Although this lesson plan covers the rather obscure topic of the Japanese "I-novel", it also includes a great deal of historical information and material for an in-depth discussion of universal literary concepts. Specifically, young...

Focusing on Doppo's "Unforgettable People" and late nineteenth century Japanese literature, this resource also leads to discussions of form being dictated by content. Explore the development of new literary styles first-hand by...

Combine literature and history by examining the work of Japanese writers after the Russo-Japanese war. This resource is for advanced classes with an interest in how literature reflects and reacts to societal change. Activities outlined...

A lesson plan originally designed around the short story "Mr. Saito of Heaven Building" by Yamanokuchi Baku, this resource provides historical background, discussion questions, and brief writing assignments that help your class explore...

Work together as a class and get to know the ins and outs of World War II with this engaging collaborative project. Class members are broken into groups to research particular war topics, from life on the home front to the Holocaust and...

Japan's Taisho Period was a time when authors like Akutagawa and other Japanese modernists began to experiment with point of view and literary form, making the literature produced during this time period a natural choice for teaching...

Three creative activities follow reading a fiction and nonfiction book about heroes. Scholars build hero action figures out of clay for make-believe play, explain in written form how they show bravery, kindness, patience, thoughtfulness,...

Introduce "The Inn of Lost Time" by Lensey Namioka to your middle schoolers with a reader's resource page. It includes links to different activities, including a creative writing prompt about losing fifty years of your life, and a...

Students eat food, make crafts, read books, and wear costumes all to learn about another culture. In this culture lesson plan, students can also go to a museum.

This is quite an interesting interview with the daughter of the famous Japanese writer, Abe Kobo. It is a translation, so the language doesn't flow as smoothly as it would in the original, but Neri talks about a lot of the influences in...

This is a phenomenal resource. It allows the user to create a reading list of quality children's literature based of choices such as reading level, type of book, genre, ethnicity, gender, etc. In addition, one can determine if a book won...

This "cyber museum" of material about Mishima's life and writings accompanies the building of a new museum dedicated to Mishima in Yamanakako. This site has a detailed timeline which combines events in Mishima's life with events in...

Learn the form, inspiration and spirit of haiku poetry and learn to write it yourself. An in-depth discussion of the philosophy behind haiku, as well as the literary structure.