Battle of the Giant Kites

What the hell did I do this morning? Actually, for once I know because this morning I was up typing yesterday's blog. I finished it just in time to get outside at 9am to head off on today's field trip. We were supposed to go into Niigata and go to some museums. However, the weather today was beautiful, and it was supposed to rain tomorrow. This meant we would be going to the Shirone Giant Kite Battle today instead of tomorrow.

We drove through Niigata to a smaller town on the Shirone river. Here we went to the Kite Museum and took the tour. We learned the history of the kite battles which date back long enough that I don't remember what it was. After walking around the museum for a while we got to make our own kites. After we assembled them we took them out to the museum's parking lot and tried to fly them, emphasis on try.

Lunch was at a local sushi shop. Sushi isn't my favorite but I can't say that lunch wasn't good. I did have a little trouble getting the squid down. It wasn't because it tasted bad, but the damn thing took forever to chew. They brought us tall glasses of ice water and I told everyone at my table to make sure to drink it all and then some. The day was getting hotter and hotter, this would be the highest temperature since we got to Japan.

Once lunch was finished we went to the actual kite festival. Once up on the river dyke we were met with what could only be described as a true example of the Japanese culture. Teams would run down the dyke on both sides of the river, desperately trying to loft massive kites into the air. Assuming they got airborne without smashing into the river, houses, or spectators, then once the kite lines crossed one team would let their kite fall. The entangled kites would fall into the river and then it became a massive game of tug-of-war. The kite lines would extend down the side of the dyke into the city streets as both teams struggled to drag the most kite debris to their own side. The best part was that spectators could join into the tug-of-war, in fact, the teams would recruit people.

After taking photos from the stands two huge kites got tangled and a big battle started. I wandered over to where they were pulling the rope to take pictures. Almost as soon as a team member saw me I was drafted onto the team. About half the JCLP members got in on it, pulling as hard as we could and hoping the rope didn't snap too violently, sending us hurdling down the ramp. The battle ran out of time and it ended up a tie. I wandered back up to the top of the dyke, out of breath from the battle, while shaking the hands of the team I just helped. I resumed taking pictures, staring in awe as almost 20 large kites battled in the air above us. One huge kite lost lift and crashed into the ramp about 10 feet away.

The big kites take off.

I decided to go down and checkout what the festival booths were selling down on the street. I met up with some other JCLP students and we wandered. It was mostly food and silly trinkets, nothing worth even buying as souvenirs. Everyone pretty much bought snacks and we wandered to the bridge that marked the start of the battle area. From here we enjoyed an amazing perspective of the battle.

The small kites battle.

As time neared for us to leave we wandered down the dyke toward where the rest of our group was. This was a hazardous journey as kites were falling from the sky all around us and teams were running by blowing their whistles as loud as they could manage. Eventually we got back to the ramp just as another big battle was starting. This time it was a different team, but even they drafted me as soon as they laid eyes on me. I only stand out a little bit in this country.

After the first pulling fight we got a break for about 5 minutes. During this time a camera crew suddenly appeared in front me. They asked me to describe what I thought of the festival and why I was there. I honestly was in a little bit of shock at this and did my best not to look like a complete idiot (I failed). This tug-of-war also ended in a tie and once again my team members shook my (now rope burned) hand and thanked me for the help.

It was time to leave so I grabbed some Yakiniku (bits of chicken cooked in sauce on a stick) and we headed home. I ate my food and then passed out for most of the ride. Seth and I took the bus to the school instead of getting off at the apartments with everyone else. I found Yuu and she gave me An's e-mail, just as she promised she would. I tried finding An, but I couldn't, and I lost Seth in the process. After wandering around school for a while I finally headed home.

I met up with Seth again at home and he, Roshan, and I headed to 7-11 for dinner. We bought a mediocre meal which we ate as we sat out on the curb. There were lots of high school kids around as Shibata Chuo was just around the corner and clubs and activities were finally letting out. After dinner we walked to a local game center where we blew some money just goofing around with the arcade games.

We headed home and relaxed at Seth's place until midnight. I headed back to my room with the intention of sleeping but instead I ended up in Saiyu's place with Alex, Yuu, and Abe. Yuu leaves tomorrow night so I've been trying to hang out with her as much as I can. She's such a great friend, I'll miss her so much. Yuki did her hair tonight and she looked absolutely beautiful. If I ever come back to Japan, the first contact I'll look up will be Kawai Yuu, the best Japanese friend I ever had. Tomorrow night will be really hard on me, I'm not looking forward to good-bye.