Transcript Long Ago and Far Away: Japan

Far Away and Long Ago:
Japan-Past to Present
Diane Godfrey
Konnichi wa (that means hello). I am
Lucky Cat. I am very famous in Japan.
I am going to take you on a trip to my
country. Before we begin I will tell you
more about Japan.
Japan is a a group of islands. Do you
know what an island is? It is land with
water all around it. Here is a map of
Japan.
Wow!
That’s
a lot.
Japan has many mountains with a lot of forest.
Can you draw a picture of a mountain with a
forest?
Courtesy of Sheila Nice
The only flat land is along the coast,
or the edge of the island.
Mt. Fuji is the tallest and most famous
mountain in Japan. I climbed to the top.
It was a long way up.
Long ago people
lived in wooden
houses like this.
Now days most people live in houses or
apartments like this in cities.
Most Japanese
have customs(a
very old way of
doing something)
that started long
ago. The floors
of their homes
have a special
covering called a
tatami mat. They
sleep on futons
on the floor.
There are other old customs that people
have in Japan. They take off their shoes
before they enter the house or school. Do
you take off your shoes before you go into
your house?
Inside School Shoes
This is my friend Keiko. She
will demonstrate how to bow.
Courtesy of Japan-guide.com
Another custom is the way people greet
each other. When they say hello and
goodbye, they bow to each other.
Did you know that
karate, judo, and
aikido came from
Japan?
Courtesy of Danni Higgins
Sumo wrestling has
been a popular sport
for hundreds of years.
Japanese women in
the past wore a dress
called a kimono. The
dress is made of fine
silk.
Today most women
and girls only wear
kimonos for special
occasions.
Courtesy of Library of Congress
The capital of the United States is
Washington, D.C.
Do you
know who
lives there?
I do.
The president.
The capital of Japan is a city called
Tokyo. Many people live in the city. It is very
crowded.
Tokyo has changed from the past. You can
see what it looked like about 100 years ago.
Now it looks like this
picture I took last year.
Courtesy of Library of Congress-Tokyo 1905
Long ago the people
traveled like this
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Now in Japan, people
travel on very fast
trains.
I live in one of the oldest city in Japan.
The city is called Kyoto. It is more then
1000 years old. My favorite place is very
old. It is called the Golden Pavilion
temple.
Courtesy of Sheila Nice
Now days Kyoto looks very modern. As
you can see from this picture I took.
Tea is also important
to the people in
Japan. They even
have a special way of
serving tea called a
Tea Ceremony. This
is a very old
ceremony that is still
done today.
Maybe you like to eat with a fork. In Japan
we have been using chopsticks for a long
time.
Would you like to
use chopsticks?
Some very old chopsticks
When you think of Japanese food, do you
think of sushi? In Japan we eat many
different types of foods.
We eat a
lot of fish
and seafood.
Courtesy of Sheila Nice
Paper and writing came to Japan many,
many years ago. Paper is very important
to the people of Japan. So is writing. It is
even an art. Here is some Japanese
writing and art.
Another way that
paper has been used
for many, many years
is the art of origami.
The word origami
comes from from "ori"
meaning "to fold", and
"kami", meaning
paper. It is a special
way to fold paper to
make shapes.
Courtesy of Sheila Nice
Sometimes it is very
hot in Japan. Long
ago they used fans
like these beautiful
fans.
Now days, people
might use a fan that
looks like this one.
We better hurry and catch our plane. It will
be a very long flight. It will take 18 hours
to get to Japan.
I hope you enjoy your visit to Japan.