Resources

Asian Art Museum Storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about Amaterasu, the sun goddess, in the museum’s Japan galleries.

Lesson: Compare and contrast experiences between Kay Sekimachi and the characters of When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka during Relocation and the Internment Camps to draw themes about the treatment of American and Japanese cultures and the erasure of individuality during World War II. 

Lesson: Wong’s memoirs—Fifth Chinese Daughter (1950) and No Chinese Stranger (1975)—offer students many opportunities to examine issues related to Asian American identity, history, art, and storytelling.  Depending on how much time you have, you can assign one or both books or specific passages; no matter the length of the reading, Wong’s stories and reflections lend themselves to provocative discussions.

Lesson: Watch and discuss the film Jade Snow Wong to understand the cultural conflicts experienced by Chinese American women during the 1930s-40s and how similar tensions still exist today.

Students will practice close looking and writing skills through crafting poems inspired by Chiura Obata’s natural landscapes.

Activity: In the following activity, you will make your own orihon to use as a journal. What stories might you record in it?

Students use visual evidence to convey character by constructing a visual identity for their shadow puppet, and demonstrate principles of shadow-casting and puppet-making by performing their shadow play.

Asian Art Museum storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about a boy who was only one inch tall.

Watch a Lunar New Year story about a beast named Nian.

Carlos Villa Biography and Lesson Plans