The tug-of-war then proceeded next, with two monstrous ropes heaved by the participants to overlap the gigantic loops, and a 10 foot wooden peg locking the two together. Then for the next 30 minutes, both sides chant and pull in rhythmic unison to attempt to out-pull the opposing side. The smart brought gloves, but most just get sweaty and blistered as the pulling is quite an exercise. After 30 minutes, our side moved the 44-ton rope about 5 feet, and declared the victor. We climbed atop the rope, as thousands began to cut and saw the rope up for souvenirs.
Quite a great time, and I know Toni and I will be there next year, together!
Cheers,
Matt
PS: Click directly on the pictures for a larger resolution photo...
From Wikipedia:
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 1600s. Held on Route 58, it is a battle between the East and West teams. This correlates with the competition between two rulers in the Naha area in days of old [1]
The event draws some 25,000 participants annually, with total spectators of over 100,000 , 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. The rope weighs some 44 tons.
The festival begins with men dressed in traditional Okinawan garb 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 a truly international event with Japanese nationals, American military, and tourists all in attendance. Just before the start of the match a man dressed in the garb 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.
The main rope has many smaller ropes extending from it, and the participints pull these during the contest. The contest lasts up to 30 minutes and the challenge is to pull the other team a total of 15 meters. If neither side pulls the other the 15 meters, whichever side has pulled the other the furthest wins.
After the time limit expires, it is customary for participants to take a length of the rope as a token, and so throngs of people using tools ranging from their hands to hacksaws set on the rope cutting lengths of it to commemarate the festival.
