October 12, 2008 was the date set for the annual Naha Tug of War and the Day’s were determined to be a part of it this year. Rain keep us away last year but this year the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. First a little background on the tug of war…..
Naha has been holding this traditional event for over 400 years. It is a battle between eastern and western villages with a promise of a bountiful harvest and safety for the winners. Legend has it that if the west side wins, farmers will boast a plentiful harvest and if the east side wins, fisherman will do the same. All participants are encouraged to take a piece of the rope home with them as a measure of good luck throughout the year. After the year is up and the next tug of war rolls around, the old rope is to be burned and replaced with a new piece. As for the rope that is used in the tug of war…..it is in the Guinness World Records book for being the largest of its kind. It takes a crew of 16 people 8 weeks to hand make the rope from rice straw. It is approximately 600 ft. long and weighs a mind boggling 43 tons.
I played tug of war with a 43 ton rope.
The city was even more crowed than usual and the main highway was shut down for the event. It was crazy to say the least. We had to push and shove our way to the rope. You had to be aggressive if you wanted to participate. It was relatively easy for me and the kids but Danny had some reservations about shoving his six foot frame through frail old ladies and small children. He eventually made his way. He and Amy were several feet away from Brian and I but we all had our hands on the rope. When the pulling began the chaos stopped and like little worker bees everyone fell in and began tugging with a defined rhythm. It was amazing! We swayed back and forth using all our strengthh together to move the rope. This lasted about 20 minutes before a winner was declared. And just as quickly as it had halted, the chaos resumed. Participants whipped out knifes from their bags and pockets and started hacking away at the rope. Not pocket knives. I look around and see elderly men sawing through the rope with 10″ blades. Picture it: there are 25,000 people crowded around a 600 foot area pushing and shoving trying to get their hands on a piece of the rope while knives are being flung around in every direction. Scary! Only in Japan could this take place with no violence. I’ve never seen anything like it and probably never will again. We managed to get our hands on a decent sized piece of rope and made a bee line for a less chaotic section of town. We did some late afternoon shopping and enjoyed local snacks before we headed home. The best part of the day was the intoxicating smells coming from the food vendors lined up on the streets. There is nothing better than traditional food cooked by the locals! I doubt that we will attend the tug of war next year. Not because it wasn’t fun and exciting but it’s one of those…been there, done that, got the t-shirt, catch it on TV next year! Plus, my ribs were nice and bruised the next morning from all the pushing and shoving!
