Started in 1990, the Mitsubishi Asian Children’s Enikki Festa is a program that seeks to promote literacy education and to stimulate cultural exchange among children by allowing them to learn about each other through “enikki”(illustrated diaries).
■ http://www.mitsubishi.com/mpac/e/activity/enikki/index.html

Burning “king boat” floats is the highlight of a famous temple festival in Chinese Taipei, and the king boats of Tungkang are the biggest and most fancy of all. The king is a symbol of protection from disease. Each boat has carvings of the captain and crew to operate the boat and carvings of livestock, money, food, and daily necessities for the king and his servants to use in the afterlife. On the morning of the festival, we follow the float down to the sea. When the time comes, we pray for the king to get into the boat and then set the boat on fire. The combination of the flames and the morning sun is an exciting sight. We believe that sending off the king boat getsrid of disease and disasters and brings us the promise of a bright future.
*The Enikki entry above, when necessary, has been translated into English from the language it was originally written in.
Hsu,Hsin-Ya
Age:9 Girl
Chinese Taipei
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