HAIKUS FOR MEIJI WOODBLOCK PRINTS: 1868-1912
INTRODUCTION:
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 ushered in many drastic changes to Japan. As a
means of strengthening Japan against foreign, Western threats like the United
States and Britain, the new Meiji government emphasized many modernizing
reforms that modeled Japan after the West. The feudal hierarchy was abolished,
industrialization began and rapidly progressed, the government adopted a
constitution and parliament (the Diet), a modern army and navy replaced
outdated samurai forces, and a system of universal primary and secondary
schools was established. Western advisers were brought in to assist with these
rapid developments. Japanese students and former samurai and daimyo
traveled to the West to learn how Japan could be improved. By the late 19th
century, the overwhelming success of these reforms permitted Japan to become
an imperialistic nation in its own right. It began to expand into the Pacific and the
mainland of East Asia. An overwhelming sense of Japanese nationalism and
devotion to the emperor was evident during this Meiji period.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Write haikus for woodblock prints from the Meiji period. But first, some
important information -a. Haikus are short, 3-line Japanese poems that follow this form:
5 syllables
7 syllables
5 syllables
They usually describe a scene/event and evoke emotion.
b. Woodblock printing was a technique for printing text or images on paper,
used widely throughout East Asia including Japan. In this activity, you will
see 5 woodblock prints depicting scenes of modernization of Japan during
the Meiji period.
Image #1
Image #2
Image #3
Image #4
Image #5