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Guide Alexa Karina Vargas Marley
The ocean is so beautiful!
You know, my friend got her scuba diving license in Kamae. |
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Visitor Liao Jian Qiang
I also go to Kamae a lot on business.
I want to show off my Hiogi shell ornament in my car! |
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| The town of Kamae, located in southern Oita prefecture, is one of just a handful fishing towns in Kyushu that face the Bungo Channel. Tucked away in its many inlets are unique fishing villages which have attracted attention for being pioneers of Blue Tourism-a program through which visitors can interact with locals while experiencing fishing village life. In this volume, Alexa and Liao tried their hands at making candles holders out of one of Kamae's special products, Hiogi shellfish-one workshop from a list of eleven visitors can take at Amabe Tosei University. |
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| Unique and Intimate Eco-Ideas |
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Hello. Welcome to Kamae! My name is Pierre. I'm a local entertainment personality. I travel to various places telling people about all the wonderful things in Kamae. Today, we will make ornaments out of Hiogi shells together. |
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Honduras is close to the ocean too, but I've never seen Hiogi shellfish! Such captivating colors-orange, purple…. Are these taken from Kamae waters? |
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Hiogi shellfish are farmed here and are one of Kamae's special products. They taste great charcoal grilled or eaten raw as sashimi, but for many decades just their insides were taken and the shells were thrown in the ocean or on the roadside or in fields. Seashells can't be thrown away with everyday household trash or disposed as industrial waste, so people had problems figuring out what to do with them. |
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I can imagine. |
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It's a waste to throw away such beautiful shells, so with the start of Oita prefecture's "Zero Waste Movement" we thought of ways we could recycle them. And that is how it came about that this workshop was started. Here we make candle holders out of shells, and paint pictures on them too. |
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Wonderful idea! At one time, I was also leaving shells from the shellfish I bought at supermarkets on my patio because throwing them away was wasteful but I didn't know what to do with them. |
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Gluing them to paper cups or bottles is another good idea. Or, if you grind them to powder and pour the powder in flower pots they become fertilizer. What up till now has been called trash can, with a little manipulation, become useful again. |
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You can experience the ocean face-to-face through their marine science museum, scuba diving and other facilities and activities at the Oita Prefecture Marine Culture Center. |
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| Figuring out what to make while looking at examples. |
| There are many colors and sizes from which to choose. |
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Adding glue to each piece as Liao assembles his ornament. |
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| Only One Such Treasure in the World |
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Finished! I'm so happy-enough that I just might ship it to my sister in China to show her. This workshop would be perfect for children during their summer breaks. |
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Well done!
One time, a small girl who joined the workshop yelled when she finished her ornament, "My treasure is complete!" You can take your ornament home, so it is also possible to turn off the lights and eat dinner to the Hiogi shell candlelight while talking about the importance of taking care of the things we have. |
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I hope other cities and prefectures besides Saiki conduct more ecologically minded activities with everyday objects like these. |
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Before you go, shall I give your artwork titles? Liao, yours I call "Flower Garden." And Alexa, so your dreams may come true, "Treasure Box of Dreams." |
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Thank you!! We will treasure them forever! |
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Faced with such delicate work, Liao's expression is the embodiment of seriousness. |
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| A container for small objects, assembled from six Hiogi shells. |
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| Us with Mr. Hiroki Matsuhisa (nickname: Pierre), secretariat of the Kamae Blue Tourism Research Group who lead the workshop for us. |
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| Copyright(c) 2008 Oita Prefecture. All rights reserved. |
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