You could kill a lot of time browsing through cost-effective DIY arts and crafts projects on Japanese social media, with resorts varying between therapeutic and mind-blowing with creations such as functioning steampunk wristwatches and $3 rusty knives turned into high quality Japanese blades. A Tweet by Japanese jewelery and accessory maker @puchuco709, however, has put the spotlight on a recent trend of turning otherwise boring aluminum foil balls into shiny spheres of treasure in a process that just watching is enough to relieve some stress.

After some curious responses, @puchuco709 explained that they crafted the glossy orb by taking a 16 meter (52 feet) roll of aluminum foil, then crunching it up into as tightly packed a ball as possible before pounding it repeatedly--around an hour--until it smoothed out into the shiny silver sphere above. While you might question the actual purpose of investing that much time into pounding out an aluminum foil ball, many replied to the Tweet with their own versions of it (it's not a distinctly Japanese hobby), revealing the refining of scrunched up aluminum into smooth orbs to be somewhat of a trending hobby and a mode of stress relief.

This YouTube video details the process, and shows off how you might find it therapeutic.

The practice is not unlike the Japanese art form and playtime practice of children known as doradango, where mud is packed and rolled tightly into as perfectly shaped a sphere as possible.

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If you're up for the challenge, all you need is a hammer and and a (typically full) roll of aluminum foil. The smoothness of the final product may depend on how efficient your strikes are and how much time you invest into it (some people claim to have spent up to 8 hours or thousands of hammer strikes on one sphere). Regardless of how well your orb turns out, it appears the journey might be more than the destination as many attest to how surprisingly calming the process is. And if it appears too difficult for you, well, you can always watch this YouTuber turn foil into a knife!


By - grape Japan editorial staff.