Topic: Japan under the Shoguns (c. Ad 794-1867)

TOPIC: Japan under the Shoguns (c. AD 794-1867)

Stage 4

Year 8

Duration:

Detail:

Historical Skills

What key beliefs and values emerged during the Shogunate period and how did they come to influence other societies?

What were the causes and effects of contact between Europe, China, America and Japan in this period?

Which significant people, groups and ideas from Shogunate Japan have influenced the world today?

• 
  read and understand historical texts
  
• 
  sequence historical events and periods (ACHHS205, ACHHS148)
  
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  use historical terms and concepts (ACHHS206, ACHHS149)
  

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  identify the origin and purpose of primary and secondary sources (ACHHS209, ACHHS152)
  
• 
  locate, select and use information from a range of sources as evidence (ACHHS210, ACHHS153)
  
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  draw conclusions about the usefulness of sources (ACHHS211, ACHHS154)
  

Framing Questions

To what extent was European influence responsible for the decline of the Shogunate period?

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  identify and describe different perspectives of participants in a particular historical context (ACHHS212, ACHHS155)
  

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  interpret history within the context of the actions, attitudes and motives of people in the context of the past (ACHHS212, ACHHS155)
  

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  ask a range of questions about the past to inform an historical inquiry (ACHHS207, ACHHS150)
  
• 
  identify and locate a range of relevant sources, using ICT and other methods (ACHHS208, ACHHS151)
  
• 
  use a range of communication forms and technologies
  

• 
  develop historical texts, particularly explanations and historical arguments that use evidence from a range of sources (ACHHS213, ACHHS156)
  
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  select and use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written and digital) to communicate effectively about the past (ACHHS214, ACHHS157)
  

• 
  HT4-2: describes major periods of historical time and sequences events, people and societies from the past.
  
• 
  HT 4-4: describes and explains the causes and effects of events and developments of past societies over time.
  
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  HT 4-6: uses evidence from sources to support historical narratives and explanations.
  
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  HT 4-7: identifies and describes different contexts, perspectives and interpretations of the past.
  
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  HT 4-9: uses a range of historical terms and concepts when communicating an understanding of the past.
  
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  HT 4-10: selects and uses appropriate oral, written, visual and digital forms to communicate about the past.
  

• 
  Continuity and change: what aspects of Japanese society changed, and what aspects stayed the same, during the Shogunate period?
  
• 
  Cause and effect: what were the reasons for the rise of the Shogunate period? How did political power change under the Shogun? What caused the decline of the Shogunate? How did this decline come to affect Japan?
  
• 
  Perspectives: how did Westerners view Japan? How did the Japanese view westerners during the Shogunate period? How do we assess the Shogunate period from a modern Western, liberal perspective?
  
• 
  Empathetic understanding: what was it like to live in Shogunate Japan? How was everyday life different to that of the Shoguns? How was life in Shogunate Japan different to life in Australia today? Is life in Shogunate Japan the same as life in any other modern day society?
  
• 
  Significance: the importance of the Shogun and the Daimyo and its impact on Japanese society and politics. The importance of European influence and its impact on the decline of the Shogunate period.
  
• 
  Contestability: Did the Tokugawa Shogunate collapse because of external influence, internal factors, or both? Was the Shogunate period a time of “success” in Japan’s history?
  

Site Study

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/j/japanese_samurai_and_shoguns.aspx

https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/j/japan_edo_period.aspx

Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shga/hd_shga.htm

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=08®ion=eaj

Books

Ken Webb (ed.), History 9 (Stage 5): NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum. Cambridge (2013) Chapter 6.

Bruce Dennett and Stephen Dixon, Insight History: Australian Curriculum for NSW- Stage 4- 8. Oxford (2013) Chapter 12.

Richard Storry, A History of Modern Japan. Penguin (1960)

Vic Guest (et al), Tradition and Change. Jacaranda (1984) Unit 2 (C).

Stuart Fewster and Tony Gorton, Japan: From Shogun to Superstate. Paul Norbery Publications (1988)

Websites

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=08®ion=eaj

http://teacherlibrarianhelp.com/research-guides/61-2/

http://www.samurai-archives.com/historyindex.html

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541431/shogunate

http://www.pbs.org/empires/japan/resources_3.html (connected with the PBS documentary series)

http://japan.mrdonn.org/index.html (free extra lesson plans on this topic)

http://www.socialstudies.com/c/worldlinks.html?s@_cfLZwdregPSQ#5 (great overview of whole topic)

http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/forestry_japan/chap1.pdf (about forestry in Shogunate Japan)

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/tps/1450_jp.htm (great info on all Japanese history)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa (info on Kurosawa)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai (Seven Samurai)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_of_Blood (Throne of Blood)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogun:_Total_War (explanation of “Shogun: Total War”)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires_3:_The_Asian_Dynasties

http://documentarystorm.com/kublai-khans-lost-fleet/ (good on the invasion of the Mongols)

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/japan-memoirs-secret-empire/ (the fantastic PBS series on Shogunate Japan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmTZnnbqfsc (comprehensive)

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-samurai/ (documentary on the Samurai)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mN-AKhzNH0 (short clip that shows how Katana swords are made)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9NBZRl9aD4 (Shogun: The Supreme Samurai- Doco)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqX0_QPNVmE (Lost Treasures of the Ancient World- Doco)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqVYa6dp_94 (a run through of how Age of Empires 3 works)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIW6a1BsUcU (gameplay trailer for Shogun 2:Total War)

Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai (1954)

Akira Kurosawa, Throne of Blood (1957)

Edward Zwick, The Last Samurai (2003) (looks more at the period of Meiji, but good for showing connections between Japan and outside cultures (American)

http://akirakurosawa.info/akira-kurosawa-movies-on-dvd/ (has excellent information on where to purchase all Kurosawa films on DVD)

Computer Games

Depth Study 5

Japan under the Shoguns (A.D. 794-1867)

Semester 1/2

Terms 2 and 3 , Weeks 2-8 (T2), Weeks 1-6 (T3)

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  Group presentations (oral) in front of class.
  
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  Individual written reports based on timelines and questions.
  
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  Table showing the roles of different groups in Japanese social system.
  
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  Group research findings on google doc – written report.
  
• 
  Powerpoints/Prezi on Japanese castles.
  
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  Travel brochure on timber structures in Japan.
  
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  Primary and secondary source work- extracting quotes, analysis of origins, nature, content, context and perspective of sources.
  
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  Class debate on Japanese modernisation.
  
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  Group presentations. Poster work on legacy of Shogun period in modern Japan.
  

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  Peer-marking/review of Japanese castles Powerpoint/Prezi task.
  
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  Peer review can also take place on written reports and travel brochure exercise.
  
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  Student written reflection before and at end of class debate on whether Japan needed to modernise or not.
  
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  Students develop marking criteria for poster exercise at the end of topic (Content Area 4, Lesson 6). At the completion of the task, student groups mark the posters of other groups based on an agreed criteria (whole-class developed criteria). Groups come to a consensus on a mark and then write a comment for the poster work. Discussion and reflection of marking process at end of topic.
  
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  Reflection survey at end of assessment task
  
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  Student/teacher plenary session to conclude unit of work and findings of survey. Student outlines what they have learnt in the unit (content and skills) and strengths and weaknesses in their knowledge and skills.
  

Students conduct a critical analysis into a computer game or film that relates to the Shogunate Japan topic. Students will present a research paper that looks at three distinct questions that relate to their computer game or film text. They will firstly explore the historical context which their media text is situated in. Then they will critically assess the historical accuracy of their text. Lastly, they will draw wider conclusions on the values and limitations (usefulness) of media texts to historians and historical understanding.

Stage 4 - Depth Study 5: Asia-Pacific World

The way of life in Shogunate Japan, including social, cultural, economic and political features

• 
  sequence the Nara and Heian periods and the Kamakura, Muromachi and Tokugawa Shogunates.
  
• 
  identify key places in Japan during this period.
  
• 
  outline key cultural, economic and political features of this society, including the increasing power of the shogun.
  
• 
  describe the everyday life of men, women and children in Japan under the shoguns.
  
• 
  identify the roles and relationships of key groups in this society using sources.
  

1. 
   the historical importance of your city
   
2. 
   the importance of your city in modern-day Japan.
   

Google Earth

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/japan/jptimeln.htm (for time line of Japanese History)

http://www.timemaps.com/history/japan-1648ad (more help with timelines)

Vic Guest, Tradition and Change pp92-99.

Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai

http://documentarystorm.com/kublai-khans-lost-fleet/ (if time, can watch doco on Mongol invasions as an addition to lesson 2)

The role of the Tokugawa Shogunate in re-imposing a feudal system (based on daimyo and samurai) and the increasing control of the shogun over foreign trade (ACDSEH063)

• 
  outline how the Tokugawa Shogunate took control of Japan by AD 1603.
  
• 
  describe how the Tokugawa Shoguns revived the feudal system.
  
• 
  explain how foreign trade was controlled by the Tokugawa Shoguns.
  

Was any contact allowed with foreign traders? What was “Rangaku”? Were traders ever allowed to visit the Shogun? Work is presented as written report.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/j/japan_edo_period.aspx (this is one of several good links on the Edo period).

http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu/ (virtual tour of life in Edo during Tokugawa period)

http://www.hokusaionline.co.uk/code/edo_period.html (breaks up social, economic and cultural change well from this period)

http://www.japanese-castle-explorer.com/ (link with some extra information on Japanese castles).

The use of environmental resources in Shogunate Japan and the forestry and land use policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate (ACDSEH064)

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  describe how the Japanese used land and forests as resources.
  
• 
  outline the Tokugawa Shogunate's policies on forestry and land use.
  

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4100.html (info on Todai-ji temple)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji (info on Kinkaku-ji temple)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqVYa6dp_94 (youtube clip introducing gameplay of Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties).

Theories about the decline of the Shogunate, including modernisation and westernisation, through the adoption of Western arms and technology (ACDSEH065)

• 
  explain why the Tokugawa Shoguns isolated Japan from the rest of the world from AD 1639.
  
• 
  identify examples of modernisation and westernisation in Japan in this period and explain their impact.
  
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  assess the importance of Western influence on the decline of the Shogunate.
  
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  explain how the Shogunate have influenced modern Japan
  

What happened after Edo fell and Yoshinobu (last Tokugawa shogun) was removed? Why do you think the Emperor was put back in power? What does this suggest about Japan and its traditions? Who really held power during the Meiji restoration? Was this a change from the past? How was Japan “modernised” during the Meiji restoration? This discussion should then culminate in a class debate where class is divided into two teams, affirmative and negative.

What happened to the Samurai class during this period of modernisation? Why did they lose influence? Watch clips from Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai. Students look at scenes and record the ways in which Zwick represents the Japanese and the Americans in his film. They also reflect and record their ideas on the comparisons and contrasts between Zwick’s representation of the Samurai (Japanese) and Kurosawa’s (connect with Content Area 1, Lesson 4).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvT86194rs4

Vic Guest, p. 95 and 116.

http://www.gapminder.org/

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1750_perry.htm (introduction to Admiral Perry and siege of Edo)

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan (official State Department record of America’s role in Japan under Perry)

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1750_meiji.htm (information on the Meiji restoration)

http://www.history.com/topics/meiji-restoration (will show the transition between Tokugawa period and Meiji)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2310033/End-Samurai-Stunning-portraits-Japan-s-warrior-class-captures-men-height-power-19th-century-demise.html (some great primary sources showing Samurai dress in the last days of Samurai power)

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1000ce_samurai.htm (explains the rise and fall of the Samurai)

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/end-of-samurai-as-warriors (reasons for the collapse of the Samurai)

http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/mar/23/akira-kurosawa-100-google-doodle-anniversary (great article on the essential films of Kurosawa)

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2099_list.html (the great gardens of Japan)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogun:_Total_War (a brief overview of what Shogun: Total War is about).

Evaluation

Program

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  Was the program well-structure and coherent?
  
• 
  To what extent did the program engage all students in the class?
  
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  Did the program assist all students to achieve the learning outcomes?
  
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  What improvements could be made?
  

Resources

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  Were the resources used appropriately in terms of age level, variety and the ability to engage the students?
  
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  What improvements could be made?
  

Assessment

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  Did the program incorporate a range of quality, valid assessment tasks?
  
• 
  Reflect and comment on the level of student achievement in this program.
  
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  What improvements could be made to assist students to achieve the outcomes?