大きい綱引き (The Great Tug of War)
Did you know? Two years ago I was scheduled to fly into Okinawa on October 13th, around the time of the annual Naha Matsuri. I wound up shattering my wrist in a freak skateboarding accident a few weeks prior, pushing my flight day back a month and causing me to miss the festival. A year later we missed the festival again due to heavy rain, but this year I wasn't going to be denied a change to see the Guiness World Recording breaking Tug-O-War.
This was by far the most crowded festival I've been to in my entire life. Everyone was there: Okinawans, Japanese tourists, military dudes, Japanese military dudes. I ran into a handful of JETs and the guy from the fire station that provided us with syrup and Jimmy Dean's sausage for the pancake party (thanks guy!).
At one point in time Naha (Okinawa's capital) was divided by two rulers. This guy ruled the east...
...while this guy ruled the west...with and iron fist (maybe)! The tug of war symbolizes the battle between the two sides, and before the match starts their is even a duel between the two kings as they stand on top of the rope.
These little guys started drumming their hearts out when the golden ball above Kumoji intersection opened and the intense battle started to commence. The goal? Drag your side of the rope 15 meters pass a certain point. Don't ask me who won as we had a wedding party to rush off to. It was probably the east side, though. East side is the beast side you know.
*All pictures taken with MaryAnn's awesome Panasonic HD camcorder that doubles as a 14.2 megapixel digital still camera.