Introduction Areas of Historical & Cultural Research

Each member of your team will choose one specialty from the following list.  For each topic, there are suggested questions to consider, and some links to follow.
You will deepen your understanding of the story by researching the cultural and historical setting, specializing in one of the topics listed above.
CA standards
Directions
Rubric
Historical and Cultural Research
Themes
Reading Questions
Vocabulary
Team Notes
Who's Who?  Family Tree
Where are we?  Gempei Map
Conclusion
This Week in Core



Music of Classical Japan

Takiko plays the koto, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument.  In several scenes, Takiko's skill in playing the koto affects the other characters, creating a mood or inspiring admiration.  What does the koto sound like?  How is it played?  How can you explain the effect this music has on the characters?  What other instruments have been part of Japanese arts?  Help your classmates to appreciate the power of this music.  Your presentation might include a recording of music.

Helpful links:
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Art and Beauty in Japan

Choose an aspect of art and beauty to research.  Music is a big part of Takiko's life, but other arts are also portrayed.  Takiko helps to weave the New Year's rope for the door.  Fusa creates mochi and sews quilts.  Goro shapes beautiful pottery. Princess Aoi wears the most elegant hair style and multi-layered silk kimonos.  Prince Kira holds a moon-viewing party, where the guests compose poetry.  Several scenes take place in a beautiful garden or in a temple.

Art is sometimes defined in terms of beauty.  What kinds of things are considered beautiful (or ugly) in the story?  Takiko herself is called beautiful, while Lady Chujo is not.  What role do ideas of beauty play in this story?

Helpful links:

Gardens
Art Collections
Ceramics
Poetry
Tea Ceremony

There is no tea ceremony in our story, Of Nightingales That Weep, as the tea ceremony developed later.  In the 12th century, tea was a medicinal drink favored by Buddhist monks.  
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Myths and Proverbs of Japan

Societies express what is important to them through their stories.  What can we learn from myths, folk tales, and the bits of wisdom we call proverbs?  Find connections between these and the characters in our story, and discover what cultural values are guiding the characters in their actions.  Think about what the heroes and villains of folk tales show about Japanese society.  How are we similar or different today? 

Helpful links:

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Homes and Castles of Historical Japan

Takiko lives in several different places, including the wealthy Kyoto home of Aunt Uchinaka, the country farm house of Goro, the palace of Prince Kira and Princess Aoi in Kyoto, and the Emperor's palace in Kyoto.  What do these dwellings look like?    Help your classmates visualize what it was like to live in these homes.  How are large aristocratic homes organized to provide space for different family members and social classes?    How is a castle designed for defense?  Although none of the story takes place in a castle, what does castle design tell us about warfare and clan rivalries? 

Helpful links:
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The Samurai Way

Moriyuki lives – and dies unsuccessfully – as a samurai.  Hideo is identified as a samurai.  What did this life entail?  What was the role of samurai in medieval Japan? How did "bushido," the samurai way, guide their behavior?  See what you can discover about the masculine ideal, and how well the various characters embody it.

Helpful links:

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Status of Women

The main character in this story is a woman.  So are other important characters:  Takiko's mother Chieko, her servant Mieko, the Princess Aoi, the Empress Mother Kenreimonin, the Empress Grandmother Nii no Ama.  Their actions may raise some questions in your mind.  Why is it that Takiko's mother must remarry?  How is Takiko's demeaning job with Princess Aoi considered an opportunity? How would the story be different if Takiko were a man?  To what extent does her gender determine her choices and her path in life?  Find out about the woman's place in society.  Help your classmates to understand Takiko's life choices. 

Helpful links:

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Buddhist and Shinto Religions in Early Japan

Takiko never attends any public worship ceremony; her prayers are private.  Takiko's religion is Buddhist, although her prayer to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu is Shinto.  Several characters consider suicide, which is a sin in Christian thought.  Near the end of the story, Takiko wonders about her possible sins in previous lives.  Empress Kenreimonin becomes a Buddhist nun. 

What is the Japanese worldview, and how has it been influenced by religion?
How do religious beliefs form attitudes about life and influence behavior? 
How can an understanding of her religion help us to understand Takiko?

Helpful links:
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History of Japan

In historical fiction, the main events, the famous characters, and the setting are based on true facts.
The personal details of daily life and conversation are fictional but compatible with the truth.  The historical setting of this fiction story is a series of real events, the Gempei War of 1180 to 1185, which resulted in the political power passing from the Emperor to the first Shogun, Minamoto Yoritomo.   The Heike clan in literature are known to history as the Taira, while the Genji clan are the Minamoto.   Find out how this war changed the course of Japanese history. 

How does this period fit into the larger story of Japan?
What is the nature of historical fiction?
How historically accurate is this novel?
How can historical fiction help us to relive events of the past?

Helpful links:
Details of specific people
 More historical fiction about these events
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