Black Ships & Samurai, Lesson 08

Site Quest: Creating a Guide to the “Foreigners”

Introduction
A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by students in constructing a response to a given question is drawn from multiple Web sources. In this activity, students use one source, Black Ships & Samurai, to collect data and inform their analysis and response to a historical question.

In this site quest, students work in groups taking the roles of either Americans or Japanese who are charged with creating a Cross-Cultural Training Guide to help educate their countrymen and women to the customs and habits of the other culture.

National History Standards

Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, students will be better able to:

    • Plan and organize arguments
    • Practice and apply decision-making skills
    • Interrogate a variety of written and visual texts in order to select and organize data in support of a thesis
    • Discuss and evaluate the situation facing Japan with the arrival of an American naval force in 1853
    • Consider alternative courses of action that faced Japanese decision-makers at a critical moment for their country and government

Time Required
2-4 class periods and homework

Materials and preparation
Online access to Black Ships & Samurai

Procedure
Advance preparation:

1. Homework and class discussion. Prior to beginning this site quest, students should know the context of the Perry expeditions to Japan in 1853 and 1854. For students at lower reading levels, the teacher should present key points from the “Introduction” section of the Essay; students at higher reading levels may be assigned to read this introduction for homework. Spend a short time in class discussing key points before assigning the site quest.

2. This site quest rests on the students’ ability to identify cases of cross-cultural miscommunication in the initial encounters between Perry’s men and Japanese living in the outskirts of Tokyo (Edo) in 1853 and 1854. Prior to beginning work on the site quest, make sure students understand that the Americans and Japanese who came into contact with each other during Perry’s two expeditions to Japan had extremely limited knowledge of the other country and very little opportunity to interact. Coming from very different situations, these people were bound to make mistakes in trying to interpret and understand each other’s actions and customs. Sometimes, these mistakes may have been humorous; other times, they could be more serious.

Ask students if they have had similar cross-cultural experiences when visiting another country. Manners, forms of greeting and introduction are samples of cultural differences that might cause confusion or mistakes when trying to operate in an unfamiliar culture. Students may know that Japanese people bow in greeting, while Americans shake hands. Have students imagine or role play such an encounter with two people trying to make a formal greeting with these two different customs. As an American who knows the Japanese custom, what would a student want to tell someone unfamiliar with Japanese ways? Or, vice versa? It is this kind of cultural insight and guidance that students will focus on in this site quest, as they explore the Black Ships & Samurai unit for examples of Japanese and American customs that surprised one another and create a Cross-Cultural Training Guide.

3. Review the guidelines and the specific task for this site quest with students, using the student pages. Assign students to groups and each group the role of either Americans or Japanese.

4. From this point, complete student directions (below) are provided online.

Introduction to students
The initial encounter between two countries and cultures results in different perspectives, experiences, and recordings of the same event. Different perceptions is one of the underlying themes of the Black Ships & Samurai unit.

In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry led a U.S. expedition of four ships to Japan with the mission of opening that country to trade and other relationships with the United States. While the Japanese had ongoing exchange with the West, it was strictly limited and controlled through the port of Nagasaki in southern Japan. Japanese-European interaction was limited to trade with the Dutch through this port. The vast majority of Japanese, including the government of the Tokugawa shogun, had extremely limited knowledge of the West. The government’s policy, for over 200 years, had been to close the country from any unnecessary exchange with the West. When Perry arrived in Japan, it was the first time any significant number of Americans or Japanese had had contact with the other culture. Perry’s arrival in Japan, the American efforts to establish relations with that country, the reactions of the Americans in the expeditionary party, and the reactions of Japanese who came in contact with them are documented through an official U.S. narrative of the Perry expedition, as well as extensive visual records made by official and unofficial American artists and Japanese artists. The many aspects of this encounter are presented and analyzed in Black Ships & Samurai, the focus of this site quest.

Task
Your assignment is to examine the historical records of this encounter between Americans and Japanese in 1853 and 1854 provided in the Black Ships & Samurai unit. You will be focusing primarily on visual records left by artists on both sides of this historic encounter. Your task is to identify and analyze specific ways in which the mid-19th-century Japanese and American cultures differed from each other and how these differences were perceived, experienced, and recorded by each group. From your analysis, you will then take on the role of either Japanese or Americans to create a Cross-Cultural Training Guide to the other culture. This guide will be provided to others in your country to help educate them and prepare them to interact with members of the other culture. You will be working from the information provided in the Black Ships & Samurai unit, with special attention to the visual recordings from both Americans and Japanese. In undertaking this project you will be simulating the process of trying to understand and provide insights into a foreign culture that Americans and Japanese engaged in during the 1850s and 1860s.

You will work in teams, with each member of your team taking a specific role (either spokesperson, art director, writer, or producer) and a specific fact-finding task, as outlined in “Processes and Resources” (below).

Process and Resources
1. Your teacher will assign your group the role of either Americans or Japanese and you will conduct your research and project development from the perspective of that group preparing a guide to explain the other country to your own countrymen.

In your work group, select work roles.

Spokespersons (1-2): these people will be responsible for the classroom presentation of your work.

Art directors (1-2): these people are responsible for preparing the visuals or drawing illustrations for the Cross-Cultural Training Guide.

Writers (1-2): these people are responsible for preparing the written explanation to accompany each cultural example in the PowerPoint presentation.

Producer (1): this person will keep the group on schedule and insure that the final product is ready to present to the class and contains all the required elements.

In addition to the roles above, all members of the group will work as fact finders and each fact finder will have a specific content focus in the process.

Fact finder #1: Food
Fact finder #2: Diplomatic customs including protocol, formal interaction and exchange
Fact finder #3: Social customs
Fact finder #4: Religion and philosophy
Fact finder #5: Clothing, styles, standards of beauty

Each fact finder is to complete the following research and interpretation, based on the historical records you uncover:

(a) Identify a minimum of three concrete examples or “case studies” in cross-cultural miscommunication—that is, how an episode, interaction, or custom was differently perceived by Americans and Japanese.
(b) For each example, determine the nature of the miscommunication.
(c) To the best of your ability, interpret the basis/context of these different perceptions.
(d) Decide what information and advice about the other country would be necessary to help your countrymen be prepared for similar interaction in the future.
(e) Be prepared to explain your three examples to others in your group.

Resources
All components of the Black Ships & Samurai unit contain information that can benefit your group. Many of the sections contain parallel presentations on the U.S. views and the Japanese views of a particular topic.

Each fact finder may want to begin with the links provided below.

Fact finder #1: Food
    Essay: Encounters: Facing East
    Essay: Encounters: Facing West
    Black Ship Scroll
    Visual Narratives: Encounters

Fact finder #2: Diplomatic customs including protocol, formal interaction and exchange
    Essay: Encounters: Facing East
    Essay: Encounters: Facing West
    Essay: Gifts
    Visual Narratives: Encounters

Fact finder #3: Social customs
    Essay: Encounters: Facing East
    Essay: Encounters: Facing West
    Essay: Gifts
    Visual Narratives: Encounters

Fact finder #4: Religion and philosophy
    Essay: Encounters: Facing East
    Essay: Encounters: Facing West
    Visual Narratives: Encounters
    Visual Narratives: Supplemental, Gravestone

Fact finder #5: Clothing, styles, standards of beauty
    Essay: Encounters: Facing East
    Essay: Encounters: Facing West
    Essay: Gifts
    Black Ship Scroll
    Visual Narratives: Encounters
    Visual Narratives: Supplemental, Courtesan
    Visual Narratives: Portraits

The Presentation
Each member of your group has analyzed a different topic or issue and has examined that issue from both Japanese and U.S. perspectives. As your group prepares its presentation, discuss the information each group member has collected. Each person should present his or her “case studies” from his or her own research. Then, sift through this information to reach a consensus on which case studies you will highlight in your Cross-Cultural Training Guide. Work together to create a guide that you will share with other members of your class. Your guide must have:

    • A 1-2 paragraph introduction to the other culture
    • A minimum of 10 case studies for understanding the other culture
    • For each case study, an explanation of the custom. This might be a written paragraph, a set of directions, or a set of warnings on how to avoid a problem when encountering this custom of the other country.
    • A visual to help illustrate each case study

Evaluation

Research skills

Beginning Begins research task without completing advance reading assignment. Does not define research task for defined role. Uses only 1-2 sites on the Web site; is not selective about data collection. Does not find sufficient sources. Does not site sources. Does not use own words.

Developing Completes advance reading assignment but cannot contribute to discussion. Begins research with some idea of information that will be needed to complete assignment. Uses 3 sites on the Web site. Is somewhat selective about data collection but uses some irrelevant information. Does not find sufficient sources. Not consistent in source citations. May or may not use own words.

Accomplished Completes advance reading and contributes to discussion. Begins research with clear idea of information needed for assigned role. Collects data from 4 sites on the Web site. Finds required 10 examples. Notes are well organized and indicate where data comes from.

Exemplary Completes advance reading assignment and makes significant contributions to discussion. Begins research with clear idea of information needed for assigned role. Collects data for 5 or more sites on the Web site. Finds required 10 examples. Notes are well organized and indicate where data comes from.

Score

Teamwork

Beginning Does not take on assigned role or tasks. Works toward group goals only when reminded. Requires prompting to complete individual assignments within the group. Does not take part in finalizing the project for presentations.

Developing Contributes minimally to the group when prompted to do so. Completes individual assignments. Participates in making decisions about and fine tuning final project

Accomplished Stays on task; encourages others to do so. Completes individual assignment within the group. Takes active role in making decisions about and fine tuning final project for presentation.

Exemplary Stays on task and encourages others to do so. Takes leadership within the group. Completes individual assignment within group at high level. Takes leadership role in finalizing the project for presentation.

Score

Final project

Beginning Does not follow requirements for final project: 1 or more required sections of project are missing. Writing with many errors. Does not indicate understanding of cross-cultural communication.

Developing Addresses all parts of presentation requirement but with minimal detail; not all case studies are included. Writing with some errors. Understanding of cross-cultural communication not clearly demonstrated.

Accomplished Addresses all parts of final project. Case studies, writing, illustrations all well presented. Adequate understanding and explanation of the goals of the project.

Exemplary Addresses all parts of final project. Strong case studies, writing, and illustrations. Clearly written and presented. Clearly understands and can explain project.

Score

Conclusion
Following the initial encounter between Japan and the United States, people from both countries wrote detailed explanations of the other culture in an effort to explain the other culture to their countrymen and countrywomen. The official narrative was full of detailed explanations of Japanese customs designed to help the American government. On the Japanese side, in 1867 the scholar Yukichi Fukuzawa published three volumes on Western clothing, food, customs, and more. These books made him an authority on Western manners. For example, Fukuzawa’s books provided detailed drawings of many articles of Western clothing unfamiliar to the Japanese, with directions on how to put them on, when to wear them, and so on. In one of his books, Fukuzawa wrote as follows about Western style etiquette:

“Westerners do not use chopsticks for eating. Meat is cut very carefully and then transferred to each individual’s plate. Set in front of each person are a knife which is held in the right hand in order to cut a small piece of the meant, and a fork which is held in the left hand in order to stick the piece of meat and bring it to the mouth. It is awfully bad manners to use a knife to carry food to your moth.

Soup is served in a plate, and is eaten with a spoon. It has to be remembered that slurping is bad manners, even when you drink tea… At a banquet, twenty or even thirty guests sit at one big table.”

Source: Julia Meech-Pekarik. The World of the Meiji Print. Impressions of a New Civilization. New York: John Weatherhill, Inc., 1986: p.68.

• Table of Contents | Lessons:

• 01
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Handout 01-A
  • Handout 01-B
  •  
• 02
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Handout 02-A
  • Handout 02-B
  • Handout 02-C
  •  
• 03
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Handout 03-A
  • Handout 03-B
  •  
• 04
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Handout 04-A
  • Teacher Background Notes
  • PowerPoint Template
  •  
• 05
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Handout 05-A
  • Handout 05-B
  • Handout 05-C
  • Textbook Excerpts
  •  
• 06
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Handout 06-A
  • Sumo Account Excerpt
  •  
• 07
  • Teacher Instructions
  • Letter #01
  • Letter #02
  •  
• 08
  • Teacher Instructions
  •  

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