kite fighting in Hamamatsu
Every year during the Golden Week holiday there is a kite fighting festival held in Hamamatsu, Japan. Hamamatsu is in Shizuoka prefecture home to the best green tea in Japan and Mt. Fuji. They hold the kite fighting festival between May 3rd to 5th annually.
This year it was unfortunately raining on the day I attended. Although they still managed to launch the fighting kites and do battle even if the sky was somewhat grey. I didn't take my stunt kite with me on my trip which was probably a good thing after seeing the tangled mess the fighting kite lines became after battle.
Unlike stunt kites with their dual lines, the fighting kites are single line kites. Actually, these kite lines are actually more like ropes!
The fighting kites are huge. Possibly as big as 3 meters by 2 meters! It takes a team to carry, launch and fly these kites. The basic premise is that each local ward of Hamamatsu goes down to a wide open area near the beach and uses their warrior kite to do battle with other wards of Hamamatsu.
There appeared to be two techniques with regard to the kite fighting. Both involved wrapping kite lines around each other. One option to try and down an opposing team's kite was to attempt to sever their kite line. The second option that I could discern was to try and cause other team's kites to crash. This is actually pretty dangerous when you think about it. Large groups of participants and spectators watching huge kites fall from the sky...just be careful they don't land on top of you!
Below are some of the pictures I took at the Hamamatsu kite festival in May 2009.
