Dear Year 8 Students ♥,
During the shutdown, you can begin your studies of Medieval Japan. There are three topics below. Under each one, there are two or three short activities. Some are marked optional.
All the resources for this topic are linked below. You can also find them under Compass > Resources > Japan Under the Shoguns, 2020.
We hope that you enjoy your encounter with Medieval Japan!
All the best from your teachers:
Ms Weyenberg, Mr Harley, Mr Ditchburn and Ms Green 🙂
♦ Introduction to the Values of Medieval Japan
Key Definition: A “value” is a principle or a judgement of what one considers important in life.
What are your values? In other words, what matters to you? What do you consider important?
Activity 1: Click here to download and read through this worksheet: Medieval Japan – An Introductory Activity. Complete the quiz and add up your score. This will give you an indication of how your values compare to those of the samurai warriors.
Activity 2: Based on the information about the quiz results, complete the sentence below with up to 4 of the following words or phrases. Only some of the phrases provided are appropriate, so choose wisely:
At that time in history, Japanese society tended to be…
closed to new ideas • free-thinking • spontaneous • hierarchical • tolerant • open to new ideas • progressive • based on the concept of individual liberty • spiritual • laid-back • informal • respectful • equal • strict
♦ A Brief Overview of Japanese History
Activity 1: Watch this short video about the history of Japan. It is called: History of Japan (Censored). As you watch, write down ten words that you believe are central to describing Japan’s history. (You can watch the video twice if you like, because it moves fast.)
Activity 2 (optional): Read pp.336-339 from this text chapter. Write a definition of these words in your workbook: • shogun (p.336) • samurai (p.338) • daimyo (p.338)
♦ The Four-Tiered Class System of Medieval Japan
Please note: You will encounter quite a lot of new vocabulary while completing the next two activities. If you need to look up a word in an online dictionary, we recommend the Cambridge Online Dictionary.
Activity 1: Click here to download and complete this double-sided worksheet: The Four-Tiered Class System of Medieval Japan. You can complete it by typing into the spaces provided.
Activity 2 (optional): You should now be ready to tackle this challenging online quiz. It is the kind of quiz where you can correct your answers if you make a mistake and so gain 100% to reward your efforts.
