JAPAN
Lessons for Mission Minded Kids
Lesson 1
The Land of the Rising Sun
Japan
Lesson 1: The Land of the Rising Sun
Goals for Lesson 1:
 Students will be introduced to the country of Japan, forming a base of knowledge
about its culture, its land and its people.
 Students will be introduced to the verse for the Japan lessons and learn to
associate this verse with the cultural values of the Japanese people.
 Students will think about being thankful for God’s diverse and marvelous
creation.
Verse for Japan:
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands,
as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and
everything else.” Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
Before Class:
 Read through lesson and decide what you will use according to your age group
and time allotted.
 Read through the Japan Prayer Card instructions. Print cards on appropriate
paper colors and cut apart and laminate before class. You will use these cards
throughout all of the Japan Lessons.
 Prepare all pictures, including the flag on the lesson cover as slides to show on a
screen, or print them and back them with cardstock for stability.
 Read through the Japan Verse Introduction Activity carefully. Decide which
method you will use to prepare the verse poster. Decide on a location in your
classroom where it will be able to hang for the duration of the lessons. Gather
the necessary materials and prepare the printed part before class.
 Make copies of the Japan map and flag page and the cherry blossom page. If you
will use them during class time, gather crayons or markers.
Lesson Plan:
 Open your time together with a welcome, announcements and a brief
prayer. (5 min.)
 Read or tell the story part of the lesson, stopping to show the pictures and
discuss each part as necessary. (15-20 min.)
 Lay out newspaper over the area you will use to paint your class verse
poster. While you work, talk about what they just learned about how the
Japanese people highly value art and beauty and nature. Lay out the poster
with the verse on it. Read the verse together with the reference and tell
them that Paul was talking to the people in Athens, introducing them to the
One True Living God, who made the heavens and the earth and everything
in it. In later Japan lessons, we will talk about why the Japanese people
need to understand this verse. For today, we are going to focus on the
Japanese reverence for nature, and just introduce the children to the
meaning of the verse. Have the children paint the poster with light
impressions of pastel flowers, trees, water, etc. They can paint lightly over
the words as well, as the dark print will show through pastel water colors.
When everyone is finished, admire your work and read through the verse
one more time together. After the poster dries, display it on a bulletin
board or on the wall. (20-25 min.)
 Pass out the six green “Prayers of Thanksgiving” cards to six volunteers and
have each student pray a short prayer of Thanksgiving for the items listed
on the cards. (5-8 min.)
 Use the map and flag picture and the cherry blossom picture to fill in the
rest of your time, or use as take-home extras. (5-10 min.)
Lesson 1 Story: The Land of the Rising Sun
Japan is a nation made up of thousands of islands. The islands sit close together
in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of China, close to North and South Korea. The
Sea of Japan lies between the island nation and the mainland of Asia. (Show map
of Asia and point out each place as you talk about it.)
Even though there are thousands of islands making up the country of Japan, if
they were all stuck together, they would still be less than the size of our state of
California. Of all those islands, there are four major islands where most of the
Japanese people live, and where the major cities and towns are located. Going
from north to south, the four major islands are called: Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shikoku, and Kyushu. (Show map of Japan and point out major islands and
smaller islands.) Many of the smaller islands are volcanic mountains and are so
small they are not drawn on most maps.
Because the islands of Japan are built from volcanoes, each of the islands is very
mountainous and rocky. Many of the volcanoes are still active and so the
landscape continues to change as new eruptions and earthquakes form new
coastlines and new layers of rock. Mt. Fuji is the most famous volcano, and is
known for its beautiful cone. (Show picture of Mt. Fuji.)
California has about 38 million people living in it, but Japan has over 127 million
people in the same amount of space. Since Japan is covered with mountains,
much of the land is difficult to live on. This means that almost all of the Japanese
people live in the cities, built along the flatter coastal areas of the islands. The
cities are very crowded with all the people, making property and space very
valuable. Most people don’t own cars, because parking is such a problem. Public
transportation is the most common way to travel any distance, with many people
using bicycles and walking for shorter distances.
Because there is little land suitable for farming, Japan grows very little of its own
food. Rice and fish from the sea are the most important crops, with almost all
other foods being imported.
Japan’s cities are very modern and clean. The capital city, Tokyo, is the largest
city in the world. They have excellent transportation systems and large corporate
businesses. The Japanese people have a strong focus on education, with a
literacy rate of 97%, (one of the best in the world). The Japanese have a deep
appreciation for beauty and art, and use even small spaces in their homes and
cities to create well sculpted gardens, murals, floral displays and artistic
arrangements.
Japan is a very expensive place to live. Japanese money is called the “yen”.
Although it is very modern and produces many things like cars and electronics,
they must import almost all of their raw materials and foods. The Japanese
people spend long hours at work and are very careful with their money.
(Show a real Japanese flag or the picture from the lesson cover.) We call Japan,
“Japan”, because that is the English pronunciation. The Japanese people call their
country Nippon, which is the word “Japan” in Japanese. This word in the
Japanese language means “Source of the Sun”. In English, we say that Japan is the
“Land of the Rising Sun”. You can see from their flag that they have used the
image of the sun to symbolize their country. The sun on their flag reminds them
of the sun goddess. The Japanese believe that thousands of years ago, their first
emperor was the grandson of the sun goddess, and was himself a god. They
believe that he was made emperor of Japan in a special ceremony with the sun
goddess. Japanese emperors used to be very powerful and demanded to be
worshipped as a god.
The emperor today only has symbolic power over the government and people of
Japan. They don’t worship him anymore, but he is still a powerful and important
person to the Japanese people. They are not aware that there is One Son of the
True and Living God, who died to make a way for every person to go to heaven.
Pray for the people of Japan, that they would understand that although their
emperor is just a person, they need the Son of God to make His home in their
land.
India
China
South
Korea
Siberia
North Korea
Japan
Tokyo
Cherry blossoms and Mt. Fuji are two beloved symbols of Japanese culture.
Japan Verse Introduction Activity
Before Class: Gather materials and prepare a poster with the Japan verse printed on it.
Method 1: Print the Microsoft Publisher Poster of the Japan Verse. It will print onto 9
sheets of paper. You will fit them together by carefully aligning the top three sheets, slicing a
small piece from the left and right sides of the middle sheet with a paper-cutter. There will be a
small overlap on the outer sheets, which will allow you to fit the words together seamlessly.
Use a long piece of tape on the back to hold each of the seams together to form one long piece.
Put the middle three sheets together the same way, once again slicing a small piece from the
left and right sides of the middle sheet. Put the three bottom sheets together the same way.
Now you should have three long sheets of three pages each. You will now overlap the long
strips slightly and use long pieces of tape on the back to connect the three long strips into one
large poster (22” x 28”). If necessary, you can trim the edges a little, but leave plenty of blank
space around the words. Make sure all pages are securely attached on the back. Tape on the
front will interfere with the painting.
Method 2: Gather a sheet of butcher paper, and cut it to the desired size for the place
you intend to hang it. Centering the verse in the middle of your space, carefully print the entire
Japan verse, along with the reference, using a black sharpie marker, and broad, thick strokes.
Leave ample space for large empty margins on all sides.
Materials Necessary for Activity:
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Large sheet of white butcher paper or printed Microsoft Publisher Poster
Water color paints in pastel shades
Small paint brush for each student
Small cup for water for each student
Newspaper to cover table or floor area
Sticky tack, masking tape rolls or push pins to hang finished poster.
During Class:
Spread newspaper on the floor or table space you will be using. Lay the poster with the printed
verse in the middle of the space and have students gather around it. Read the verse aloud
together and talk about how the Japanese people value beauty and nature. Give each student a
small paint brush and a small amount of water in a paper cup. Lay out pastel water color paints
and instruct the students in painting impressionistic scenery of mountains, flowers and water
around the perimeter of the verse. They can paint over the words as well, as long as the colors
are light and the dark words show through clearly.
Cherry blossoms are a Japanese symbol of the beauty of nature.