Hamamatsu Revisited

May 3-5 each year, crowds flock to Hamamatsu, to the Nakatajima sand dunes along the ocean on the south side of the city. Hamamatsu is uniquely known for its windiness—there is a large, salty lake west of the city, and the winds tear over the water and through town. Fitting, then, that the annual Hamamatsu Matsuri features huge kites flown by teams representing the various neighborhoods of the city.Each kite-flying team dresses in matching costumes and constructs an approximately 2x3-meter kite featuring a prominent symbol—perhaps a Kanji character, or a pattern or picture of something to represent the community or a theme for the year. The kites have bamboo frames and are tethered to huge spools of hemp rope on stands that are rolled on wheels. A launch requires the kite itself to be handled by at least two people, with another 6-10 team members in charge of the rope; they run in circles, feeding the rope from the spool, hustling to make sure it unspools without knots and feeds smoothly into the air.Aside from the scurry surrounding a launch, the kite festival is a peaceful event. Neighborhoods parade onto the kite-flying field with their kites held like caskets in a funeral procession—but cheerier, of course—they walk to the beat of drums and repetitive tunes from a bugle or two. In the past, this festival featured kite battles, where neighborhood teams would purposefully tangle their kite ropes together and pull back and forth until the friction broke one of their ropes.Presently, however, the scene is celebratory but relaxed; there may be around 10 kites in the air at a given time, and people just hang out on the grass and watch them float. There are food and drink stands and tents for onlookers’ and participants’ refreshment, there are Hello Kitty masks and cotton candy for sale......And the beautiful Nakajima dunes and oceanfront are just a walk through a line of trees.

When the kites are lowered for the day, everyone proceeds to the city center for a parade of ornate floats and the typical dancing-in-the-streets business that a matsuri entails.

We watched the floats gear up and the performers assemble and take off down the parade route, then walked away from the action, down a tiny alley near the station, to revisit Nina the Thai lady. I’d convinced Davin, Jackson, and Davey that she was awesome and they needed to meet her, and I must say she may have been even cuter this time around!