undershot

[photopress:IMG_4322.JPG,thumb,alignleft]Yesterday we finally went to Nara to check it out. We’ve both been there many times for work, but hadn’t had a chance to explore the parks or temples.

Thursday must be a popular day for school excursions. Wherever we went a sea of yellow hats washed around us.

One of the coolest things we saw wasn’t in the park at all, but in the streets leading to it. Some guys were making dango, a kind of dumpling. They had a machine to shape the balls, but they made the dough themselves. It was incredible to watch. Two men stood on either side of a huge mortar, and pounded the dough with big mallets. One of them then put his mallet down to kneed the dough while the other kept going with his hammer. All of this was done at about five beats per second, with lots of yelling from both guys to keep synchronised.