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Virtual Japan Experience

Tokaido, Origami, Temples and Shrines (TOTS) Japan Project

This project (TOTS) created a new, visually rich “Virtual Japan Experience” curriculum series developed by a cohort of K-12 and community college educators for dissemination in schools across diverse subject areas, grade levels, and socio-economic populations. The project complements The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center (EASC)’s successful “Take and Go” lesson plans by preparing and enabling a cohort of teachers to create their own visual sources, a digital archive, and other curricular resources that can be incorporated into the classroom. This cohort of educators serves as a conduit, both to enhance understanding of Japan to their students and to impact other K-12 and community college teachers through the material they develop, and EASC and the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA) share broadly.

Themes:

  • Temples and Shrines: Nature, Symbols, Rituals, and Art; Temples at Shrines and Shrines at Temples
  • Origami: Folded Emotions, Patterns in Nature; Folding 1,000 Cranes Tradition
  • Tokaido Road: Bugs, Food, Music, and Children Along the Tokaido Road (Japan’s National Road)
  • Japanese Culture/Tra


Temples and Shrines: Nature, Symbols, Rituals, and Art; Temples at Shrines and Shrines at Temples

The significance of statues and art in Buddhist temples in Japan by Megan Kuns, Hull Prairie Intermediate School

Shrines and Symbols: Analyzing symbols found at a Buddhist temple and Shinto Shrine-Meiji Shrine by Mandy Perret, Dutchtown High School

Comparing and contrasting temples and shrines in Japan and Mexico by Lyssa Fisher-Rogers, McCord Middle School

Temples at Shrines and Shrines at Temples in Japan by Anne M. Hooghart, Mott Community College


Origami: Folded Emotions, Patterns in Nature; Folding 1,000 Cranes Tradition


Senbazuru: The Japanese Art of Folding 1,000 Origami Cranes by Alicia Booker, Lakota West High School

Paper Cranes, Math, and Meaning by Nikki Amole, St. Edmund’s Academy

Origami Patterns, Nature, and Natural Design by Joseph Daniels, Westtown School

Japanese Arts and Folktales in the Elementary ESL Classroom by Emma Doerfler, Carnegie Elementary School

Folded Emotions: Expressing Feelings Through Origami by Ciminy St. Clair, Norwin Middle School


Tokaido: Bugs, Food, Music, and Children Along the Tokaido Road (Japan’s National Road)


Background about the Tokaido:

Pollinators along the Tokaido by Jennifer Smith, Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School

The Evolution of Food in Japan in the Edo Period, and its Influence from Travel by Shaun Marsh, Lorain County Community College

Gagaku: The World's Oldest Orchestra by Matt Guion, Rise Up Performing Arts

Other Resources: