Japanese History Classroom

@Park Chanyeol {Teacher} Everything he was telling them was so broad and it made her want to interrupt. Instead she took out her favorite green pen and her notebook and started writing. She didn't need to take notes, but she needed to keep her mind occupied. She decided to make a list of the things she needed to do and the combos for the new cheer she was putting together. When the teacher finally asked if there were anymore questions, she looked up. "Are you going to discuss the different periods with the Jomon era? As you said that is an extensive period, but it was divided in the earliest, early, middle, late and final Jomon periods. Each period had distinct characteristics. Are we going to learn those or just the broader characteristics?"

She appreciated that he wanted to fit it all into one class, but was that really practical? There was so much rich history there and even though she knew about what she was asking, most of the other students likely didn't know.

Chanyeol looked over the student who seemed to be enjoying what he had been talking about and smiled as he was asking the question. "Another good question that can lead us into the Joumon period as this was when the Joumon people began settling down in the north." Before he continued however, he looked over to the female student who had raised her hand and smiled, "I'll be talking about that in a moment. And you are correct, the Joumon, Yayoi and Kofun periods are the ones which follow and the ones I'll be covering this lesson," he explained.
"Now, the Joumon people were short, stocky people, with males on average 157cm/5'2" and females being about 148cm/4'10" and they had a distinct wide facial structure. These people were actually named after the type of "cord pattern" pottery which was distinct to this period in time. They were known to live in sunken-pit dwellings, with each one housing probably a single family. As for the origins of the Joumon people, it has been found that they carry similar genetic markers to the populations of what we now know as the Korean peninsula and Siberia." He continued to slip through the slides as he talked, "This period covered the time from 13,000BCE to approximately 300BCE, so it was a very extensive early period. It's also during this time that many of us historians believe that the early developments of the Japanese language began as well as the growth in shamanism and ritualism. But one of the many important developments during this period was the introduction to rice." He made sure that at least most of the class was paying attention. "Rice in the modern day is considered to be a staple food of many cultures, and during the Joumon period, rice reached Japan approximately 1000BCE and this led to agricultural developments as well as societal changes. After the introduction of rice and agriculture to the Joumon people, there has been evidence that there were also village or tribal chiefs and other ranked positions within communities though we are not yet sure whether it was hierarchical or egalitarian." He took a deep breath and chuckled, "That may be a lot to take in, but I can assure you, that the next period is shorter. But before we move on, anymore questions?" he asked.

@Park Chanyeol {Teacher} Yet another class Boa had no interest in or need for. Being fluent in Japanese, she had long ago learned the history of the country. Mostly she read about it on her own, since she was always so curious to learn more about everything. As she walked in to the room, she took a seat in the front as usual and pulled out her notebook. Next came her favorite green pen and she set it aside until class started. When the teacher walked in she looked up at him. Wow. He was really tall, just like her godfather, although her godfather was taller.

As the teacher began the slideshow and his lecture, instead of taking notes, she sketched the pictures from the slideshow. She was honestly bored and her mind began to wander as she stared out the window. It was such a nice day outside. It made her want to dance. Then again, she always wanted to dance. When asked if anyone had questions, she raised her hand. "Is this including the Jomon period of Ancient Japan?" She knew the names and specifics of each period, but this was sounding more like pre-history before things were written down. She just wanted to clarify for when he quizzed them on it. After all, her grades were the most important thing to her. If they weren't good, Godfrey wouldn't allow her to compete and with regionals in a mere two weeks, she had to go. She'd prepared so hard and worked her off. She still was. It was another reason she didn't want to be inside right now. "Or are the Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun periods after this?" Maybe that's what he was about to go into. The myths were fascinating, but she preferred to deal in facts.

@Park Chanyeol {Teacher} Kyungsoo had laid his head down on to his desk since he got in early and waited for all the other students to file in. He was tired and all he wanted to do was go back to his dorm and sleep. However when the teacher spoke up he lazily lifted his head to look at him. His name was Mr. Park however he hadn't seen him around before, granted Kyungsoo doesn't really pay attention to the people around school.
The junior didn't care for much in this world but good grades was one of the few, this was mainly to keep him eligible for theater which was something he loved. So even if he didn't want to Kyungsoo pulled out his notebook to write down notes. He really didn't see the need for history as a subject and he normally found it rather boring, however as the teacher started his lecture Kyungsoo found himself enthralled. It was interesting to learn about, so interesting that he sometimes for got to keep writing notes down.
When the time came for questions Kyungsoo shyly rose his hand, which is something he didn't do often. He preferred not to be noticed or draw any attention to himself .
"Did the early Japanese have any form of civilization at this time or order? I mean you said they were really hunter gathers but did they have tribes?"

@Dong Sicheng {Junior} Chanyeol looked over to Sicheng and hummed, "Good question. Now, we don't actually have too many records about them during this time when they were nomadic. However, it is in the next period, called the Joumon period where we see traces of the Joumon people who had quite healthy builds. However, they were known to mainly live in the north of Japan and over the years, their populations fluctuated, but only due to change in the climate."

@Park Chanyeol {Teacher} Sicheng smiled and nodded at the teacher, when he came in. Setting up his computer and notebook, he took notes, making sure to get everything down. Raising his hand, he asked a simple question. "The Japanese are known for a healthy lifestyle, did their being hunter-gatherers increase this?"

@Wong Yukhei {Senior} @Son Wendy {Freshman} @Moon Byulyi (Moonbyul) {Junior} @Min Yoongi {Senior} @Min Kyunghoon {Junior} @Lee Sangbi {Senior} @Lalisa Manoban {Junior}[SH] @Kwon Bo-ah {Senior} @Krystal Jung {Junior} @Kim Kibum {Sophomore} @Kim Jiho {Senior} @Kim Hyuna {Senior} @Jung Younghwa {Junior} @Jung Jinsoul {Senior} (SH) @Jung Hoseok {Junior} @Jeon Jungkook {Senior} @Jeon Hyosung {Senior} @Dong Sicheng {Junior} @Do Kyungsoo {Junior} @Chou Tzuyu (Senior) @Bang Yongguk {Senior} Chanyeol hummed softly as he walked into the classroom, setting down his laptop and notes for the lesson. "Welcome everyone to my Japanese history class. You can call me Mr. Park, I hope we'll all get along nicely," he grinned. "So now, we'll jump right into it since the Japanese people have quite an extensive history which involves a mixture of myths and things that you may question as being truth or not." He set up the slideshow which mainly had pictures on it since he wanted them to take notes from what he said. "As some of you may already know, one of the main religions in Japan is Shinto, and this is also where one of the great myths of how the Japanese people supposedly came to be."

"The islands which make up what we now know as Japan is believed to have been created by the god, Izanagi, where he dipped his spear into the ocean and the drops of water which dripped off of the tip of the spear when he took it out became the islands of Japan," he explained, "Of course, you should note that this very much like any other myth of how the lands and people of any other ancient civilisation came to be."
[the myth is quite long, so look it up if you're really interested~ It's about the god Izanagi and his wife, Izanami]
"Moving away from the mythical side of the origins of the people of Japan, the islands of Japan were joined to the larger Eurasian continent until roughly 13,000 years ago. Before this time, it would have allowed migration between what we now know as mainland Asia and the then attached islands of Japan. During this time, the Paleolithic Japanese were nomadic hunter-gatherers as many people were during that time in history."
He looked around the class and hummed, "Anyone have any questions so far before we move onto the next period of Japan? I'll be covering a few more since these are part of Ancient Japan."