JAPAN: A giant kite weighing 800 kilograms is lifted into the skies at a kite festival

Record ID: 465355

  • Title: JAPAN: A giant kite weighing 800 kilograms is lifted into the skies at a kite festival
  • Date: 9th May 2007
  • Summary: (L!3) KASUKABE CITY, JAPAN (MAY 7, 2007) (REUTERS) MEMBERS OF LOCAL NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION IN WHITE OUTFITS SEATED BY THE GIANT KITE VARIOUS OF CROWD PREPARING TO LIFT THE KITE VARIOUS OF THE KITE TAKING OFF AND SOARING INTO THE SKY (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOSHIO AKIYAMA, SHOWA GIANT KITE CULTURAL PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION CONSULTANT, SAYING: "We fly two giant kites in two different sessions to pray for the smooth growth of our children." VARIOUS OF THE GIANT KITE IN THE AIR AND CROWDS WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) FUMIKO ONO, 72-YEAR-OLD SPECTATOR SAYING: "It was incredibly impressive. Wasn't it? It looked like it was about to collapse but it rose up in the air. We all started clapping our hands."
  • Embargoed: 24th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVACDI9V00JWLWTDZR2LP3OI68MS
  • Story Text: Hundreds of men and women joined forces on the banks of the Edo river, outside the Japanese capital of Tokyo, on Saturday (May 5) to send a 800-kilogram kite made of bamboo and paper into the sky.
    The 15-by-11-metre giant kite was the highlight of two-day traditional kite festival which was first recorded in documents in 1841. The kite-flying event was originally a gift to the gods of the silkworm harvest.
    Eventually, by the turn of the century, the festivities changed into an event to mark "children's day" which is celebrated on May 5.
    "We fly two giant kites in two different sessions to pray for the smooth growth of our children," said Toshio Akiyama, consultant for the Showa Giant Kite Preservation Association.
    The first kites were smaller in size, but in time, similar festivals throughout Japan began competing against each other with bigger kites. The Showa giant kites are now one of the biggest kites nationwide and pull in huge and excited crowds during the two-day festival.
    "It was incredibly impressive. Wasn't it? It looked like it was about to collapse but it rose up in the air. We all started clapping our hands," said 72-year-old Fumiko Ono with her five-year-old granddaughter.
    With the advent of modern and cheap imported kites, traditional bamboo and paper Japanese kite-flying events are becoming rare. The tradition is mostly kept going by a handful of traditional kite aficionados.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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