practised traditionally in japan and the role clothing hold within traditional japanese culture.

Starter

In preparation for your next Japan blog, you will need to do some research around kimonos. These are traditional japanese and I would like you to delve into their origins and history.
Write 3 facts that you have learnt about the kimono in the comments below.

Task 1

 For this task, you will need to research your own traditional art forms. You have free range and can choose to research any of the following (traditional):
– Ikebena
-Tea ceremony
-Guiesha
-Noh, kabuki
-Bunraku
Many of us looked at elements of the above during History week recently and you created some WOW work! Therefore, I would like you to choose one and write a summary explaining what it is.

For example:

The Japanese tea ceremony first began during the 9th century, when it is thought that a monk brought the tradition from China. To perfect the ritual tea serving a person train and practise for many years; it is said that the rictual “signifies no more than the making and serving of a cup of tea. The supremely important matter is that the act be performed in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most charming manner possible”. Throughout Japan there are many different schools of the tea ceremony, there are a multitude of ways that the ceremony can be performed but generally, the host will wear a kimono and the more formal the meeting is, and the more important the guest, the longer the ceremony lasts.

In your explanation I would like you to include:

• How/when the tradition began
• Why the tradition is considered to be important
• The purpose of the tradition (why do they do it? for fun?)
• Key facts about the tradition
• GD – can you add a quote about the tradition, preferably embedded into a sentence.