Yokaichi Giant Kite Festival 2007 八日市大凧まつり
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At slightly past noon with medium-force winds, the giant kite is launched. The giant kite is 13 meters high and 12 meters wide, and weighs 700 kg.
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The kite immediately went straight up.
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It flew very high, up to about 150 meters, then veered to the right, over our heads.
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Then it suddenly dove straight down and crashed head-first into the bamboo grove. Ironically, the blue banner on the left says, "Ganbatte" (Do your best).
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The giant kite was swallowed whole by the bamboo trees. No one was hurt. Also see my YouTube video here. 大凧が竹やぶに落下
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All we could see were the kite strings.
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The sign says "Arigato gozaimasu" (Thank you). I guess the bamboo was hungry for a giant kite.
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This was the 2nd time in three years for the giant kite to meet a major accident. In 2005, the kite broke in half in the sky and crashed into a crowd of people below.
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"So how does it look?" "It looks pretty bad, boss."
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Members of the giant kite preservation society look on as the disappointing and heartbreaking situation is assessed.
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Hanging on to the strings...
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As I expected, they soon started cutting down the bamboo.
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A small clearing was made around the kite.
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No way would this guy be able to pull the kite out of this one...
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How he wished that he could just pull the strings to drag the kite out.
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The kite strings were too tangled in the bamboo.
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A closer look at the accident scene. The kite suffered significant damage, and it took about 20 days to repair.
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As I predicted again, they started disassembling the kite so they could roll (crumple) it up and carry it out. The kite was not flown again for this festival. It was to be its final flight since it will be replaced next year.
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Carrying out bamboo. Many people left the festival after the kite crash.
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Stack of cut bamboo.
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Medium-size kites entered in a kite-flying contest.
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