We know what you are thinking: “Really? There’s a Banana Day?” In Japan there is! It comes from the date “August 7” and the way you can pronounce “8” (ba) and “7” (nana) in Japanese. The two of them read together become Banana Day, an informal holiday where the amazing powers of bananas are reviewed and admired, which is mostly achieved through nutritional campaigns that teach you fun facts like “bananas are high in potassium” and “they are good for giving you a quick boost of energy”.
In fact, an elementary school in Kanagawa Prefecture took advantage of Banana Day to squeeze in a nutrition class and, surprisingly, the kids didn’t go bananas because they had to go to school during summer vacation. Instead, the students took the day to its most artistic and clever form yet by creating a stunning video that all banana lovers should watch.
Students at an elementary school in Yokohama, Japan had a special nutrition class on August 7, and were given the chance to work with thousands of bananas! Evidently, nutrition class did not include the old adage, “don’t play with your food”. The students were probably quite surprised when a large truck pulled up to their front gates and workers started unloading boxes and boxes of bananas.
And while some children might have wanted to eat the banana-y goodness immediately, they were given a task: make art with your banana! Not such an easy assignment, considering the students probably have never thought about drawing a picture on a banana before! Lucky that banana artist or bananartist, End Cape, was there.
▼Slide One: Bananartist, End Cape
▼This hairstyle is not recommended for elementary students.
▼Holy bananas…he’s good!
He’s a professional bananartist (among many other talents) and helped the kids with the exact technique needed to complete the bananart. Each student was taught how to prick the skin of a banana and allow it to darken so that the pricks could form a picture! With the help of some handy stencils they stuck onto the bananas, about 100 students set to work and the “drawn on” bananas were used for a video that utilized stop motion and turntable animation to show the journey of the bananas from the Philippines to Japan. The neat little animation showing the connection between the two countries will really warm your heart!
The video was only recently released so go get a banana and watch it below!
The people from the Philippines said:
▼“Through Bananart, with the people of Japan…”
▼“…and the people of the Philippines, a connection was born between us.”
▼“Thank you”
Aww, who knew playing with your food could induce such a warm and fuzzy feeling! Seems like a pretty awesome way to learn about nutrition and be a part of something really great! Now, when is Pizza Day? We want to see a pizza movie we can make with pizza art!
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