I have an Ancient Japan for Kids handwriting activity. Also, look at more ideas on my page Medieval Japan Unit Study and Lapbook 1185 – 1600 A.D.
We have studied the Ancient Greeks, Ancient Romans and Ancient Egyptians off and on for more than four years.
My children are natural historians, and love to imagine themselves as mini-Indiana Jones type archaeologists.
As I planned our studies for this school year, I wanted to incorporate this natural and significant interest into our approach.
Then, my oldest expressed an interest in learning Japanese to meet his foreign language requirement and the answer became clear. I began to pull together ideas and resources to study ancient Japan.
Japanese Ancient History
I am almost ashamed to admit how little I learned in school about this amazing country, much less its history. (I always say that I am learning as much as my boys are in this homeschooling journey!)
The vast timeline of Japanese Ancient History continues up until 538 AD. For thousands of years, Japanese culture experienced its own iron age and classical expression.
During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD. Then, between the fourth century and the ninth century, Japan’s numerous kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government, controlled by the Emperor.
The pottery of this same time period and the historical record itself details the evolution of the Japanese language and the development of not one, not two, but THREE different Japanese alphabets.
It was actually the Chinese practice of character writing that had a huge effect on the development of the written language of ancient Japan. Chinese characters became the Kanji symbolic alphabet in Japanese. ( Incidentally, written Chinese is one of the world’s oldest active, still in use, writing systems.
Many current Chinese characters have been traced back to the Shang dynasty about 1200–1050 BC, but the process of creating characters is thought to have begun some centuries earlier.)
Ancient Japan for Kids
Kanjiwas first introduced to ancient Japan in the first half of the first millennium AD. At the time, Japanese had no universal writing system, so Kanji were used to represent Japanese words with the corresponding meanings.
Later years would bring the Japanese phonetic alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana.
(Yes, you read that correctly. The pottery of the time period and the historical record itself details the evolution of the Japanese language and the development of not one, not two, but THREE different Japanese alphabets.)
Next, add some books to round out the study of Japan.
11 Books and Resources for Studying About Japan
You'll love these resources and books for studying about Japan. Add them to my Medieval Japan Unit Study or just fun for the day.
This Japanese history book traces the story of a unique historical phenomenon: a period of 700 years--equivalent to the entire stretch of Western history between the reigns of the Crusader king Richard the Lionhearted and of Queen Victoria at the height of the British Empire--during which an enclosed civilization was dominated by a single warrior caste.
The historical narrative of samurai history is supported by explanations of samurai armor, weapons, fortifications, tactics, and customs, and illustrated with nearly 800 fascinating color photographs, maps, and sketches, including ancient scroll paintings and surviving suits of armor preserved for centuries in Japanese shrines.
Part of the acclaimed Book of Samurai series, which presents for the first time the translated scrolls of the historical Natori-Ry samurai school of war, this volume offers an exceptional insight into the weaponry and armour of the samurai era, as well as tactical advice for use on and off the battlefield.
More than 40 handsome, ready-to-color illustrations depict samurai warriors, the imperial villa at Kyoto, a Shinto shrine, a tea ceremony, a Noh play, a typical city street, a restaurant, music makers, more. Introduction and detailed captions describe Japanese culture and provide detailed information on art, government, costume, and daily life.
Learning a new language is a new way of meeting new people, opening doors in your professional career and attracting fresh opportunities when traveling around the world, as you may know. The great thing is - whether you want to learn Japanese to visit Japan’s precious historic landmarks, watch anime and movies or simply meet wonderful Japanese people - we’ve got you covered!
A cultural adventure for kids, All About Japan offers a journey to a new place--and ways to bring it to life! Dive into stories, play some games from Japan, and learn some Japanese songs.
The brave little boy who sailed to the Capital in a teacup and fought a demon with a needle to win the love of a Lady is a Japanese cousin to Tom Thumb.
In this magical retelling of a Japanese folktale, a mysterious girl weaves silk to help repay the kindness of a boy and his father until the father's greed finally exposes her secret.
While gathering firewood, Yasuhiro comes upon an injured crane hidden in the snow. He rescues and comforts the bird, then watches as it flies away over the wintry hills.
The next night, a mysterious young girl arrives at Yasuhiro's home seeking shelter from the cold. The boy and his father welcome the girl, named Hiroko, to stay with them. When Hiroko notices that Yasuhiro's father is struggling to earn money, she offers to weave silk for him to sell. After the fabric fetches a good price, the boy's father becomes impatient for more silk, and his greed has a life-changing effect on them all.
Lyrical storytelling deftly interwoven with original haiku create a magical adaptation of a popular Japanese folktale--an inspirational story of friendship and the power of kindness to transform lives.
For more than 200 years Japan had isolated herself from the world - now Commodore Perry, representing the US government had arrived on the shore of Japan. Perry's mission was to open a door into Japan so US ships might stop for fuel & water on their route to China.
This 3D wooden Puzzle is the oldest tower in Japan and one of the iconic buildings, ancient and elegant.
The iconic landmark you love,Build this detailed Japan skyline model!Features an elaborate façade with Tokyo Tower,Tokyo SKYTREE, Mount Fuji,Sensoji Temple,Osaka Castle and more.
Japan Sakura Tree House Building Set consists of 1810pcs + mini-blocks. It includes detailed step-by-step color instructions, and exquisite details of various sizes and color componentsand.
Hands-On Learning: Ancient Japan
In my years of homeschooling, one thing that I have learned is essential for our learning to be retained and, if I am honest, enjoyed, is that hands-on activities make all the difference for my two growing boys.
Because I wanted to bring the rich history of Japan alive for my boys, I knew I needed to include a hands-on activity in our study.
Because the three alphabets factoid stunned us all, I decided to challenged them to replicate Japanese Character Writing or Kanjii.
What You Will Need For This Activity:
- Free Japanese Symbolic Writing Printable included in this post.
- Brush Pens (if available – it not, any thick marker will do)
- Cardstock
Ancient Japan: Hands-On Learning Activity
After learning that the name of the Japanese symbolic alphabet is the Kanjii Alphabet and that it naturally flowed from the Chinese alphabet, we got to work.
One: Print printable (available for free with this post) and use as reference.
Two: Take the brush pens and practice brush strokes first. (This was an important step as none of us were accustomed to using this type of pen!)
Three: When comfortable with the brush pen, try your hand at a Kanji character.
Four: Once everyone is comfortable with creating the characters, ask your child to choose the top 3 symbols that are meaningful for his life and interests.
Five: Using the card stock, draw the three selected symbols.
Six: Label the characters in English.
Seven: Because this alphabet also looks like beautiful art, hang on the fridge or even frame your child’s historic creation!
I have to say, this is more difficult than it looks! Brush pens are obviously much different than the pens we use everyday and the slant of many of the symbols can be difficult to replicate.
In fact, if you are completing this activity with a young child, or one that struggles with fine motor skills, I highly recommend encouraging them to choose symbols that are less intricate to begin with. (For example: the symbol for dog is blissfully simple for the younger learner.)
Overall, expanding our ancient history study to include Japan has been a great success.
Not only have we moved into an area of the world that we are all less familiar with, but we have also found the differences in Japanese art, culture and yes, alphabets, to be fascinating.
If nothing else, you can remind your child when she is complaining about handwriting practice that in Japan, children learn three alphabets as opposed to our one!
How to Get the Free Japanese Handwriting Form
Now, how to grab the free printable. It’s a subscriber freebie.
When you sign up to follow me, you get access to this freebie.
1) Sign up on my email list. If you’re already a follower, re-enter your email because your email IS your password.
2) Download the printable.
3) Last, look for my emails in your inbox as a follower. Glad to have you.
You’ll also love these other resources for learning about Japan.
