A giant kite soars during the Giant Kite Festival in Kasukabe city on May 5, 2019, Saitama, Japan. Participants flew giant kites (weighs 800 kilograms, 11 meters wide and 15 meters high) to pray for a bumper harvest of silkworm raising. The annual festival has been held from 1841 and this year is held on May 3 and 5. Kasukabe city also has a kite museum housing 450 various Japanese and foreign kites.
Kasukabe Giant Kite Festival
Hundreds of visitors attended the annual festival to see competitors soaring their huge kites during three-day event held in Kasukabe city, Saitama, north of Tokyo. The origin of the festival is related from 1841 when a buddhist priest visited the town asking people to fly kites for a bumper harvest of silkorm raising.
Giant Kites
It seems that this kind of festivals are not only held in Kasukabe city, other cities in Japan have similar celebrations at their town, for example:
The Large Kite Festival in Sagamihara City, Shirone Giant Kite Battle, other link of the Kite Festival in Sagami.
Other events
Participants of Kasukabe Giant Kite Festival flew two big kites (15 meters high, 11 meters wide and weight 800kg) made with hundred tatami mats, and two large kites (6 meters high, 4 meters wide, weight 150kg), which takes about 3 months to made them with Japanese paper and bamboo. All the kites are handmade and decorated with messages written in Japanese Kanji.
How to go?
From Tokyo you need to take the train to Kasukabe Station (????, Kasukabe-eki) and take a bus to Hoshubana Iriguchi (?????) Bus Stop. It will take 30 mins approx. (depending of the traffic) but don’t worry, I am sure many people around you are going to the same place. You can reach the place looking the huge kites fliying on the sky!!
If you like this article you should read Ikazuchi no Daihannya Festival.
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