Global Learning
Explore Library resources for study abroad, international learning, and countries represented by our Kirkwood students.
About Japan
Some facts about Japan, from Global Road Warrior database:
- "Japan is an island nation off the eastern coast of Asia situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. It covers roughly 378,000 square kilometers (146,000 square miles) and consists of over 6,800 islands though only 430 are inhabited. The major islands include Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa."
- "Most of the country’s population are ethnic Japanese and are closely related to other East Asian peoples. Minority ethnic groups include those indigenous to the islands—Bonin Islanders, the Ainu, and the Ryukyuan. Koreans, Filipinos, Chinese, Brazilians, Peruvians, and Americans make up the remainder of the population."
- "Due to the country’s diverse topography that includes forests, marshes, beaches and volcanoes, Japan is very biodiverse. Over 7,000 native plants include camellia, lily, hosta, wisteria, Japanese pine, and gingko trees, while cypress, camphor, and bamboo are also common. Thirty-three national parks are found across the Japanese islands.
As an isolated island chain, the country is home to a number of endemic species. These include the Japanese giant salamander, the Amami rabbit, the Japanese weasel, the Bonin flying fox, the Japanese badger, and the Japanese serow. Other mammals include foxes, bats, moles, shrews, otters, macaques, wild boars, and brown bears. Coastal waters host hundreds of coral reefs, ecosystems home to thousands of species including coral fish, invertebrates, rays, sea turtles, whales, sharks, and sea plants."
- Read much more about Japan in Global Road Warrior!
Books and other resources about Japan
Japan - Culture Smart! by Call Number: 952 N825j 2021ISBN: 9781787028920Publication Date: 2021-03-04Don't just see the sights--get to know the people. The Japanese people have always seen themselves as a nation uniquely apart. Their exquisite art forms and elegant culture, military prowess and technological precision, have long been the envy of friend and foe alike. Today, even as Japan adapts to a rapidly changing world, its traditional culture and consensus-based philosophy have proved remarkably resilient.
Japan From Anime to Zen by Call Number: eBookISBN: 1611729459Publication Date: 2021An accessible compendium of the most important aspects of Japanese arts, culture and history, for quick reference or a longer, in-depth read, for actual and armchair travelers alike.
Japan: History and culture from classical to cool by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780520962835Publication Date: 2018-08-14Japan: History and Culture from Classical to Cool provides a historical account of Japan's elite and popular cultures from premodern to modern periods. Drawing on the most up-to-date scholarship across numerous disciplines, Nancy K. Stalker presents the key historical themes, cultural trends, and religious developments throughout Japanese history. Focusing on everyday life and ordinary consumption, this is the first textbook of its kind to explore both imperial and colonial culture and offer expanded content on issues pertaining to gender and sexuality. Organized into fourteen chronological and thematic chapters, this text explores some of the most notable and engaging aspects of Japanese life and is well suited for undergraduate classroom use.
Japan: A guide to traditions, customs and etiquette by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781462920082Publication Date: 2017Japanese social life and customs
Search for books and articles on more specific topics using our WorldCat library search:
- WorldCat Discovery This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? A great place to start your research, WorldCat is an all-in-one search of the library's holdings.
- What's included? Kirkwood library books, ebooks, and article database content. Select "Libraries Worldwide" on the results screen to search books held by libraries around the country and the world.
Films available to stream:
- Documentary series: Deciphering JapanJapan’s advances in technology are unparalleled. But what about the country’s path to social and cultural change?
In this award-winning series, journalist Yumi Araki returns to her homeland to explore everything from women redefining their roles in a patriarchal society and the country's extreme work culture, to hip hop dancing grannies and biracial communities challenging discrimination. She meets the inspirational people at the forefront of change as the country enters a new era. - Documentary: Japan - A Globally Engaged Island NationHow has Japanese culture been shaped by powerful cycles of globalization and isolation? When was the earliest human habitation of Japan, and what are the origins of its rich culture? These and other probing questions are the perfect starting points for dispelling common Western misconceptions about this great island nation.
- Documentary: Japanese FoodwaysThere's so much more to Japanese cuisine than just sushi. Move beyond the basics and plunge into the enormous diversity and complexity of Japan's culture of food. How do foods like soba noodles, tempura, and yakitori (and the rituals of eating them) reflect the waves of globalization and isolation you've explored in previous episodes?
- Documentary: Japanese Poetry - The Road to HaikuJourney through some of the best-known styles and voices of Japanese poetry. You'll start with the oldest surviving Japanese poems and follow the development of tanka, the classical five-line form, and renga, a single poem written by multiple poets. We conclude with the master poet Basho and the emergence of haiku, now Japan's most famous and popular form of poetry.
- Documentary: Japanese - The World's Most Complex ScriptBorrowed and adapted from the Chinese, Japanese writing is the most complicated script ever devised, yet it's used by more than 100 million people daily. Investigate how and why Japanese writing took on the complex form it has today, why attempts to simplify it have had little success, and why it's unlikely the system will ever be abandoned.
- Documentary: Japanese Theater - Noh and KabukiExplore two major forms of Japanese theater: Noh (the high classical form) and Kabuki (the more popular form). In looking at two important theatrical works (Atsumori, rich in lofty ideals and elegant aesthetics, and The Scarlet Princess of Edo, full of crude decadence and mayhem), you'll uncover what these traditions share, and what they make their own.
- Documentary: Japanese Family LifeYou can't truly grasp a country's culture without understanding its ideas about the family. Explore the three main models of Japanese family life: the aristocratic model (uji), the samurai model (ie), and the postwar model. Along the way, learn about shifting attitudes toward domestic life, including women's rights and family planning.
- Documentary: Manga Mad - Comics and Anime in JapanComics and anime are the biggest pop culture in Japan. Manga are for adults, not only children. Politicians, office ladies and salarymen read them. Racy sexual and violent fantasies, beyond censorship, are given free reign in the world of manga. Obsessive fans are called Otaku. Electric town, Akihabara, Tokyo, comic capital of world, is their virtual reality wonderland. Comiket at Tokyo Big Site is the biggest comic market and cosplay gathering.
Many more documentaries and movies available on the Library's Kanopy database:
- Kanopy Streaming Videos This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? For an extensive collection of streaming videos and films.
- What's included? Contains a wide range of films and television series, as well as documentary videos produced by PBS, BBC, Documentary Educational Resources and more.
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