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Ceremonies - Who are the Japanese?

Authors

SHARON NAGATA

Summary

Students will learn about the role of the Japanese in the United States and Utah


Materials

Attachments

  • Classroom textbook
  • KWL worksheet


Background for Teachers

In conjunction with students visiting "Ceremonies: A Tale of Sister Cities," teachers have an opportunity to give more in-depth information about who the Japanese coming to the United States and Utah were. Immigration to the United States was vital, especially to the growth of western America, and the Japanese are included in this group. Also, World War II had a tremendous impact on them and how they were and are now accepted by the rest of the nation.


Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will learn about the migration of Japanese to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They will become familiar with Japanese terminology classifying who these people are and what effects they had on the histories of both the United States and Utah. Students will also learn about the war with the Japanese homeland and how it affected the Japanese born in the United States.


Instructional Procedures

  1. Students will receive and be instructed to fill out the first two sections of a KWL sheet with (a) what they know about the Japanese in general in the first column, and (b) what they might want to learn more about them.
  2. Upon completion, students can share with the class what they know and any questions they might have. It does not matter at this point whether the information is accurate. Answers to their questions will also be given later in the lesson.
  3. The last KWL column will be filled out by students as they are given information in lecture format. The person giving the information can role play an immigrant in first-person tense telling the story of his/her arrival and early experiences in America. Or, the teacher could invite a Japanese person dressed in traditional attire to give this information. Having students sit on the floor (Japanese style) can add a more realistic feel to what it is like to be Japanese. This won't last long, and students can return to their desks for the remainder of the presentation.
  4. A vocabulary list would give students a better understanding of the Japanese culture and relationships between those who came as immigrants and those born in the United States.

    Issei: First generation (from Japan)
    Nisei: Second generation (first to be born in US)
    Sansei: Third generation
    Yonsei: Fourth generation
    Gosei: Fifth generation
    Kibei: Second generation born in US, raised in Japan, and returned to US

    The first five generations named correspond to the first five numbers (ichi-one, ni-two, san-three, yon-four, go- five). Teachers could make comparisons with other cultural groups who came to America and how they are recognized.

  5. This presentation can be divided into two parts: the first part about the early immigrants coming in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The second part would tell of the effects of World War II on the Issei and Nisei. For Utah History classes, the story of Topaz near Delta, Utah, can be very telling, as there are still survivors who could share their personal stories of life in a relocation camp.
  6. Students will be expected to complete and turn in their KWL sheets will all three columns filled in with what they have learned.


Extensions

For students living near Delta, Utah, a field trip to the Topaz Museum would be very interesting and provides opportunity for more in-depth study for older students on the constitutionality of relocating American citizens in time of war.


Bibliography

  • Nisei: The Quiet Americans by Bill Hosokawa
  • East to America by Robert A. Wilson and Bill Hosokawa
  • The Bamboo Peope: The Law and Japanese-Americans by Frank F. Chuman
  • The Peoples of Utah by Helen Z. Papanikolas
  • Utah, A Journey of Discovery by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel
  • The Price of Prejudice by Leonard J. Arrington
  • Enduring Communities - Japanese Americans in Utah
  • Missing Stories: An Oral History of Ethnic and Minority Groups in Utah by Leslie G. Kelen And Eileen H. Stone


Created: 10/27/2008
Updated: 01/27/2018
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