Image search results - "notogawa" - JAPAN PHOTOS by Philbert Ono

Image search results - "notogawa"

The Higashi-Omi Giant Kite Festival (Higashi-Omi Odako Matsuri) is held on the last Sunday of May at Fureai Undo Park (ふれあい運動公園) in Notogawa, HigashiOmi, Shiga. The main highlight is the giant kite, flying at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm.My video of the Higashi-Omi Giant Kite Festival on May 26, 2013. Due to a tragic kite crash in May 2015, this kite festival has been suspended since May 2016. It will not be held in May 2019 either.

Also see kite-flying contests, exotic kites from around Japan, and stage entertainment. Anybody can fly a kite too. From 10 am to 3 pm.

Free shuttle buses ran from JR Notogawa Station to the park which had no public parking.

The festival name changed from Yokaichi Odako Matsuri to Higashiomi Odako Matsuri in May 2012 and the festival site changed in May 2013 to Fureai Undo Koen Park. Map

Kite-flying contest.

The kites are the size of two tatami mats.

About 30 teams competed in kite-flying and design contests.

Thirty teams made "mini giant kites" and competed in kite design (図柄) and flying (飛揚). They went on the outdoor stage for kite design judging.

This team is from Higashi-Omi City Hall's young employees group.

Kite trains (連凧) are the crowd favorite.

Then I stumbled across this arch kite.

To my delight, it was an arch kite of hula girls.

The hula girls were joined by Awa Odori girls from Tokushima.

They're even wearing a lei and a flower in their hair!!

Huge arch kite of hula girls and Awa Odori dancers.

Needless to say, this was my favorite kite at the festival. How did they know someone from Hawaii was coming?

Their feet fluttered in the wind and their hips rocked left and right like real hula dancers.

The Awa Odori dancers also danced great in the wind. (Watch my video.)

Hiko-nyan (Hikone Castle's official mascot) meets hula girls!

At sround 11:30 am, they cleared the area and brought out the giant kite (odako).

They were going to pull the kite across the width of the park since the way blew that way.

Made of washi paper (from Mino, Gifu) and a bamboo frame, the giant kite measures 13 meters high and 12 meters wide and weighs 700 kg.

The kite is unique for its cutout and hanjimon (判じもん) design.

The hanjimon (判じもん) kite design always has a twin pair of creatures and a large kanji character. Together they form a thematic catch phrase.

This kite's hanjimon has twin dragons that can be pronounced "shin-shin" (辰辰), a homonym for mind and body (心身). And the vermillion kanji reads "sukoyaka" (健やか), meaning good health. So the kite wishes for your "

The four Wind Goddesses pose for us. The four Wind Goddesses (風の女神) are like festival princesses and they beckon the wind to blow during the kite festival.

We visit the giant kite at rest. The back of the kite has many stickers written with kids' wishes.

Higashi-Omi's giant kite is a National Intangible Folk Cultural Property (選択無形民俗文化財) with a 300-year history. It started with villages flying kites for Boy's Day in May to celebrate the birth of a boy.

The villages then started competing in kite-making and the size grew larger and larger. The giant kite they fly today is the size of 100 tatami mats (13 m x 12 m). The Higashi-Omi Giant Kite Preservation Society (東近江大凧保存会) maintains the ki

Lunch time! In the middle of the park are food booths and an entertainment stage.

The entertainment stage provided entertainment like samba dancing and taiko drummers.

Higashi-Omi has a sizable Brazilian population.

Taiko drummers.

This is the first time they used this park for the festival. Closer to Lake Biwa so the wind should be stronger.

Stall selling kites. The long kite trains were sold out.

Kites for sale.

Flying trousers

Hiko-nyan kite train and hula girl arch kite

Hiko-nyan kite train

Behind Hikonyan were Nagahama's Azai sister trio (Chacha, Hatsu, and Go).

Giant kite pullers.

Wind Goddesses fanning wind the traditional way.

Afternoon flying session from 2:30 pm to 3 pm when the festival ended.

First they use long poles to prop up the giant kite.

The kite pullers get ready to run. A small taiko drum beats, faster and faster.

Members of the Giant Kite Preservation Society pull the front of the rope.

Around 100 people pull the giant kite. Junior high and older people can sign up to pull the kite.

This is the last flight of several that day.

Although the kite left the ground each time, it didn't stay in the air for long.

Notogawa Station on JR Tokaido/Biwako Line. Beautifully designed station resembling a water wheel, the symbol of the town. East Exit. 能登川駅

Notogawa Station, East side

Notogawa Station, West Exit, also designed as a water wheel. This is one of Shiga's best-designed train stations. Beautifully designed station resembling a water wheel, the symbol of the town.