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04 29th, 2008| 
Hikaru Dorodango is a Japanese art form in which earth and water are moulded to create a shiny sphere, resembling a marble or billiard ball.
At elementary schools, kindergartens, and preschools all across Japan, kids are losing themselves making hikaru dorodango, or balls of mud that shine. Behind this boom is Professor Fumio Kayo of the Kyoto University of Education. Kayo is a psychologist who researches children’s play, and he first came across these glistening dorodango at a nursery school in Kyoto two years ago. He was impressed and devised a method of making dorodango that could be followed even by children. Once Kayo teaches children how to make these mud balls, they become absorbed in forming a sphere, and they put all their energy into polishing the ball until it sparkles. The dorodango soon becomes the child’s greatest treasure. Kayo sees in this phenomen on the essence of children’s play, and he has written academic papers on the subject. The mud balls could also offer fresh insights into how play aids children’s growth.
Professor Develops Method
Inside his office at the university, Kayo keeps a dorodango in a wooden box, wrapped in cloth. The shiny ball of dried mud is eight centimeters (about three inches) in diameter and is amber colored with a touch of dark green. Professor Kayo developed his own scale for measuring a dorodango’s luster, and this one rates a “4.” The shiniest dorodango rates a “5,” and Kayo keeps one of these at home.
Kayo first became interested in dorodango in May 1999. As part of his research in developmental pshychology, Kayo visited a Kyoto preschool once a week. When Kayo made mud balls with the children, a teacher at the preschool told him, “I’ll show you a real dorodango,” and proceeded to produce a shiny one for Kayo.
Why would a lump of mud shine? Kayo became taken with this question and tried to outdo the preschool teacher. But after trying many times, Kayo found that he just could not make a shiny mud ball. Once, he thought he had succeeded, but after a few days the mud ball lost its luster. Through 200 failed experiments and an analysis using an electron microscope, Kayo was finally able to devise a method of making dorodango that could be followed by anyone, including children.