A short documentary that can be screened on youtube for free that follows a young Ondekoza percussionist. It discusses the Soga Kuron, a philosophy that combines music and running, and how taiko drumming went from being performed as a part of a festival to staged performance art.
A video of Noh music that can be screened in class as an example of Japanese drama music. It can be used with the Forms of Japanese Drama article to help create a class discussion.
A brief article outlining the different forms of Japanese dramas and what makes them distinct, along with their origins. The website also provides ideas for a student exercise that include performing a drama, and how to do it with a larger or smaller group.
A video of Etenraku, a style of Gagaku, the melody originally used with love poems, then later would accompany weddings. The video shows the full performance of the piece and highlights each of the instruments played. It can be screened in class and combined with the Gagaku article to create a class lesson and discussion.
A brief, youth-friendly article that covers the history of Gagaku, different styles of Gagaku, and the instruments that accompany Gagaku. This can be used as a beginning reference for further research or assigned as a reading to Elementary grade levels 1-5.
An online resource that highlights art and events in different eras in Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, SE Asia, and South Asia, with a timeline that links to different resources that cover historical events and museum collections that provide information about pieces from different eras. It can be used as a basic timeline to begin research into periods of history, used to provide background information for historical periods, such as the Kofun period in Japan, or to find artifacts that can be used in class discussions.
The Tea Horse Kōryū Foundation is a non-profit educational branch for the Tea Horse, specializing in accessible and grounded Japanese tea education. They offer educational tea workshops, demonstrations, student-training, and community gatherings based on cultural exchange and respect.
This document includes “The Ballad of Mulan” written in Chinese characters, pinyin (romanized Chinese), and the English translation, providing a great opportunity to introduce to your classroom, not only the legend, but also the Chinese language.
This primary source document with DBQs introduces the poem of Mulan, which was composed in the fifth or sixth century CE. Consider the question: What is the proper role of women as indicated in this poem?
A general overview and introduction of the history, geography, and livelihood of Southeast Asia.
The Virtual Angkor project is a virtual reality project that seeks to recreate the Cambodian metropolis of Angkor at the height of the Khmer Empire’s power and influence around 1300 C.E. The project includes three teaching modules that combine images and video from the project with readings and questions: Power & Place, Water & Climate, and Trade & Diplomacy.
While Islam is a world religion, this map activity helps students grasp how Islam spread to Southeast Asia and became a major center for the religion.
