As the center of Western culture moved west from Mesopotamia to Rome, the Mesopotamian festival of Zagmuk moved too. Like Zagmuk, the Roman celebration included visiting friends and exchanging presents. One of these gifts was cake. The Romans also began to decorate their halls with greenery and candles.
The Roman celebration was Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture. The middle of the Saturnalia celebrations was on December 25. The Romans calculated that December 25 was the winter solstice. As the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice has always been an important day for most agricultural societies to celebrate, to scare away the dark times and rejoice that the days will get longer, leading to planting.
Eventually, Christmas became a religious holiday for Christians when they declared that Jesus was born on that day. Christmas was a predominantly Christian holiday for hundreds of years, but nothing lasts forever. Over the past several hundred years Christmas has become more of a commercial holiday, focusing on Santa Claus, giving and receiving presents, and having a good time. Thousands of Christians, disappointed in this have turned their back on Christmas and now celebrate the Festivals of the God of Israel.
Now, thousands of years and thousands of miles from the Mesopotamian festival of Zagmuk, Japan has its own form of Christmas, shaped by some of the old aspects of Christmas and some new ones: Kentucky Fried Chicken and Fujiya Food Service Co., Ltd. Fujiya is a Japanese confectioner founded in 1910 in the city of Yokohama. These two corporations, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Fujiya, have helped to shape modern Christmas in Japan.
Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken came to Japan in 1970 when Japanese were eating much less meat and poultry than today. Kentucky Fried Chicken was striving for success in Japan, but not finding it. As a Christmas promotion, Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to market fried chicken as a Christmas treat. Kentucky Fried Chicken employees dressed up in Santa Claus costumes and Japanese lined up to buy fried chicken, imagining it was a traditional American Christmas dinner.
Every year in Japan, millions and millions of Japanese now purchase Kentucky fried chicken for their Christmas dinners. Millions of other Japanese also serve chicken as part of the Christmas dinner. Japanese look at Colonel Sanders and note his resemblance to Santa Claus. In Japan, Christmas now means fried chicken and KFC.
Japanese are also interested in traditional American desserts. In 1910, the Fujiya Co. sold the first Christmas cake in Japan, which was a sponge cake decorated with strawberries and chocolate. Topped with cream and a sugar Santa Claus figure made from sugar, the cake finally became popular in the 1950s. As economic success came to Japan, the number of Japanese families with refrigerators grew.
Almost everyone had a refrigerator by the late 1960s, and the butter cream changed to whipped cream. Strawberries became available year round and became part of the modern Japanese Christmas cake. For some reason, Japanese imagine that their Christmas cakes are designed after American Christmas cakes. Americans in Japan do not see this, looking at Japanese Christmas cakes and thinking more of birthday cakes.
Other aspects of Christmas in Japan include the holiday being a romantic holiday to spend with your true love, including a romantic gift. Japanese also put children’s presents next to their pillows so they see them first when they wake up in the morning, and let’s not forget reservations. You will probably need a reservation to get that KFC chicken. After all Christmas is KFC’s busiest time of the year.
If this seems entertaining to you, imagine how entertained the Mesopotamians would be by how you celebrate Christmas.
Maintenance:
The bulky build of belt sanders, however, helps them withstand some pretty serious shop abuse. They are tough and general maintenance is relatively simple. Mostly you just need to be certain the two cylindrical rollers (drums) the sanding belt sits on remain in perfect alignment. If the rollers are not precisely parallel, the belt will not track in the center of the rollers and will slip off. As a rule, you should try to adjust the rollers each time you change the belt. This can be done with a manual tracking knob on the side of the tool. If your drums are tilted the belt will either push toward the inside of the rollers or slip off of them altogether. If the rollers are poorly aligned, they can also push the belt up toward the housing which could cause damage to both the housing and the belt.
It’s also important to check the platen for wear, dents or scratches when changing the belt. The platen is a thin piece of metal backed with a similarly thin sheet of cork. It sits (on the underside of the sander) between the inside of the sanding belt and the sander’s shoe. It’s there to afford a flat but also somewhat soft support, or shock absorption, for the sander and the belt as well. Because the belt rubs over the platen, it’s important to watch for wear; the platen will eventually need to be replaced due to this friction. You may consider removing the platen periodically to make certain the cork is still intact. When the cork begins to crumble apart, or the metal begins the thin, the platen must be replaced.
Changing the Belt:
To change the belt, flip the sander onto one side leaving the open side facing up, pull the release handle and the rollers will come slightly together to slacken the belt. Before replacing the belt be certain it is facing the direction indicated (by arrows) on the bottom of the belt - otherwise your sandpaper will be moving in the wrong direction. Slide the belt over the rollers and drop the handle to tighten the belt to the drums. Align the rollers with the sander’s tracking knob to ensure they are exactly parallel. The sander must be engaged to adjust the tracking so be certain the sander is secure before making any adjustments. The sander may face either up or down as you adjust the tracking, but it’s generally easier to do effectively if you can see the belt as you adjust. The belt should track in the center of both the rollers and the platen, but if you run into a stubborn belt, just be sure it tracks in the center of the rollers.
As all craftsmen know, a great deal of sawdust comes along with sanding. It’s vitally important to keep all your power tools clean, so be certain to blow out your sander periodically (even after every use) to keep it running smooth and efficient. If your belt sander is corded be sure to check it for breakage and replace replace it if damage occurs.
Because belt sanders can be rough, remember to be cautious and slow as you work. But don’t let the bulk of the belt sander deter you; belt sanders are a useful tool and are powerful and practical enough for many wood-shop applications. For quick removal and leveling, the belt sander is unbeatable.