There are resources on the internet to find samples of Ukiyo-E as well as coloring books which provide Japanese designs and pictures. These resources can be combined with Japanese proverbs which are available on line or in book form from a variety of sources. Pictures can be copied on poster sized paper (17 X 11 inch paper is usually available in the school somewhere) which can then be mounted on 4 foot sheets of wall paper with a spray adhesive.
METHOD:
Visit local wall paper outlets and find inexpensive, close-out priced wall paper with patterns that lend themselves to Japanese design. The best selections are patterns that are repetetivie in nature and do not have an embossed or raised surface which would interfere with attaching the 17x11 inch designed proverb and kanji page.
These wall papers need to be cut cut them in 3.5 to 4 foot lengths, and I provide these sheets for students who do not bring their own. To recoup my own expense I often ask for 50 cents if I supply the wall paper, which of course, they don't pay if they supply their own.
The wall paper lengths are ultimately finished off at both ends with dowel rods (1/4 inch diameter works well - and these are student purchased). Before attaching the dowel rods, we have often used newsprint which we have gotten as left over endrolls from a local newspaper. By moistening the wallpaper (if it is prepasted) we have backed the wallpaper with newsprint to keep the wallpaper from gluing itself to a wall where it is displayed in case it gets wet. Recently we have dispensed with this practice because the wall paper tends to curl at the sides after the newsprint has been applied. It also takes additional time to dry the wallpaper before the design can be attached with a spray adhesive.
After students have practiced with a fude (brush) to write the proverb of their choice. With a little creativity, and specifically for those students who don't feel that they have any drawing talent, we take some designs or prints which we scan into a computer, and use some sort of graphic design software like Adobe Photoshop. By printing these designs/patterns on regular paper, and sometimes using a copy machine to enlarge or position the design on the 17 x 11 inch sheet of paper which is the finished size, we also allow space for the fude brush printing of the proverb in kanji. I use books which give samples of design structure and talk about the use of negative space in Japanese design. This negative space allows a viewer of the work to use their own imagination in filling in details left blank by the artist. We finally cut the dowel rods with a hand saw of some sort to fit the width of the wall paper to create kakejiku, and I attach some nylon cord at the top from the both ends of the dowel rod so that the finished kakejiku (hanging scroll) can be displayed.
In this way, students have turned out hanging scrolls which are simple but effective representations of similar Japanese art. This is a good way to introduce information on Japanese artisits such as Hiroshige Ando, and to also introduce Kabuki theatre since many art prints were used in much the same way as modern playbills for a movie theatre.
The following is a handout that I usually provide to the class concerning this project, or for reading and then posting in a conspicuous area of the class.
Students have to select a proverb or saying from the lists provided and determine a design which would complement or add a depth to the saying. Japanese design can be described as being minimalist to allow the viewer a chance to project his own imagination into the design of the scroll. Gold and silver ornamentation in a screen (or scroll) was used in Japanese design to reflect candlelight in the dark houses at night and provide a secondary source of light. This also means that some elements of Japanese design are reflected in the placement of a graphic and the calligraphy while allowing portions of the paper to remain relatively untouched and void of color. Selection of the design, proverb, color scheme and combination of elements is left to the students but it should follow appropriate school guidelines.
The proverbs are developed from a variety of sources to reflect similarities and differences in perspective with our culture and attitudes. Students are instructed to choose a proverb or saying carefully because of potential differences in attitudes and how people in our culture might have a vehement negative view of their selection. It must be remembered that the idea of being politically correct is not international and is limited primarily to us as Americans.
Cultural biases may exist, although interpretation by the viewer may have more bearing upon this than what is actually implied in the saying or proverb. Students are instructed that sometimes practices or views held by a culture or society cannot be judged as good or bad by our concept of right or wrong, but must simply be regarded as different, and taken in the context of the culture being studied.
We can personally choose to reject a concept of another culture, but we have no inherent right to judge or appear condescending to another culture based upon our attitudes and ideals. Our attitudes and perceptions cannot be superimposed upon any culture other than our own.
Our attitudes and ideals have no bearing upon any foreign culture being examined. When we attempt to impose our social and moral codes upon another culture, we risk “breaking the prime directive” as featured in a popular fictional series. Life, however, isn’t fictional, and many foreign countries and peoples have traditonally taken a dim view of alien powers or peoples passing judgment on them in a prejudicial fashion. This is also the root of many great misunderstandings.
The study of foreign language in schools is an attempt to bridge the gaps where misunderstandings can linger. What we must try to do, is to understand the roots or causes of attitudes and behaviors in the culture of the language being studied. We can study and understand how certain attitudes or methods of operation came into being for a particular country - based upon the history, influences upon, and experiences of the people in the country being studied. With education and understanding, acceptance of differences can be dealt with honestly, and can be intelligently discussed, without recrimination or mistrust of the motives of the people involved.
Perhaps the differences we can see amongst races even here at home in our own country can be better accepted and allowed to peacefully co-exist with the use of gentle persuasion to mutually agree on socially acceptable behaviors and norms as we evolve as a nation.
This non-threatening, (personal acceptance reserved) judgementally open and outward acceptance of things as they factually are, is perhaps more necessary when we study non-traditional western cultures and languages. This is because similarities between Asian and Western cultures are fewer than between any two traditionally studied western cultures and languages such as German, Spanish, French or Italian.
Examples of culture specific items vary :
* Some tribes in Africa feel threatened by people who smile because baring ones teeth is a sign of aggression in the animals they observe daily.
* Stepping into the arms of a statue of a Buddhist God or Saint in Thailand for a photographic opportunity will be viewed differently there than how we would view a visitor to Washington D.C. who climbs to sit in Abe Lincolns’ lap for a Kodak moment at the Lincoln Monument.
* Eating raw fish is not rejected, but rather quickly accepted when you are a fisherman at sea who doesn’t want to try to build a fire in the boat and thereby sink your transportation.
* Public nudity in a bathhouse is accepted and largely ignored as simply being natural because of national overcrowding and limited personal privacy even at home. Also washing before you get into the public bath is required since there is limited water for replacement and no one wants to sit in your dirty water. You will get many dirty looks if you dirty the water which must be used by all. Toilets are viewed as unsanitary in some countries because a person must sit in the same spot as another. Open drop toilets are perceived as being much more sanitary.
* Eskimos have almost a hundred words to describe different types of snow since there are recognized differences between types.
* Japanese use the word “blue” to describe someone who is pale..., or to give the color of grass.
* Family honor is important when your religious text implies that you will be joined with your ancestors in a herafter which is better than this existence. You are taught that you will be doomed to repeat the burden of life reincarnated if you don’t overcome the desires of the flesh.
* Harmony of the soul, and personal restraint becomes important when you had a warrior class that developed these certain ideals of behavior related to chivalry and nobility in a feudal society. When being an individual might cost you your life, you might choose to blend in to the group.
* The role of women and men in a foreign society might not be what we accept as our ideal.In Japan, women are beginning to have the same opportunities as men, including the 15 hour days with volunteer overtime, and stress related debilitating health problems. The housewife may not have the authority of the husband..but she controls the money of the house.
* There will always be differences between people as long as there is more than one person on the earth. How we choose to deal with those differences will either add to, or subtract from the quality of all our lives.
Japanese Proverbs - (#1 Even Monkeys Fall from Trees) - Galef, David & Hashimoto, Jun, ISBN: 0-8048-3226-9, Tuttle, 1987
Japanese Proverbs - (#2 Even a Stone Buddha Can Talk) - Galef, David & Hashimoto, Jun, ISBN: 0-8048-2127-5, Tuttle, 2000
Japanese Proverbs and Sayings - Buchanan, Daniel C., ISBN: 0-8061-1082-1, U. of Oklahoma Press, 1988
Kokinshu - a Collection of Poem Ancient and Modern - Rodd, Rasplica, Laurel, ISBN: 0-88727-249-5, Cheng and Tsui Co., 1996
Other Book Sources related to Japanese Arts which might be useful to you
