Appleseeds articles from January 2006

Appleseeds archives from January 2006

Island chain.(Japan's description)
January 1, 2006... Japan is a chain of mountainous islands in the Pacific Ocean, about 120 miles east of China. There are four large islands and more than 4,000 smaller islands. A thousand years ago, as it is today, it was a challenge to live in these...

I was here first! Take a trip back more than a thousand years ago to visit the first Japanese people.
January 1, 2006... My people, the Ainu, have lived in Japan for thousands of years. Seven families live in my village by the sea, on the island of Hokkaido. We have our own language and way of life, but in many ways, I'm just like you. I love, I laugh, and I cry....

Long-ago days: what was it like to live in ancient Japan?
January 1, 2006... Just as today, it all depended on when and where you lived, as well as your place in society. Let's imagine what life was like for two families in the year 800: a wealthy family in the new capital city of Heian (now Kyoto) and a peasant family...

Shinto and Buddhism.
January 1, 2006... The word Shinto comes from the Chinese shen dao, which means "the way of the gods." The gods, or spirits, worshipped by Shintoists are called kami Kami can take many forms: the spirits of ancestors, beautiful natural objects (waterfalls, rocks,...

Samurai: one who serves.
January 1, 2006... FOR MORE THAN 1,000 YEARS, SAMURAI WARRIORS OF JAPAN LIVED AND DIED, FIGHTING IN SMALL BATTLES AND GREAT WARS. THEY LIVED BY A CODE 0F CONDUCT THAT REQUIRED LOYALTY, HONESTY, AND COURAGE,AND THEY TRIED T0 DIE WITH HONOR. My name is...

Ningyou.(japanese dolls and culture)
January 1, 2006... Ningyou [FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] (nin-GYOH) is the Japanese word for "doll." The two kanji characters the Japanese use to write ningyou literally mean "human form." In ancient Japan, dolls weren't just playthings for...

The legend of Amakusa Shiro.(Biography)
January 1, 2006... In different times and different places, brave people have fought for the rights of the poor and mistreated. And brave people have fought for the right to practice their religion. Amakusa Shiro of Japan was one such person. He might have been...

Ikkyu's sweet punishment.(Reading Corner)
January 1, 2006... Six hundred years ago, 7-year-old Ikkyu left his home in the emperor's palace. He went to a temple to learn the ways of a priest. Life was difficult in the temple, but Ikkyu found ways to make the impossible possible. One morning, Ikkyu...

Aha! A haiku.
January 1, 2006... Haiku (hi-koo) are short poems, written in a style created in Japan more than 400 years ago--at the end of ancient times. Writing haiku is like catching a lightning bug in a jar. You capture a moment, then hold it up and share it. I wrote this...

Flying high.(Japanese Children's Day)
January 1, 2006... What is Kodom no hi (KOH-doh-moh no HEE)? It is Children's Day, celebrated in Japan on May 5. Originally called Tangu no sekku (TAHN-goo noh SEK-koo), or Boy's Day, it now honors all children, and the name has been changed to Kodomo no hi. This...

Making a Kodomo no hi carp.(Fun Stuff)
January 1, 2006... With some simple materials, you can make your own Koi nobori [FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] for Kodomo no hi. Flying carps? They can't be serious. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Aren't these Koi nobori lovely? We're going to...

Origami--an ancient art.
January 1, 2006... The Chinese invented paper more than 2,000 years ago. As far as we know, however, it was the Japanese who first made paper into art. Origami, which is a Japanese word meaning "folding paper," is the art of folding paper into beautiful forms....

Hop to it! The frog [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] is a symbol of good luck in Japan. Practice origami [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] and get your geometry skills "in shape" with his paper frog.(By the Numbers)
January 1, 2006... You'll need a perfectly square piece of paper. You can either buy origami paper at a craft store or ask an adult to help you make a perfect square with a paper cutter. A perfect square has all four sides of the same length. The four corners are...

Jan ken pon.(japanese culture)
January 1, 2006... fist = rock flat hand = paper two fingers out = scissors What do you do when you and some friends can't agree on what game to play? Do you play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide? If so, you've joined a tradition that goes back...

The rabbit in the moon.(japanse culture)
January 1, 2006... What do you see when you look at the moon? Do you think the shadows look like a face? To children in ancient Japan, the dark patches on the moon looked like a rabbit. They told this story... Sky God was lonely. On Earth, he saw three kind...