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Cultural Transformations in Japan:Women, Art Deco, and Global Culture 1920-1940Patrick WhelanSaint Stephen’s Episcopal SchoolBradenton Florida Grade Level: 10-12 (Advanced Placement World History)Key Concepts: New ways of conceptualizing global popular culture.Introduction: History instruction in North American high schools typically has two approaches to the cultural transformations after World War I. First, the rise of nationalism in Germany that leads to World War II, and secondly the advent of the “flapper” era in the United States. This lesson takes both of those themes and views them through Japanese Art Deco movement in the period before the Great Pacific War. The Art Deco movement may be the first truly global artistic movement appearing as it did in different forms in practically every modern country in the first decades of the 20th century. The themes of gender roles, consumer culture, globalization, and art are blended for this lesson. Since changing norms of tobacco use are a theme of this era, the present campaign in Japan to limit under-age tobacco is also referenced. Materials: PowerPoint slides on Japan and vocabulary worksheet. Objectives: Students will describe the major aspects of modernism, gender roles, and westernization as seen through art images. Students will see how global consumer tastes shift, especially in regards to cigarettes and tobacco use. Procedure: Briefly review or introduce background notions of Japanese history and art. The attached vocabulary sheet is a way for students to have the foundation so that they can identify the continuities and changes of the era of 1920 to 1940. If this lesson is taught as part of a 20th century unit on culture, some of these notions may have been covered in earlier lessons on Japanese history. Teachers also have the choice of placing this lesson as a postscript to an earlier lesson on the 19th century transformations within Meiji Japan. The artistic movement of art deco itself also should be included in a short introduction. Most students will not have a background in early 20th century art. For this introduction, just the basic notions of art deco should be described. The focus of the lesson concerns social transformations not art history.After these introductory elements, images from Japan for the period 1920 through 1940 are the showpiece for the lesson. Students should be prompted to respond either in groups, short written responses, or in a discussion. Teachers who are more accustomed to a lecture format will see that this lesson can be adapted as a lecture.Vocabulary SheetSeclusion: Japan politically isolated itself from the rest of the world for more than 200 years before the Meiji Restoration. During this time Japan received only very limited influence from outside cultures. Meiji Restoration: A political transformation that occurred in Japan in 1868. During the Meiji period Japan dramatically opened itself up to western influence, especially in areas of military and industrial production. Kimono: A long, loose-fitting piece of clothing that mostly women wore in traditional Japan. Kimono robes were decorated different patterns and designs and tied with a wide sash known as an obi.Art Deco: A style of art popular all over the world during the 1920s and 1930s. Art deco was used in a wide variety of different objects. It is distinctive in its modern, sleek quality and its use of new materials and clean lines.Flapper: A term that applied to young, fashionable women during the 1920s. These women, who often flouted traditional standards of behavior, were recognized by their carefree, modern attitude. In Japan women who expressed these values were known as Moga “modern girl.”Westernization: A movement especially seen during the 19th and 20th centuries in which cultures in Asia and other regions imitated or adopted the cultural and social standards of Europe and North America.Nationalism: A sense of pride in one’s country. Japan during the early 20th century was moving increasingly towards an ultra-nationalist government in which nationalist ideas gave them a sense of national superiority.Consumer culture: The attention that focused on materialism seen especially during the 20th century. With consumer culture people tend to value and identify with possessions and the consumption of luxury products. Great Pacific War: The term that the Japanese called World War II. Military conflict in Asia started long before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. ................
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