The Japan Forum > Click Nippon > Creative Lesson Planning

This was the first time I had a lesson focused on a poem. I recalled my poetry lessons in high school, reread my poetry collections and got help from my family. I asked my mother, who had been writing Haiku poems for 40 years, if there were any 'do's and don'ts,' how one starts writing a poem and so on. Also, being unfamiliar with English poetry, advice from my son, who is knowledgeable in English literature and poetry, was valuable. I referred to teacher's manuals on modern Japanese textbooks (GendaiKokugoKyokasho) and websites on teaching methods. Amongst them, Ehime University of Education's Youichi Saito's paper, Lessons to Teach the Charm of Poetry and How to Read Poems (1988) was very useful.

After studying what poems were, what kind of techniques were used and so on, I made the students appreciate  and analyse the poem "Dear Fukushima" without telling them who the poet was or any background information.

The students answered the questions below in the following way:

Question 1: What age was the person who wrote this poem?

The majority of answers ranged between 20-25 years old. The second most was 15-20 years old. When they found out that it had been written by a junior high school student, they were surprised at how young the poet was.

Question 2: What kind of metaphor is used?

Fukushima is personified and is asking many questions.

Question 3:  What do you think about the many questions being asked?

"The questions are asked as if the reader is directing the question to themselves."

" 'Do you know what it is that you must do now?' - This is the key question."

"The questions change from general questions to more personal ones."

"The last line, 'I am now...' is connected to the 'You are now...' at the start."

Question 4: What kind of emotions are evident?

"The speaker is worried about Fukushima"

"The feeling of wanting to ask, 'Do you still understand what it's like to have fun, even though you are discriminated against?"

"The last line shows they are worried."

"In the part that says 'What are you thinking now?' it shows anxiety about the future."

Question 5: 'Have you ever been in love (or heartbroken)?' - why would he ask this?

 "It's a message that even if they suffer discrimination due to exposure to radiation (they were discriminated against because of the concern that vegetables grown in Fukushima are not safe), people from Fukushima are allowed to fall in love."