Video Lesson 1 – Journey to Japan, An Adventure to Remember

View and use Video Lesson 1 HERE

& download the Teachers’ Guide below

Hello Educators! We created Lesson 1: Journey to Japan for our Zoom classes during the pandemic. With in-person visits our main focus once again, we now offer this lesson for use as a pre-teach before we come and present Lesson 2: A Day in the Life of Japanese Student. There is an accompanying Teacher’s Guide that includes worksheets and brainstorming exercises. Feel free to use it to introduce your students to Japan!

Within the video format, students get to travel all over Japan with our volunteers. We start at the Sapporo Snow Festival, check out a samurai festival in Minamisoma, feed the deer at Nara Park, then head south for even more adventures. At each stop, volunteers share their tips and knowledge, such as how to eat the takoyaki (fried octopus balls), and what the Kinkakuji Temple is plated with (solid gold!)

The Teachers’ Guide includes an information sheet introducing Japan, maps for students to orient themselves to the islands of Japan as they watch, comprehension and discussion questions to help them connect to and build on what they have learned, and options for further resources.

How To Use

Once you’ve introduced your students to Japan through the Lesson 1 material, we’d love to visit your classroom and share with them our in-person, Day in the Life of a Japanese Student presentation. Our volunteer team leads the discussion, teaches valuable skills, and shares their lived experiences from Japan. To invite us to your classroom, or for questions, please contact Program Director Sarah Saito at ssaito@jaso.org.

Please note the Evaluation Survey at the back of the Lesson 1 Journey to Japan Teachers’ Guide. Your input helps us improve our content. Thank you!

View and use Video Lesson 1 HERE

Move to Video Lesson 2 HERE