The Mt. Apoi Geopark Visitor Center recently held a KANxKAN Lecture Series on February 17^th (Sat) with 12 participants. An oilpaper umbrella is one type of Japanese parasol made with a bamboo or wooden frame and oiled paper. In the mid-Edo period, stores lent umbrellas to customers free of charge, with the name and number of the store written on them. These umbrellas were so numerous throughout Edo that the name "bangasa" (numbered umbrella) was widely used.

The KANxKAN Lecture Series are monthly events co-hosted by the Samani Public Library, Samani Folk Museum, and Mt. Apoi Geopark Visitor Center that cover a variety of topics. In this event, each facility gave an explanation related to the parasol, and visitors observed thin slices of peridotite and porphyrite, rocks found in Samani, with a polarizing plate and made parasols decorated with peridotite patterned origami paper. Making the parasols was difficult, but everyone enjoyed the challenge.


Making parasols

Many participants were very interested in the "Shanshan Umbrellas" donated by San'in Kaigan Geopark in 2015.

An article about the event was published in the March Samani Koho.

http://www.samani.jp/koho/202403p12p15.pdf

〇　Upcoming KANxKAN Lecture Series Events

The events will be held every month. The next event is "Bookmark Making and Reading the History of Samani" on April 20^th (Sat) at the Samani Central Community Center

〇　KANxKAN Lecture Series Exhibit

An exhibit will be held to introduce the activities of the lecture series.
April 10-17 at the Samani Central Community Center Gallery.