Month: July 2021

Hakata Gion Yamagasa

The Gion Matsuri at Kyoto is the model for several other Gion festivals in Japan, and the largest of these is the Gion Yamagasa Festival at Fukuoka. The elaborate floats for which the festival is famous are called yamagasa, and beautiful new dolls are made for them each year. The festival begins on July 1, when participants purify themselves by collecting sand from the seashore. The highlight of the festival occurs on the morning of July 15, when the Oiyama race is held. This is a five-kilometer race in which teams of 28 men run while carrying yamagasa, weighing about a ton. Discuss

Baby Hatches

In medieval Europe, mothers unable to care for their babies could leave them in a foundling wheel, typically a revolving cylinder lodged in a church or orphanage wall. Today, many countries continue to offer mothers the ability to safely and anonymously abandon their babies in much the same way. Modern baby hatches consist of a door in a hospital’s outer wall that opens onto an infant bed. When a baby is deposited, an alarm sounds, alerting caretakers. Why are some opposed to the hatch system? Discuss

Bastille Day

The Bastille was a 14th-century fortress that became a notorious state prison in Paris. An angry mob assaulted the Bastille—which had come to symbolize the French monarchy’s oppression of the people—on July 14, 1789, freeing the political prisoners held there and launching the French Revolution. July 14 has been celebrated since that time in France as Fête Nationale, as well as in French territories in the Pacific, with parades, fireworks and dancing in the streets. In Tahiti and the rest of French Polynesia, it is called Tiurai or Heiva, and is celebrated for most of the month. Discuss

Sand Castles

Sand is used extensively in the manufacture of bricks, mortar, cement, concrete, and plaster. However, perhaps its most well-known use as a building material is in sand castles. A common sight on beaches and sandboxes, simple sand castles require just a few tools and ingredients: a shovel, a bucket, water, and, of course, sand. Some more advanced sand sculptors use the “dripping” technique—dribbling wet sand down onto the castle foundation to form towers. Why does water make sand stick together? Discuss