JAPAN: PEOPLE CELEBRATE THE COMING OF THE NEW YEAR BY FLYING ENORMOUS HAND-MADE KITES

Record ID: 860345

  • Title: JAPAN: PEOPLE CELEBRATE THE COMING OF THE NEW YEAR BY FLYING ENORMOUS HAND-MADE KITES
  • Date: 3rd January 2003
  • Summary: (L!1) TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 3, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SLV JAPAN KITE ASSOCIATION MEMBERS GETTING READY TO FLY A KITE SLV PEOPLE WATCHING SLV KITE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT MASAAKI (pronounced MAH-SAH-AH-KEE) MODEGI (MOH-TEH-GEE) RUNNING TO KEEP KITE AIRBORNE LV KITE IN THE AIR SLV/CU SMALLER KITES BEING READIED (2 SHOTS) MCU WOMEN WATCHING LV AIRBORNE KITE SLV LARGE KITE WITH TAIL RISING IN THE AIR AND CRASHING INTO A TREE LV KITES IN THE AIR LV KITE IN THE SHAPE OF A BLOW FISH AND KITE WITH A RABBIT DESIGN LV TRADITIONAL JAPANESE PAPER KITE WITH KABUKI ACTOR DESIGN BEING FLOWN CU MAN REELING IN STRING TO KEEP THE KITE IN THE AIR LV OF KABUKI KITE MCU (Japanese) MASAAKI MODEGI, PRESIDENT OF JAPAN KITE ASSOCIATION SAYING: "In the Edo period, merchants only had two holidays and one of them was New Years. The wind blows strongly from north at this time of year and so flying kites was a pastime here" LV GIANT KITE WITH TAIL BEING FLOWN SUCCESSFULLY MCU CHILDREN WATCHING PAN OF KITE
  • Embargoed: 18th January 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA401M1AZ0LNA6TSEM46BUK41AO
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: For centuries, people of Tokyo have celebrated the coming of the new year by flying enormous hand-made kites.
    Even if it is snowing and there is hardly any wind, the members of the Japan Kite Association get out their kites and fly them, keeping alive a centuries-old tradition of welcoming the new year.
    On Friday (January 3), the members gathered at Hamarikyu Palace, the old duck hunting grounds of Japan's Imperial family to fly their kites which are made in the traditional way with paper and thin bamboo sticks.
    They are hand painted with Japanese motifs, such as Kabuki actors and animals of the Chinese calendar.
    After a lot of running across the lawns pulling the kites along, some managed to fly, especially the smaller ones.
    But the larger kites, some of which are more than two metres in diameter, crashed into the trees.
    In most of Japan, kite-flying is a pastime that is enjoyed in spring, but in Tokyo, or Edo (EH-DOH), which is what the city was called when it started as a commercial town 400 years ago, kite-flying is something which is done during the winter.
    "In the Edo period, merchants only had two holidays and one of them was New Years. The wind blows strongly from north at this time of year and so flying kites was a pastime here,"
    said Masaaki (pronounced MAH-SAH-AH-KEE) Modegi (MOH-TEH-GEE).
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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