Language & Culture Workshops
Workshop topics for Centre Visits
Workshops of 1-2 hours can be arranged by our professional language consultant on a wide variety of traditional and contemporary themes. The workshops can be delivered in Japanese, English or a combination of both.
Workshops may be further tailored to your class’s needs in consultation with our language consultant.
APPLICATION FORM: Centre Visits for Schools – Apply – Japan Foundation, Sydney
Topics
Activities
Duration
Traditional festivals and yatai games
Students acquire information and learn about traditional Japanese matsuri festivals, including the specific activities, underlying beliefs, communal aspects, and more. They engage in role-play, experiencing matsuri yatai (stall) games while using Japanese expressions as both customers and yatai staff.
[Suitable for: GENERAL]
Estimated duration: 60 – 90 mins
Yukata, Bon-odori and Obon ritual
Students learn about yukata, traditional Japanese casual clothing, and how to wear it. They also explore the meanings and beliefs associated with the Obon summer ritual in August and practise the typical Bon-odori, a traditional Obon festival dance in Japan.
NOTE: Please be aware that yukata sizes and colours are limited. Students may not be able to choose their preferred design. The recommended number of students for yukata wearing is up to 15 at a time.
[Suitable for: GENERAL]
Estimated duration: 40 – 60 mins
Furoshiki
Students acquire information about traditional Japanese furoshiki, a square wrapping cloth. They explore its history and the culture behind it. They learn and practise traditional techniques for wrapping various items with furoshiki.
[Suitable for: GENERAL]
Estimated duration: 40 – 60 mins
Shopping
Students learn about and acquire information regarding shops in Japan, as well as the contemporary issues and challenges faced by small businesses. They familiarise themselves with Japanese shopping items and basic expressions used in shopping by engaging in role-play as staff and customers. This session can be combined with the Furoshiki workshop.
[Suitable for: Junior Secondary]
60 mins (minimum)
90 mins (minimum with furoshiki workshop)
Visiting a Japanese home
Students learn about the composition of Japanese homes. They acquire information about the manners and expressions used when visiting a Japanese home and engage in role-play as a host and a guest in a Japanese room setting. This session can be combined with the Furoshiki workshop.
[Suitable for: Secondary]
60 mins (minimum)
90 mins (minimum with furoshiki workshop)
Shodō
(Up to 20 students at a time)
Students explore information about shodō calligraphy in Japan, including its historical and contemporary aspects. They learn the basic techniques of shodō calligraphy and create their own shodō works. They also gain a fundamental understanding of kanji in Japanese script.
[Suitable for: GENERAL]
Estimated duration: 60 – 90 mins
Taiko
Students learn about Japanese drums and practice drumming with Japanese phrases and expressions. Through this practice, students can familiarise themselves with the Japanese phonetic feature haku (mora), which helps them to develop their pronunciation and orthography skills.
[Suitable for: Primary and Junior Secondary]
Estimated duration: 45-60 mins
Obento & Ekiben
Students acquire information about the historical background and contemporary features of obento and ekiben, the Japanese boxed lunch. They explore various regional food cultures in Japan and then design an imaginary special Australian obento using local Australian ingredients. Please note that this is not a cooking class.
[Suitable for: Secondary]
Estimated duration: 60 – 90 mins
Japanese manga and anime
Students acquire information about the history of anime and manga and explore contemporary manga and anime culture in Japan. They learn about specific features of manga, such as fukidashi speech bubbles and onomatopoeia. They then create their own manga characters and/or add onomatopoeia to the illustrations before introducing them to the class or group.
[Suitable for: Secondary]
Estimated duration: 60-90 mins
Traditional patterns of Japan
Students learn about traditional Japanese dye, patterns, and the meanings attached to them. They will then explore the contemporary use of traditional patterns in daily life. In the hands-on session, they will dye white cloth provided using basic shiborizome, a Japanese tie-dye technique.
[Suitable for: Secondary]
Estimated duration: 60-90 mins
School events in Japan
Students acquire information about school events in Japan. They will compare these events with those in Australia, considering the differences and similarities between equivalent school activities. They learn the names of everyday items and the expressions used when borrowing them, and then they perform a role-play in a ‘scavenger hunt game,’ a popular Japanese game for sports day.
[Suitable for: Secondary]
Estimated duration: 90 mins
Dream trip to Japan
Students learn about Japan from the perspective of a potential traveller. They acquire information about famous places and enjoyable activities in Japan by reading a ‘travel information flyer.’ They then plan their own imaginary ‘Dream Trip to Japan’ through group discussion and make a brief presentation of their ‘Dream Trip’ to the class.
[Suitable for: Senior Secondary]
Estimated duration: 90 mins
Japan fun quiz
Students acquire information about Japan, including its geographical, historical, and contemporary facts. They can form pairs or groups to discuss and answer questions.
[Suitable for: Secondary]
Estimated duration: 40-60 mins
Tadoku–fun reading workshop
This workshop provides students with an enjoyable and accessible reading experience in Japanese. Following a basic and straightforward explanation of Tadoku, students read graded or guided readers in Japanese at their own pace, based on their interests and proficiency levels.
NOTE: The Tadoku workshop is suitable for students who can read hiragana and katakana without difficulty. For more information about Tadoku, please visit: http://tadoku.org/
[Suitable for: Senior Secondary]
Estimated duration: 60 mins