Art classes in Japan are much like art classes in America except that there are many more collaborative works done by the students than creating singular projects. Some sample group projects for first graders include murals for the classroom wall, large chalk drawings on the school playground, large sand sculptures at the sand box, snowmen and snow buildings, and large human figures big enough for a student to lay on. Individual art projects include drawing something something nice that happened that day, a story picture, making toys, puppets, and so on.
Art classes are double class periods, so students have 90 minutes for each art lesson. For fifth graders, that means more time to create more complicated art projects such as illustrating a folk tale, making wood block prints, making wooden jigsaw puzzles using a power jigsaw, make wooden frames for mirrors, and event carve stone.
For Culture Day in October, fifth graders take a trip to a local temple to draw and sketch a piece using whatever material they like from charcoal, pencils, crayons, or watercolor. This tends to be an individual project where students choose a subject of their own and draw it from the large landscape, to a detailed part of the temple.
Many times, artwork may be posted in the students classroom, the hallways, and during special events as decorations.
