Toro Nagashi

The tradition I chose to do my presentation on is Toro Nagashi which is a Traditional Japanese Ceremony. I chose to research on this tradition is because Japan is a country that I know nothing about and I thought that researching about a Japanese tradition would help me learn much more.

Some interesting aspects about this ceremony/tradition is that they actually use a special type of paper to make the lanterns that they put in the water. Another interesting fact is that the ceremony is actually held on the final night of the Bon festival which is another Japanese tradition/celebration.

Last week I had to present my work to the class. While I was presenting I felt confident but I know I could have done better. I feel I could improve in providing more information in my slides and having more eye contact with the audience. There were some positive aspects during my presentation such as the volume of my voice. I felt like I spoke clear and confidently.

Made in Taiwan Summary

Oscar and Nathan went on a trip to lots of different islands for a lot of reasons but the main reason was to find out where they come from and where the Polynesians originate from. Their Journey was successful for many different reasons, these are some of the reasons why…

They came across many interesting discoveries some of them were related to language, food and even artwork. One of the most interesting discoveries that they came across was the Lapita pottery because it was from about 3000 years ago and they have the same patterns that Samoans and other Polynesian Islands still use till this day. They also discovered that their language was very similar to the Taiwanese language and they also discovered that some of the dances were similar and also their food was similar.

There’s lots of evidence that supports the theory of the Polynesians originated from Asia such as the food being very similar and also the language. But the main evidence has to be the Lapita pottery because it has similar patterns and is from 3000 years ago as I had explained in the last paragraph. Another part of evidence that supports the theory is the traditions and dances that are similar, because they went to Taiwan and saw that their dance or performance was very similar to a Haka.

For me personally, I now believe that Polynesians originated from Asia due to all the similarities and evidence. I think their trip didn’t only help them but it also helped many other people realise their ancestors and where they originate from.

Polynesian Migration

Polynesian Migration

The two theories I have chosen to compare are South America and Asia. Some people believe they come from Asia and others believe they come from South America.

A theorist named Thor Heyerdahl believes that Polynesians come from South America because one part of evidence is that He noticed that the wind and Ocean currents from the east may have pushed travellers to the pacific. Another part of evidence is that He discovered huge statues of some of the ancient civilisations of South America.  He also constructed a boat called the kon-tiki he sailed on the raft  for 101 days to test his theory, and it washed up on raroia, an island in Eastern Polynesian. The last part of evidence is that the kumara found in New Zealand was also found in South America.

The next theory about Polynesians being originated in Asia was believed by many theorists because there was found to be a lot of different types of evidence such as the first part of evidence is Language, A lot of the Asian language is similar throughout the pacific. We belong to the Austronesian family of languages, e.g.. When counting from 1 - 10. Another piece of evidence is Food Most common food like taro, yams and banana come from Asia. The next piece of evidence is Pottery, Lapita pottery can be found at various sites from the Philippines, through Melanesian, to Samoa and Tonga. The last piece of evidence is Religious Beliefs, On every island from Samoa to Easter island, from Hawaiki to New Zealand there are traditionals.

These theories do not have any similarities but to me the Asia one is much more believable because the language part is such as the counting being similar is better evidence than all  the South American theory evidence.