1/21/2024 0 Comments Japanese kite fighting![]() ![]() We saw a group of authentic and quite large rokkakus once at the local kite-festival, each featuring a ferocious warrior-style face. Old Japanese kites often feature scenes, figures, or just the faces of human characters. The kite actually wasn't that much to look at at least it had no tail and flew very steadily -) Mikio looked up and inquisitively studied my big Multi-Dowel Barn Door flying at the Adelaide kite festival one year. I have met a modern-day Japanese kite-master-Mikio Toki. This frame was curved in a way which gave the kite stability in the air-just like a dihedral angle works in modern kites.Īs in China, some individuals would devote almost their entire lifetime to the highly skilled production of craft that looked good and flew even better! "Edo" can also refer to the very first kite design local to Japan, a simple rectangular lattice of bamboo strips covered with paper. This required accuracy, symmetry, and light weight in construction. How to put in order the countries covered below? Well, it seemed logical to go north to south, since that's largely how kites spread out from China in the first place!Ī good kite was one that flew without needing a tail for stability. Some keen master kite-makers out there are determined to keep the old skills alive! Much of this is being coordinated on social media.Ī handful of kite experts in China oversee the production and export of a steady stream of replicas to overseas buyers. I'll go light on history here, but a bit of such info does go hand in hand with anything traditional doesn't it -)Īlthough Western kites dominate in the online stores, modern-material replicas or faithful recreations of traditional Asian kites will be around for a long time yet. There are quite a few nations in South-East Asia and I'm guessing kites have flown in every one of them over the last few centuries. I've probably left a few out that are less well known. But this page will just aim to give you a sense of how the style and look of traditional kites vary across the Asian nations. It would be possible to literally write volumes about the kites of Asia. Japan also could be included, although there is less emphasis on fighting with kites over there. ![]() These include kites from India and Korea. But they still tend to be attractive craft to look at, just with bolder and simpler artwork. Once the kites plunge into the river the tug-of-war begins in earnest and so maybe you could help by heaving on the rope?Īlthough there are free viewing seats, the payable seats in the stands are better as the kite flying and tug-of-war take place right beside these seats, further boosting the intensity and excitement.Some Asian cultures have focused more on fighting kites which naturally are built with flying performance in mind. ![]() It is an impressive sight to see 300 5m x 7m kites take to the skies in battle. Once the kite falls in the river the two teams then engage in a tug-of-war until one team’s kite rope snaps. Today the Giant Kite Battle starts by two teams on either side of the river raising their kites and then deliberately entangling them. In this way it is said that a new tradition was born. Angered by the damage, the residents of West-Shirone struck back by crashing their own kite into the Shirone-side of the river. When celebrating the completion of a construction project reinforcing the embankments of the river, a kite flown by Shirone residents fell into the fields on the opposing bank, damaging the crops of West-Shirone residents. Its origins date back to some trouble occurred here back in the Edo period. This unique festival features a battle between approximately 300 massive kites, each approximately 5m x 7m in size. ![]()
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