As the Olympics draw near you can't help but marvel at the amazing buildings built to house the competition of Olympics. Besides the architectural feats, Japan has had some amazing maker projects related to the Olympic games also.
#RecycledMedals
The 5,000 medals winners will receive at the Olympic games will be made from recycled material. This is the first time that a country has asked their people to help with the creation of the Olympic medals. Over two years 79,000 tons of electronics were collected to be recycled. These recycled electronics provided the precious metals that were to be used in the medals for the games. A total of 32 kilograms of gold, 3,500Kg of silver, and 2,200Kg of bronze were collected. Not only will the medals at the games be recycled but so will the athlete village beds, podiums, and team uniforms. Japan's goal is to have this be the most sustainable Olympics yet using their recycling efforts, along with the use of renewable energy and making sure the materials used to build the facilities are repurposed and continue to be used for years to come.
#KimonoForAllCountries
Starting in 2014 a project to create 206 kimonos to represent every country in the world began called Imagine One World Kimono. These kimonos would then be worn at the Olympics during the opening ceremony. Each kimono is handcrafted and designed to incorporate symbols and images associated with their respective country. Yoshimasa Takakura was behind this project and recruited many artisans and experts to help him accomplish his goal.
Some of the kimonos employed different techniques and blended traditional styles from their representative country and Japan. One such kimono was for Indonesia which used batik (a way of applying wax to prevent ink bleed) technique and then was sent on to Kyoto to be painted.
In the end, 213 kimonos have been created to include the regions and refugees. Each kimono cost about 1 million yen (about 9,041 United States Dollars) and were funded through donations. The kimonos will continue to be shown at expos after the Olympics and are hoped to bring interest to the declining kimono trade not only in Japan but around the world. The picture up top is the kimono representing the United States. See the video below to see all the finished kimonos.
