Breakfast

Here is breakfast our final day at U-Community Hotel in Osaka. What do you notice looks different than typical American hotels?

Day 2 : Orientation

Welcome to Japan. We had orientation. I had my first eel. Here is the view of Osaka from my room.

In Osaka

Our day started at Burlington International Airport at 5 a.m. Saturday. Now, it's almost 9 Sunday night in Osaka were we are staying at the U-Community Hotel.

I have a photo of my bed in my camera roll. We'll see if it loads.

Oyasumi nasai -- good night.

More movies

"Departures" -- a touching film of a young man who learns to prepare the deceased for burial. 4 Stars.

"Adrift in Tokyo" -- this movie made me laugh and cry. Some really funny lines. I loved the interactions among the characters. These films are really helping me break down cultural stereotypes. I am eager to  hear what my twenty-something sons think of this flick. 

Just watched "Fish Story," about a Japanese Punk Band, Gekerin -- ahead of its time, this band could certainly hold its own with my favorite punk band, The Clash. It's unclear to me whether Gekerin truly did exist or is fictitious. The movie introduces us to a cast of characters -- some of whom are superheroes fighting evil to preserve justice -- from the 1950s to 2012, when a comet that is headed to destroy Earth. I love the connections among all the characters and how the idiom "Fish Story" winds its way through all the stories as well! 4 Stars.

Here's the song

Here's the song with silence

A video clip from the movie of the band playing its song.

Lyrics

The story of my solitude
If my solitude were a fish
It'd be so enormous, so militant
A whale would get out of there

I know it would
I'm sure it would

The story of my solitude
If my solitude were a fish
It'd be so enormous, so militant
A whale would get out of there

Don't assume that I'm dead
Don't assume that I'm dead

Music stacked up like wooden blocks
Is the only salvation

The story of my failure
If my failure were a fish
It'd be so tragically comic
I'd have no place in the sea to be

Don't you know you're a liar!
Don't you know you're a deceiver!

Music stacked up like wooden blocks
Is the champion of justice!

Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh.

If my justice really were a fish
It'd be so greedy and arrogant
I'd pump the magma
Out of the ocean bed!


The story of my solitude
If my solitude were a fish
It'd be so enormous, so militant
A whale would get out of there.

Don't assume that I'm dead
…
…
...

Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh.

If my justice really were a fish
It'd be so greedy and arrogant
I'd pump the magma
Out of the ocean bed!

Don't assume that I'm dead
Don't assume that I'm dead

Don't you know you're a liar!
Don't you know you're a deceiver!

Music stacked up like wooden blocks
Music stacked up like wooden blocks
Is the only salvation

Da da dada dan
Da da dada dan
Da da dada daaan.

Taken from the move subtitles by Dean Shimauchi

More to watch:

* "Nobody Knows"

* "The Crescent Moon"

* "I Wish"

* "Hana and Alice"

* "Rainbow Song"

* "Quill" -- dog story

* "Hospitalite"

* "The Summer Came"

* "Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers" 

* "It's me; It's me."

* "Bright Future"

* "The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia"

* Miki Satoshi Collection

* "Sawako Decides"

* "Way out East"

Writing tool

This is a wonderful tool from Read Write Think for students who are struggling with their Kamishibai. Students can build character maps -- with different attributes of their characters -- as well as conflict maps, resolution maps and setting maps.

Here is the link for this thinking/writing tool: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/story-30008.html

Resources

This blog is a collection of my resources for the Grade 7-8 Kamishibai unit. In addition, I am collecting resources for a unit that with Dr. Teresa Robinson, a Grade 3/4 teacher at Folsom, and a fairy tale unit with the Grades 1/2 or independently. The following books are in my personal library or in my school library at Folsom Educational and Community Center.

Kamishibai

De Las Casas, Dianne. Kamishibai Story Theater : The Art of Picture Telling. Westport, CT: Teachers Ideas Press, 2006.

Tips on creating kamishibai as well as a number of fairy tales from Japan and the world.

McGowan, Tara M. The Kamishibai Classroom : Engaging Multiple Literacies Through the Art of "Paper Theater." Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2010.

Detailed tips on creating kamishibai from multiple perspectives. Excellent resource.

Nash, Eric. Manga Kamishibai : The Art of Japanese Paper Theater. New York: Abrams Comicarts, 2009.

A fabulous book on the history of kamishibai in Japan, which contains samples of kamishibai throughout its history.

Say, Allen. Kamishibai Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005.

Fairy tales

Haviland, Virginia. Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Japan. New York: Beech Tree, 1967.

Hearn, Lafcadio. Japanese Fairy Tales. Mount Vernon, NY : Peter Pauper Press, 1958.

Hearne, Betsy. Beauties & Beasts. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1993.

MacDonald, Margaret Read. Tom Thumb. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1993.

Philip, Neil. The Illustrated Book of Fairy Tales. New York : DK Publishing, 1997.

Sakade, Florence. Japanese Children's Favorite Stories. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1981.

Shannon, George. A Knock at the Door. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1992.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Secondary Sources

YouTube video by Inori on Sadaka



Sadako Story on YouTube. Subtitles told in French.
YouTube video by the BBC on Hiroshima


BBC YouTube video on Truman ultimatum.

BBC YouTube video on testing the bomb at Los Alamos, N.M.

BBC YouTube video on Nagasaki


BBC YouTube video on aftermath from Hiroshima

1946 USAF film on Hiroshima


National Geographic film about Hiroshima (45 minutes)