 Photos: KEK |
Tied with reed
What do a 200-year-old thatched-roof house and a modern high-energy-physics laboratory have in common?
Kunihiro Ando, a professor of Japanese traditional folklore at the University of Tsukuba, found the ties.
Every summer, the vast area of the KEK campus is covered with thick reeds and pampas grasses. Ando was looking for an untamed field of reeds to mow, for use in restoring the roofs of the old houses in a nearby town, Yasato. He found the solution in KEK.
Led by Ando, his students and members of the thatched-roof preservation association of Yasato came to KEK for the reeds last December, and a craftsman used the grasses to repair the roofs of the houses of the Edo era.
Yoji Totsuka, Director General of KEK, visited the restored houses and was amused. "I did not quite expect the fundamental physics laboratory would contribute to the folklore in this way," he said. "I'm sure KEK will keep tying the knot of tradition."
Youhei Morita, KEK
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