Well, nobody does media-fuelled obsession with betterment than Japan, as the pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo about the supposed developmental benefits of making hikaru doro-dango [shiny mudballs] shows. There was a TV show about them on NHK a few years back, and now kids from preschool on up are cranking them out left and right. Or they were. These may be twenty obsessions ago.
Anyway, according to The Association of Nippon Doro-dango Science, creating dor--you know what? I can't top that. That's the punchline right there.
SHINY MUD BALLS: Kyoto Professor Taps into the Essence of Play [web-japan.org via kottke]
Pics and tips at the Nippon Dorodango Kagaku Kyoukai/ Association of Nippon Doro-dango Science
Related: from the Meanwhile, in America Dept: Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls.
