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Japanese Design

Learning Activities

     Japanese design is very much like Chinese and Korean design.  A lot of the beautiful things they make in Japan actually originated in another oriental country.  One example is the garden.  The beautiful gardens in Japan originated in China.  Japan takes ideas and adds their own creativity.  Though the designs are similar you can see the creativity of the Japanese that the Chinese and Korean do not have.

     Traditional Japanese buildings are mainly open to nature.  They are usually made of wood, earth, and paper.

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      In Japan, there are many different castles.  We have chosen a few castles that are very fun to learn about.

     Himeji is one of the oldest castles in Japan.  It was constructed in 1340 and is still standing.

     The Maruoka castle is another very old castle.  It was built in 1576.  Maruoka has one of the oldest donjons in Japan.  Donjons are large towers in the middle of the castle, which were later used as a keep to protect the castle.  A keep is a tower in which soldiers stand and shoot approaching attackers.

   The Iga Ueno castle is a particularly interesting castle.  It was constructed in 1611.  What makes this castle interesting is that the stone wall on the western flank was made for defense against attacks from the people of Osaka.

   The Hikone castle is a very interesting castle as well.  The date of its construction is not certain.  What we do know is that the castle was finished in the early 17th century.  The castle's grounds were finished in 1622.

   Japanese gardens are a big part of the Japanese culture.  These gardens don't actually come from Japan, though.  The idea of the garden comes from China.  After China started to design gardens, Korea and Japan liked the idea.  They took the basic layout of the Chinese gardens and began creating gardens in their own countries.                           

     The gardens use many trees and bushes.  These trees and bushes are trimmed very neatly.  The shapes that are made of the plants are usually rounded.

     In the center of the garden, there is normally a stone.  These stones are decorated in many ways.  Some have a design.  Some have the family crest.  The Japanese gardens are usually surrounded by something.  Most of the Japanese castles have a garden in or around them.

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