
Nihon no Natsu – Flipbook and Activity
For the Teacher
Students will learn about Nihon no natsu (summer in Japan) while reading the digital flipbook. This digital flipbook is created using Japanese scripts with supporting pictures to increase students’ understanding of the story.
Students can access the book by clicking on the cover page on the left or by using the following link.
Nihongo flipbooks. Nihongo Flipbooks – Japan Foundation, Sydney (jpf.org.au)
Summer in Japan typically spans from June to August. Particularly, July and August are known for being hot and humid, with summer vacations and festivals being popular during this time. However, due to Japan’s long north-south span of approximately 1000km, regions like Okinawa in the south experience earlier and hotter summers, while places like Hokkaido in the north have a delayed onset of heat. Temperatures also vary significantly across the country.
During summer people conduct lots of different activities. This flipbook shows only some examples of typical images which represent summer in the minds of Japanese people.
Pre-reading Activities
Teachers may ask students questions to activate prior knowledge (schema) and arouse their interest in reading the story about ‘natsu‘. See examples below.
E.g.
Q1. How do you spend summer?
(What do you do? Where do you go? What do you eat? etc.)
Q2. Which months are summer in your country?
Comprehension Quiz (〇✕ )
Three suggested questions to check students’ understanding.
Are these statements “True (〇)” or “False (✕)”?
Q1. January and February is generally considered the hottest time of the season. (✕ July and August is the hottest time. Japan is in the northen hemispher, hence the seasons are opposit from Australia and New Zealand.)
Q2. People conduct a variety of activities during the summer. (〇)
Q3. Students have homework even during the summer break. (〇)
Post reading discussion
- Are the summer activities people do in Japan similar to the ones in your country?
- Do you think having homework during school holidays is good? Why do you think students need/ do not need homework during school holiday? Talk about its benefits.
Post-reading Activities
1. Interviewing your classmates
Ask your classmate what they do/ where they go/ etc. during summer.
なつに どこに いきますか?
なつに なにを しますか?
なつに なにを たべますか?
なつに なにを のみますか?
2. “〇〇のなつ” – Describe your favourite activity in summer.
Step 1: Brainstorm about a summer experience (e.g., Summer in Sydney) either in groups or pairs. Write down words related to summer activities, summer imagery, and stick/glue photos or draw pictures on paper.
Step 2: Each group or pair turns their brainstormed ideas into sentences and presents them to the class.
Resource created by Hiroko Langdon (June 2024).