Grade 8 - Who Are We Becoming?



▪ Experiencing negative interactions with other cultures, natural disasters could cause a nation to desire further isolation from the rest of the world.

▪ The Japanese would believe that the gods were protecting them from harm. It would reinforce their view that they were special and powerful people.

▪ As a result of its location and geography, Japan’s early history was characterized by solidarity, peace and loyalty. These were the norms for Japanese society and culture.

▪ Japan’s geography provided natural isolation from other countries.

▪ Japan’s experience with typhoons could encourage a deep reverence for nature and a sense that human destiny is somehow influenced by the workings of the natural world. However, natural disasters could have also instilled fear in the Japanese people.

Section 1: The Land of the Rising Sun

☼ The sun is very important to the Japanese; it rises over Japan first before any other Asian country.

☼ The Japanese saw nature as sympathetic to them, reinforced by incidents such as the typhoons during the Mongol invasion.

☼ Japan’s small size relative to other nations increases the pride the Japanese have in their culture and in their ability to be “self-sufficient”.

Exploring Sources: Maps and Identity (Page 263)

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|What does the position of Japan say about how Japanese | |

|viewed the importance of their country relative to the | |

|rest of the world? | |

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|What might this map indicate about Japanese knowledge of | |

|the rest of the world? | |

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|What land masses can you identify with? | |

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|Building Your Skills: | |

|Drawing Conclusions (Page 264) | |

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|Read and examine the world map on page 264 of your | |

|textbook. Then answer the question at the end, “How do | |

|these facts affect your conclusion?” | |

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|Population Density: Read page 265. | |

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|Figure 12-7 (Page 265) How do you think living in areas | |

|of such dense population (like Tokyo) might affect the | |

|way people interact with each other? What would they | |

|value most, how would they behave with one another? | |

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|How do you think it might affect people’s sense of | |

|identity? | |

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|Examine figure 12-8. What other parts of the world are | |

|isolated? | |

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|Which Latin word does the term “isolated” come from? What| |

|does it mean in Latin? | |

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|Refer to an atlas that shows the population density of | |

|Canada. What areas of Canada area most densely | |

|populated? | |

A Land Apart: (Page 265)

Notice that the locations of major cities in Japan are along the coast. The interior of Japan is mountainous, so locating on or near the ocean would allow transportation of goods and people around the islands. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions would also have served to keep the people out of the mountains and closer to the shoreline.

Adopting and Adapting Elements of Culture: (Page 266)

What did the Japanese borrow from the Chinese? Explain…

Protection of the Canadian Identity: (Page 267)

Read page 267 of your textbook and answer the questions below:

1. How have satellite and cable TV changed the number of cultures that Canadians are exposed to?

2. To what extent do you think media such as music, TV and movies influence your sense of identity as a Canadian?

3. How might the distortions of the Mercator map have influenced worldview in the past?

3. Which two provinces in Canada do you think are geographically the most similar to Japan? Use the comparison chart below to explain yourself.

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| |Similarities with Japan… |

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|Two Provinces in Canada: | |

|_________________ | |

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|and | |

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|_________________. | |

Just for Your Interest….

Japan's population grew steadily through most of the twentieth century. In the last decades of the century, however, people began marrying later and having fewer children. As a result, Japan's population curve has flattened out and will decline in the early twenty-first century.

Section 2: Nature Shaping a Worldview

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|The Beauties of Nature: (Page 268) |

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|Read page 268 and examine Figure 12-11. How do you | |

|think sharing in yearly festivals like these [cherry | |

|blossom time picnics] might create a sense of identity| |

|and community? | |

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|What values are reflected in figure 12-11? | |

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|Voices: Nature and Culture (Page 269) |

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|What does Dene and Denendeh refer to? | |

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|What effect do you think the Dene way of thinking | |

|would have on how they behaved toward people new to | |

|their land? | |

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|Shinto: The Way of the Spirit | |

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|Explain what the Shinto Religion is all about… | |

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|Many people today do not consider “Shinto and | |

|Buddhism as “religions” as the word is understood in | |

|North America? Why is that…? | |

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|The Dark Side of Nature: | |

|(Page 271) | |

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|Explain what is meant by the phrase “the dark side of| |

|nature”? | |

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|Examine Figure 12-14 on page 271 of your textbook. If| |

|you believed that mountains were sacred places, how | |

|would you interpret the eruption of a volcano? | |

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|How are Japanese beliefs similar and different to |Similarities: |

|Aztec explanations of how and why natural disasters | |

|occur? | |

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| |Differences: |

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|What do the two cultures (Aztecs and Japanese) | |

|believe about nature and human ability to influence | |

|it? | |

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Examine Figure 12-16 (Page 273)

Choose one of the elements from the worldview icon and explain how disasters and loss of life might affect it. See example below…

|Worldview Element |Effect of Disaster and Loss of Life… |

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|Geography |Waterways might be changed after a flood. Coastlines might be changed by erosion or tsunami. Landscape might be changed |

| |by volcanic eruption, forest fire. |

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| |Loss of life is unlikely to affect geography. |

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Over to You (Page 273)

1. Using a two-column graphic organizer like the one below, summarize how elements of nature influenced the beliefs and values of the Japanese people.

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|Elements of Nature |Beliefs and Values |

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|Island nation | |

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|Typhoons | |

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|Cherry Blossoms | |

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|Extremes of nature (earthquakes, | |

|volcanoes, | |

|tsunamis) | |

2. To what extent does nature contribute to your sense of identity? Do you think living in a primarily rural or a primarily urban environment might affect your answer?

3. Many countries use symbols as a way of visually portraying elements to describe their national identity. Make a list of some common symbols of Canada. Which of them are drawn from nature? Draw or print symbol and place them in mind map with explanation.

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|Figure 12-17 (Page 274) | |

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|Use an atlas to find out what latitudes Japan occupies from | |

|the northern tip to the southern tip. What part of North | |

|America lies at the same northern and southern latitudes? | |

|What would you expect to see in a photograph taken in the | |

|south of Japan? | |

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|Think It Through (Page 275) | |

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|Suggest one Canadian food that you think symbolizes Canada’s| |

|history and culture the way that rice symbolizes Japan’s. | |

|Explain your thinking. | |

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|Figure 12-18 (Page 275) | |

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|Compare these rice paddies with the way the Aztecs | |

|manipulated the land for agriculture. | |

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|Exploring Sources: A Symbolic Gift (Page 276) | |

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|Think about what you read in Chapter 10 about Cortés firing | |

|his canons and exercising his horses in front of the Aztec | |

|ambassadors. Do you see any similarities between these two | |

|moments of contact between different cultures? Explain. | |

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|Figure 12-19 (Page 276) | |

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|Why do you think the Japanese chose to have | |

|sumo wrestlers load the rice? | |

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|Fast Forward: Fair Trade? (Page 277) | |

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|What, if any, similarities can you see in the | |

|Canadian and Japanese situation [Government | |

|regulation of wheat/rice production, import, | |

|and export]? | |

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|How does the Japanese government prohibiting | |

|rice imports fit in with the isolation and | |

|self sufficiency of Japanese society? | |

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|Fast Forward: Hamamatsu, Japan (Page 278) | |

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|Why did Hamamatsu officials recruit workers of Japanese | |

|heritage from Brazil and Peru? Why might they have been | |

|willing to settle in Japan? | |

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|What was the impact of immigration on the city? | |

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|Examine the line graph of Foreign Nationals Living in Japan,| |

|1980–2004. What trend is indicated? | |

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|What implications do your answers to Questions 1–3 suggest | |

|about the future of Japan as a homogenous society? | |

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|Over to You (Page 280) | |

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|Create a cause-and-effect flowchart to show how self | |

|sufficiency might have influenced worldview in Japan. | |

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|Technology and changing worldviews have made it nearly |In the average household students might find: |

|impossible to countries to be, or need to be, | |

|self-sufficient today. Develop a list of five items you |Kitchen items: |

|use in your home every day. Determine where these goods | |

|were manufactured. Create a web to show how | |

|interdependence might influence worldview in Canada. |Bathroom items: |

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| |Bedroom: |

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| |Living Room: |

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| |Outside: |

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|Why do you think there are so many variations on these | |

|words in each of the cultures? What does it suggest about| |

|their significance? | |

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|Explain an aspect of climate or weather that has a major | |

|impact in the area where you live. Are there many words | |

|describing variations of it? Explain why or why not. | |

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|Many people in Prince Edward Island were opposed to the | |

|building of the Confederation Bridge linking the island | |

|to the mainland. | |

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Grade 8

Unit 3: From Isolation to Adaptation

Chapter 12 Introduction

In what ways does physical geography contribute to shaping a worldview?

By 1281, Japan had twice been saved from invasion by a typhoon.

How might this repeated experience influence the worldview of the Japanese people?

Symbols

Describing the National Identity of Canada

Section 3: A Self-Sufficient Count

17.

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