The Japan Forum > Click Nippon > Class Ideas

Students read an interview article about Mr. Shingo Usami, who was introduced in Tokimeki Shuzaiki in 2020. The interview's focus is on Mr. Usami and his short film “RICEBALLS.” This interview article will give students opportunities to think about and discuss stereotyping and deepen their knowledge about rice balls. As a linguistic point, the effects of phatic expressions like "aizuchi" will draw the students' attention.

Read the interview article, “Yokosuka, the town of Curry” and learn how Yokosuka used its ties with the history of serving curry in the Japanese navy in local economy revitalization efforts. Students research food festivals in their regions and recognize its history and natural features. Then they think of what kind of food festival would promote the region, and create a poster or an article in Japanese to promote the festival, reflecting the knowledge gained from their research. Students may also enjoy cooking Kaigun Curry with the recipe close to the original.

Using visual resources, students will learn about emakizushi and how to make them. Students will design original emakizushi, as a cross curricular activity, and will also explore the relationship between emakizushi and seasons/annual events.

Students will read the interview article about Nakaya Chikako, who runs emakizushi workshops to promote instruction in its techniques. Students get to know about emakizushi, and think about the positive influence of making emakizushi together for the family today.

Students read the interview article about Ramen Hakubutsukan and learn about ramen, which is so popular in Japan that it is called national food. Students also learn about the objective and the effort of the Ramen Hakubutsukan that was built aiming at the revitalization of Shin Yokohama. This resource also provides an opportunity to deepen students’ knowledge of Japanese history through research about the Showa era.

Study the importance of preparing ourselves in case of disaster, especially storing emergency food, which leads to a discussion of what we can do to protect ourselves. Then, by studying some simple recipes, learn about some examples of traditional Japanese dried ingredients. Compare these with ingredients familiar to students, then have students create their own recipes for emergencies.

Students will read a short text about setsubun and experience activities such as mamemaki. They also have opportunities to make an oni mask, sing songs and discuss their own cultural events.

By reading an article of a father who makes Kyara-Ben, students will learn about Kyara-Ben as a Japanese food culture and understand what he wants to express through making them. Students will also design their own Kyara-Ben and explain their thoughts for each item. The recipes of Kyara-Ben are available to expand the lesson to cross curricular learning.

Students read the text written by a female high school student, and learn about the Japanese way of celebrating Valentine’s Day and how it has changed over time. Students will then expand the topic to discuss gift-giving topics such as hand-made gifts and wrapping as aspect of Japanese culture. Students will also have an opportunity to explain, in Japanese, about how they celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Students engage with the prefectures and make up of Japan; uncovering the unique specialities of each prefecture in an appealing way through the Kewpie character mascots.