Looking to join a fun and exciting Madeira hiking trip? For 12 days we'll explore some of the best hikes and highlights around Madeira.

Hari-kuyo （針供養）is a traditional Japanese festival where people pay tribute to the old and broken needles that have served them the past year, and at the same time pray for better sewing skills. 'Hari' means needle and '-kuyou' means memorial. Most needle-workers are women. The reasons for sewing and praying were given deep thought. And through much research, I have inferred a deeper meaning for the festival, that is - motherhood. This is a booklet that explains what I feel about the festival. Other collaterals can be found here: http://cargocollective.com/audsomee#933143/Hari-kuyo-The-Festival-of-Broken-Needles Research references: http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue7/mckinlay.html http://www.csuchico.edu/~cheinz/syllabi/asst001/spring98/kcjami1.htm Japanese women: constraint and fulfillment by Takie Sugiyama Leb Image resources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misumi_makoto/ http://japanese-embroidery.blogspot.com/2011/02/harikuyo-festival-of-broken-needles.html