The aim is to take down other kites by slashing their strings mid-air with your kite, and the kite remaining flying in the air is supposed to bless the newborn child and bring good fortune for their future. This is then followed by Kite-Fighting, the most anticipated part of the entire festival. In celebration of Children’s Day, called Kodomo no hi on May 5th, the day opens with kite-flying by children in the morning. If you can attend only one day out of three, the final day is the best to witness. The air is alive with raucous cheer as the teams joust with their kites amidst the smoke and chaotic fun. There’s even a beer tent if you wish to match the levels of intoxication of the kite fliers and go high with the kites. The flying area is lined with festival stalls selling crowd-pleasing delights such as yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and chocolate bananas. It is advised that people wear light clothes to beat the summer heat waves and comfortable shoes and be ready to get it all muddy and have fun. There is no particular time for the event there are teams who embark on the kite flying proceedings right from 4 am onwards, but 10 am is when the things start to heat up (literally too!), with the merrymaking concluding at 4 pm. This sport tests the teams’ skill and strength. To reach this event, people usually take a bus from the bus station near JR Hamamatsu, where English-speaking volunteers guide you through the participation process. Tourists who visit this festival have a lot of fun seeing the group launching and flying the kites. Weeks prior to the event, people are very sportive and start practicing chanting, blowing the trumpet, and banging drums to elicit the noise and cheer that the festival is known for. According to popular belief, the higher the kites fly, the healthier the baby boys grow up.Īt various points throughout the day, the group will hoist the child onto the father’s shoulders and jiggle him around the place. ![]() The kites are decorated with the names of baby boys as well as the marks or designs of each town (cho). ![]() ![]() One of the three largest dune areas in Japan, the dunes overlook the Enshu-nada Sea, where strong winds blow that are necessary to fly kites. The kite holders stand at the Nakataima Sand Dunes, releasing them all at the same time when the trumpet sounds. The teams have a ritual of wearing happi coats with their district emblazoned on them as pride.Īs morning shines on 3rd of May each year, more than 100 large kites take to the horizons. Each district designs a sprawling kite around 3.5m x 3.5m in size, decorated with paper carrying the district’s emblem, attached to short hemp strings that help the kite fly. The thrilling three-day festival flows with the kites flown by the district teams from the city. In jubilance, the lord and his close advisers flew a kite with the son’s name written on it. It is a 450-year-old tradition that began in 1558, where giant kites are flown to celebrate the birth of a baby boy to the Lord of Hamamatsu castle. One of Japan’s most famous and happening festivals is the Hamamatsu Festival, held during the Golden Week that falls in early May. With its industrial hubbub, Hamamatsu is not the dictionary defined ‘tourist spot’, but there are many interesting places to discover and festivals to attend. Like most of Japan, it is adorned with cherry blossoms and the long, seemingly never-ending shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. Situated on the island of Honshu and the largest city in Shizuka, Japan, Hamamatsu is a town that goes at its own gentle pace.
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