Media Japan: Arts & Culture
This is your passport to the arts and culture of Japan as experienced through the Kennedy Center's Japan! culture + hyperculture festival
In this 9-12 lesson, students will explore the history and evolution of the Japanese woodblock print. Students will study the ukiyo-e genre from its early beginnings to its height in the late 1800s. Students will also learn about the techniques and development of this process, view prints from the time period, and create original ukiyo-e prints.
Students will:
Videos
Websites
Additional Materials
Teachers should familiarize themselves with the and the process of .
Students should be familiar with basic art terminology: composition, gradation, flat, brilliant, subject, depth/dimension, etc. Students should have basic background knowledge of Japanese history and culture.
Provide assistive technologies during research and the art-making process. Allow sufficient space for movement around the room.
Two-color and three-color prints emerged during the mid-1800s, and full-blown multicolored prints became the norm soon after. The ukiyo-e print became commercialized during that time, with widespread production. Prints depicting characters from Kabuki plays were used as flyers to advertise performances in the cities and countryside. Other prints depicted beautiful women, birds, flowers, and landscapes.
Original Writer
Elna Eichenmuller
Adaptation
Jill Gerlman
Editor
JoDee Scissors
Updated
January 12, 2022
This is your passport to the arts and culture of Japan as experienced through the Kennedy Center's Japan! culture + hyperculture festival
Larger-than-life calligraphy, giant bamboo weaving, and robots both real and toy... experience the vibrant diversity of the arts across Japan.
In this 3-5 lesson, students will illustrate self-portraits to identify their senses. They will take a virtual field trip to the ocean to explore a sensory experience.聽Students will write a haiku poem about the ocean, bringing science and creative writing together as one.
In this K-2 lesson, students will explore the historical and cultural qualities of Gyotaku, the traditional Japanese method of printing fish. Students will identify the external parts of fish, then create original Gyotaku prints.
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Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation; Annenberg Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Bank of America; Bender Foundation, Inc.; Capital One; Carter and Melissa Cafritz Trust; Carnegie Corporation of New York; DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; Estée Lauder; Exelon; Flocabulary; Harman Family Foundation; The Hearst Foundations; the Herb Alpert Foundation; the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The King-White Family Foundation and Dr. J. Douglas White; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Little Kids Rock; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation;
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Music Theatre International; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; Newman’s Own Foundation; Nordstrom; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives; Prince Charitable Trusts; Soundtrap; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; UnitedHealth Group; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Dennis & Phyllis Washington; and Wells Fargo. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts.
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