Japan Week
Updated: Apr 22, 2024
A global studies unit on Japan for homeschool, worldschool or just for fun.
Japan week was suggested by one of my daughters because she wanted an excuse to go out to sushi! We learned about ninjas, samurai, cherry blossoms, the bombing of Hiroshima and of course, at the end of the week, we ate sushi. This week was heavy on picture books; we just found so many great ones!
Printables
Here's this week's info, all wrapped up into an easy-to-read printable. Click here for the full color copy and click here for a low-ink black and white version.
Japan Week Printable Color 
Japan Week Printable Low Ink
On the Dining Room Wall
This map, this printable of Japanese characters,
A Itsukushima Torii (Floating Shinto Shrine Gate) trivia card from a similar pack to this.
A copy of from this famous paintings flashcards set. Or you could print it from Wikipedia here.
What We're Listening to
Any number of relaxing Japanese music options on YouTube. We liked this one.
Books
One from each category plus an assortment of picture books is usually just perfect.
Not all book series are as good as the next. Get the scoop on some of our favorites here.
Library Haul
Base Non-Fiction Books:
Read every word or simply flip through and reach what catches your eye.
Top Pick:
Ninjas and Samuri (Fact Tracker #30) This is the non-fiction companion book to the Magic Treehouse.
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Samurai (You Wouldn't Want to Be Series) These entertaining books are easy ones to flip through and pick and choose to read what looks interesting.
Other Ideas:
What Was the Bombing of Hiroshima? (Who HQ Book) We didn't read this book in its entirety because I was hesitant to present a whole country through the lens of one event. Instead, we skimmed it and then discussed it.
Ninjas and Samurai 
You Wouldn't Want to Be A Samu 
Bombing of Hiroshima?
Base Fiction Chapter Book:
Some of these books are part of a series but all of them work as stand alone books.
Younger Learners:
Night of the Ninjas (Magic Treehouse #5) Jack and Annie must learn from helpful ninjas in ancient Japan to complete their quest.
Older Learners:
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Since we had only briefly touched on the bombing of Hiroshima with our non-fiction books, I wanted to incorporate more of the theme here. It's sad. You will cry.
Dragon of the Red Dawn (Magic Treehouse #32) One of the Merlin Missions part of the series, this one is longer than the original Magic Treehouse series and perfect for slightly older learners. Jack and Annie return to ancient Japan for more adventure
Night of the Ninjas 
Sadako Thousand Paper Cranes 
Dragon of the Red Dawn
Other Notable Chapter-Type Books
Have more time? Try these too.
Life as a Ninja (You Choose Book) We love our You Choose books. Each path you take isn't all that long but be warned that you will die in about half of these endings.
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 (I Survived Series) I haven't read this, but my daughter did and she loved it.
Tales from Japan These stories are a little more challenging but well-worth the read. I let each of my girls pick one.
Life as a Ninja You Choose 
I Survived Japanese Tsunami 
Tales from Japan
Picture Books
Library inventories vary so much with picture books. Rather than wasting time tracking down specific ones, I like to do keyword searches and just grab what's available.
Search these keywords: Japan, Haiku, Sakura, Ninjas, Samurai, Tokyo.
We liked these books:
The Beckoning Cat Those cats you see with their raised paws? There's a story behind them. We loved this book!
Magic Ramen This is a great book about the invention of everyone's favorite instant noodles.
Fish for Jimmy: Inspired by One Family's Experience in a Japanese American Internment Camp A book that introduces Japanese American internment camps through the lens of a young boy worried about his younger brother.
Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind A touching book about the power of just one person doing small, kind things.
When the Sakura Bloom A pretty little story about the cherry blossoms in Japan.
Last Kappa of Old Japan: A Magical Journey of Two Friends A somewhat meandering story but my girls really liked it.
Wabi Sabi A cute story about a cat named Wabi Sabi who aims to find out the meaning behind his name.
Thirty Minutes Over Oregon A poignant story about the little-known bombing of Oregon during WWII and the healing power of time and understanding.
The Crane Girl My girls loved this book about a magical crane girl.
The Beckoning Cat 
Magic Ramen 
Fish for Jimmy 
Write to Me 
When the Sakura Bloom 
Last Kappa of Old Japan 
Wabi Sabi 
Thirty Minutes Over Oregon 
The Crane Girl
Things to Watch*
*Always vet material before watching it with your kids, especially if they are sensitive viewers. I try to note any potential issues but everyone has different parenting thresholds of what they consider appropriate.
Arts & Culture
Learn about Haikus and write some. Typical haikus have the syllable structure of 5,7,5. Global Smarties blog Teaching kids about the world It makes learning fun
Interactive Learning: Crafts, Food, Activities
We went out to our favorite sushi restaurant!
After we read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, we learned to fold paper cranes ourselves. Here the kids are with their cranes on strings.
Find some Japan-themed coloring pages or build Lego ninjas, sushi or the towering skyscrapers of Tokyo.
We visited the Portland Japanese Gardens. Maybe look for something similar in your area!
End of Week Movie Night Ideas
Spirited Away (PG, 2001) This frequently makes it onto lists about the best animated movies of all time so we just had to check it out. Parents of younger kids should know it has some scary parts. It was so, so good though and my girls loved it.
My Neighbor Totoro (G, 1998 We didn't actually watch this one but it's supposed to be really good and it might be better suited if your kiddo is a little young for Spirited Away.
Wrap Up
Japan had a lot going on. It has so much history, but unlike some of our other historical themes, it's also still around and has plenty of modern-day stuff to learn about too. It felt a little scattered but overall, I think we did a good job learning a smattering of this and a smattering of that. All of this material would work great for Japan homeschool unit or, in our case, just some fun, extra learning. Here's a picture of cherry blossom pancakes!
Final Moment
Everybody celebrating a birthday in our house gets to pick a restaurant for a special dinner. So far, having twins has not made this a problem as they almost always choose our neighborhood sushi place. Here they are last summer on their 8th birthday!
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