Hikaru Dorodango
or
Shiny Mud Balls
History
Hikaru Dorodango is the Japanese children's pastime of packing earth into balls roughly the size of normal billiards balls and polishing them to a high shine. Hikaru translates as "shiny" and dorodango can be broken down into doro "mud" and dango "a round dumpling made from pressed rice flour". The origins of this pastime are unknown but children have been making these spheres as a traditional pastime. Until recently the tradition had been dying out but was re-popularized by Professor Fumio Kayo.
Examples
Create Your Own
Making your own hikaru dorodango is a straightforward process. It is a children's pastime but there is a definite skill involved, patience is key and given enough time you can get a very nice finished product.
Step 1.
Make the core for your dorodango. Try to select soil that is a good mix of sand and clay. Too much clay and the core will crack, too little clay and it wont stick together. Form the soil into a ball and compress it with your hands.
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Step 2.
Form a perfect sphere around your core by sprinkling dry soil over your core and shaping with your hand. Make this perfect, the more spherical the better!
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Step 3.
Continue shaping your perfect sphere with the intent to remove any surface roughness. Do this by sprinkling dry soil and rubbing it into the ball with your thumb. Do not try and polish the ball it will crack! You should be left with a smooth regular sphere that is not shiny.
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Step 4.
Dry the dorodango. Place your sphere on a folded towel so that the drying surface does not leave a flat spot on your dorodango. Allow for anywhere from one hour to two days to dry. This step is where cracks may develop and you could have to start over.
Step 5.
Repeat step 3. Take care not to rub too hard the objective here is to smooth out the surface even more so that it is ready to polish. Once you have a surface you are happy with get the finest dusty dirt you can find and rub it into your hands. Use your dirt laden hands to shine the surface of the ball. When happy with the finish polish with a jersey cloth or stockings. Do not polish too long or you risk cracking the dorodango.
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Psychology
Apparently kids in Japan go absolutely crazy for making these. One of the articles I read said, "they become absorbed in forming a sphere, and they put all their energy into polishing the ball until it sparkles. The dorodango soon becomes the child's greatest treasure." Professor Fumio Kayo is studying the children's mental development and how it relates to creating dorodango. He postulates that simple everyday activities like eating, sleeping, brushing one's teeth are just as important in a child's mental development as role play or drawing. Using skill based activities like creating dorodango he continues to research the mental development of children.
Further Reading/Sources:
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