The Naha Tug of war (那覇大綱挽) is an event at the annual festival held in Naha, Okinawa, Japan. Its roots may be traced back to the 17th century.[1] Held on Route 58, it is a battle between the East and West teams.
The main street in Naha city is filled with about 25,000 attendees.
The event draws some 275,000 attendees annually, and is preceded on the prior day with a parade celebration on Kokusai Street (also in Naha). In 1997 the event was first logged in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the largest tug-of-war event in the world.[2] The rope weighs about 40 metric tons.
The event was discontinued in 1935, and disrupted by the Battle of Okinawa, but was revived in its traditional form in 1971 to celebrate the recovery from the war and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the organization of Naha.[3]
The festival begins with men dressed in traditional Okinawan dress standing on the rope facing in opposite directions to symbolize the battle between East and West. A myriad of performances take place along the rope's length, from martial artists of varying ages, to older women performing a sort of fan-dance. It is an international event with Japanese nationals, American military, and tourists in attendance. Just before the start of the match a man dressed in the dress of the Ryūkyūan kings stands on a wooden platform hoisted in the air on the shoulders of men standing on opposite sides of the rope. The "king" is carried on this platform down the length of the rope, before the festival starts, and the two kings perform a ritual sword contest.
The main rope, over 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in diameter, has many smaller diameter, but very long ropes extending from it, and the participants pull these during the contest. The contest lasts 30 minutes and the challenge is to pull the other team a total of 5 meters. If neither side pulls the other the 5 meters, whichever side has pulled the other the furthest wins.
After the 30-minute time limit expires, one side is declared the victors, and they are allowed to climb on top of their rope to celebrate. It is customary for participants to cut apart the rope, and take a length of it as a token, and so throngs of people using tools ranging from their pocket knives, scissors and hacksaws set on the rope, cutting lengths of it to commemorate the festival.
Further readingedit
The article 那覇まつり (Naha matsuri) in the Japanese Wikipedia has a section on the tug of war.
Naha’s biggest festival, extending over three full days
Naha Otsunahiki Giant Tug-of-War
Referencesedit
^"Naha Tsunahiki: World's Largest Tug-of-War". www.redduckpost.com. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
^"East team wins Naha Giant Tug-of-War Festival pulling Guinness World Record 40-ton rope". Ryukyu Shimpo - Okinawa, Japanese newspaper, local news. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
Naha Giant Tug-Of-War Display - History and Pictures (in English)
October 26, 2023
naha, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Naha Tug of war news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed November 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The Naha Tug of war 那覇大綱挽 is an event at the annual festival held in Naha Okinawa Japan Its roots may be traced back to the 17th century 1 Held on Route 58 it is a battle between the East and West teams The main street in Naha city is filled with about 25 000 attendees The event draws some 275 000 attendees annually and is preceded on the prior day with a parade celebration on Kokusai Street also in Naha In 1997 the event was first logged in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the largest tug of war event in the world 2 The rope weighs about 40 metric tons The event was discontinued in 1935 and disrupted by the Battle of Okinawa but was revived in its traditional form in 1971 to celebrate the recovery from the war and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the organization of Naha 3 The festival begins with men dressed in traditional Okinawan dress standing on the rope facing in opposite directions to symbolize the battle between East and West A myriad of performances take place along the rope s length from martial artists of varying ages to older women performing a sort of fan dance It is an international event with Japanese nationals American military and tourists in attendance Just before the start of the match a man dressed in the dress of the Ryukyuan kings stands on a wooden platform hoisted in the air on the shoulders of men standing on opposite sides of the rope The king is carried on this platform down the length of the rope before the festival starts and the two kings perform a ritual sword contest The main rope over 1 5 metres 4 9 ft in diameter has many smaller diameter but very long ropes extending from it and the participants pull these during the contest The contest lasts 30 minutes and the challenge is to pull the other team a total of 5 meters If neither side pulls the other the 5 meters whichever side has pulled the other the furthest wins After the 30 minute time limit expires one side is declared the victors and they are allowed to climb on top of their rope to celebrate It is customary for participants to cut apart the rope and take a length of it as a token and so throngs of people using tools ranging from their pocket knives scissors and hacksaws set on the rope cutting lengths of it to commemorate the festival Further reading editThe article 那覇まつり Naha matsuri in the Japanese Wikipedia has a section on the tug of war Japan Update has an article about fabricating the rope at http www japanupdate com id 11489 Naha s biggest festival extending over three full days Naha Otsunahiki Giant Tug of WarReferences edit Naha Tsunahiki World s Largest Tug of War www redduckpost com Retrieved 2019 07 28 East team wins Naha Giant Tug of War Festival pulling Guinness World Record 40 ton rope Ryukyu Shimpo Okinawa Japanese newspaper local news Retrieved 2019 07 28 Naha Giant Tug Of War Display Okinawa Org Retrieved 2019 07 28 External links editNaha Giant Tug Of War Display History and Pictures in English Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Naha Tug of war amp oldid 1114227096, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
