On April 26, we held the latest Kan x Kan Lecture Series "Make Turtle Straps & View Stones from South Africa."

It was fun to introduce things from the Samani Folk Museum that were related to turtles.

There was a magnificent "tortoise sculpture."

We learned about land turtles, sea turtles, and even the turtle that Gamera was modeled after.

Tortoise shell rocks. This "tortoise shell" is not from a turtle, but a chalky sandstone or mudstone with cracks in it, and those cracks are filled in with calcite. The tortoise shell rock on the right contains ammonite fossils, which indicates that it was formed in the ocean.

Next, we used braided string to make the turtle straps.

We viewed a "Collection of South African Semi-precious Stones" that was provided by a Samani Town native who received the collection during their deployment during an Antarctic research expedition. The jasper specimen caught my attention and reminded me of the "Sado Red Stone" located on the first floor of Samani Town Hall, which is made of jasper. It was a gift from the former Noda Village (now Niigata City) in Niigata Prefecture, as we are sister-villages with them.