Dorodango

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A dorodango at an "early" stage. In this case, the lack of shininess is due to it not yet undergoing polishing with fine dust particles.

Dorodango is a Japanese art form in which earth and water are molded to create a delicate shiny sphere, resembling a marble or billiard ball.

[edit] Etymology

The phrase 泥だんご, reading dorodango is derived from

• 泥 (どろ doro) literally "mud" in Japanese
• だんご (dango) are a type of round dumpling, created from pressed rice flour.

[edit] Technique

Making the basic dorodango is a traditional pastime for schoolchildren, somewhat like English conkers.

More recently the process has been refined into the art of the hikaru ("shining") dorodango (光る泥だんご), which has a glossy or patterned surface. The core of the ball is made of basic mud, and further dusted with finer-grained soil before the water is drawn out through various methods- even sealing the ball inside a plastic bag and letting the water evaporate and then condense. Once the ball is fully tempered and hardened, it is polished by hand and displayed.

[edit] MythBusters

On the episode "End with a Bang" (Episode 113) of the Discovery Channel series "MythBusters" that first aired on November 12, 2008, investigated the truth behind everyday sayings. Hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman used the technique to bust the myth that one "can't polish poop." Using a glossmeter, through which a rating of 70 is considered "high gloss," they created dung dorodango spheres with gloss levels of 106 and 183 gloss units. Savage's 106 was that of an ostrich's feces, while Hyneman's 183 was that of a lion's feces.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Shiny Mud Balls: Kyoto Professor Taps into the Essence of Play
• Step by step guide on how to Make Hikaru Dorodango, with image!
• Dorodango: Shining Mud Ball
• dorodango.com A gallery of marble-like Dorodango, and instructions for creating dorodango