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 17th century.
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 attendees annually, 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.[1] The rope weighs some 40 metric 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 an international event with
Japanese nationals, American military, and tourists 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, and
the two kings perform a ritual sword contest.
The main rope, over one metre in diameter, has many smaller diameter,
but very long ropes extending from it, and the participints pull these
during the contest. The contest lasts 30 minutes and the challenge is to
pull the other team a total of 15 metres. If neither side pulls the
other the 15 metres, whichever side has pulled the other the furthest
wins.
After the 30 minute time limit expires, one side is declared the
victors, and they are allowed to climb on top of their rope to
celebrate. It is customary for participants to cut apart the rope, and
take a length of it as a token, and so throngs of people using tools
ranging from their pocket knives, scissors and hacksaws set on the rope
cutting lengths of it to commemorate the festival.
National Route 58 (国道58号) is a highway in Japan. This very unusual road has continuous numbering over disconnected segments on the islands of Kyūshū, Tanegashima, Amami Ōshima, and Okinawa. The road has a total of 255.5 km on land. It originates in the prefectural capital of Kagoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture and terminates in Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture.
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