Arts of Japan: A Teacher’s Guide

Mary Martin
6-12th grade
Visual Arts Instructor
Winchester Thurston School
The Arts of Japan: A Teacher’s Guide is a remarkable resource for educators interested in teaching students about the interconnection between traditional Japanese visual and literary art forms. This teacher’s guide presents a broad range of museum artifacts from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery that are used as the catalyst for the curricular content. The guide begins with a well-structured introduction about Japan’s geography, religious practices, as well as its cultural connections to Korea and China. I was particularly interested in the explanations of how Japan’s relationship to China and Korea influenced the opportunities for exchanges of artistic styles and techniques. After the overview of Japan, the book is organized by three core themes: place, seasons, and materials. For each theme, sub-categories are included to further expand on these topics. Each includes multiple examples of art forms from the museums’ collections and from historic literature to illustrate the theme. The guide also includes pertinent background information with enough specificity to conduct further independent research on the topics referenced.
Place is represented visually and literally through significant sacred, historical, literary, and leisure sites. The interdisciplinary exchange of ideas becomes apparent through the various examples of how multiple art form inspires one another. There is a constant exchange of ideas that organically overlap to create a series of complex weavings. Throughout the teacher’s guide the four seasons theme of impermanence is also emphasized. This is conveyed through both historical literary treasures (various poetry and novel text) and traditional crafts and sculpture. Lastly, materials are explored as a core theme. The guide highlight’s the gallery’s collections that include intricately embellished works made of wood, clay, metal, fiber, ink, and lacquer. The guide explains the methods used and how it was created.
A unique inclusion in the teacher’s guide was a section called “Contemporary Voices.” This section included interviews by three Washington, D.C. residents of Japanese descent. Each interviewee spoke to one of the three core themes (place, seasons, and materials). Their personal reflections connected seamlessly with the three themes in a personalized way. The interviews conveyed an authentic and present-day impression that brought new meaning to the dated museum artifacts. These “contemporary voices” left an impression on me and will surely impact my curricular units due to my desire to make the various topics relevant to the present and to American students.
The guide concludes with wonderfully written curricular unit examples, discussion questions, goals, objectives, and examples of student work. The unit examples include an array of projects ranging from Haiku poetry writing to creating ceramic plates inspired by the Edo Period. I will definitely use the guide’s structural formatting for my future Japanese ceramic units. I appreciate how nature is used to inform the various art forms in an integral way.