Hamamatsu Kite Festival

One of the things I did over the Golden Week holiday was take the train to Hamamatsu to attend the Kite Festival. I went once before to this festival before the pandemic. 

The history of this festival goes back to the Eiroku era (1558 - 1569) when the ruling lord of Hikuma Castle (now Hamamatsu Castle) flew a large kite in honor of the birth of his first son. There are records of kite flying in Hamamatsu dating back to the late 1700's. This practice grew even more popular during the Meiji era (1868 - 1912). The Nakatajima Sand Dunes, which is one of two venues for this festival, face the Enshu Sea, which is favorable for kite flying due to the strong winds.

The current festival was established in 1950. This area has a long tradition of hatsudako (first kite) to celebrate the birth of one's firstborn child. This is one of the few Japanese festivals that isn't tied to a shrine or temple. It is a festival for and by the people of the town. 

Japan is a very clean, tidy country. As festival go-ers enter the festival area, they are offered tongs and plastic bags to pick up any trash they see. Isn't that a great way to keep things clean for everyone?

The kite flying area is a huge field surrounded by tents for vendors and others for the kite teams. The kites are very large and take many people to get them up in the air and to keep them there.  In addition, each kite team has a team of musicans of all ages to act as a little parade for the kite.

To get a better view, you can climb up the big hill and look out.

The second venue of the festival is around the train station. In the evening there is a parade of these big carved wood carts.  I did not stay for the evening session, but I did look at the carts on display.  There were volunteers who would put the Japanese festival jacket on visitors and take pictures.

The festival is held May 3, 4, and 5th every year.