In a country that revels in miniaturization; mini-discs, micro-cars and amazingly small cell phones reign supreme. However, the more traditional side of Japan appears to have a love for things somewhat larger. Sumo wrestlers, mountains and koi carp all seem to be valued on a bigger is better principle. Surprisingly the same system is also used for Japanese kites. Whereas kite flying in England tendsto be done by the young on a blustery day in the park, in Japan it is the chance for a team of men to build a huge fighting machine. The behemoth kite is then sent up into the sky to battle with other aerial monsters in what is best described as a heavenly bar fight.

The kites are made of a bamboo frame covered in paper and then painted with samurai faces, lucky symbols and even sake logos. The medium-sized ones could easily drape over two cars parked side-by-side and the largest ones would probably appear as blips on the radar of Japanese air traffic control.

In the small rural town I visited, locals take their kites once a year to either side of the river and teams of up to thirty men grab the thick towropes. Accompanied by shouts, grunts and whistles the men hurl the kites into the air and begin running frantically along the riverbank. Five or six kites are launched at the same time, and the frenzied runners try to steer them into each other. The last kite flying is declared the victor.

The kites had incredibly short life expectancies for creations that had probably taken days if not weeks or months to build. Some quickly gained height before rotating through 180 degrees and then crashing down into the river or onto the heads of hapless runners or spectators. Other kites due to congested riverbanks or unfit runners never reached soaring speed and instead stalled and similarly crashed back to earth. The “lucky” ones that managed to stay up long enough to meet in mid air, tangled their ropes and not surprisingly collided into one another. The entwined kites then plummeted together to join the other less successful kites lying in pieces on the grass or river surface. I am pretty sure that no kite ever got to defend its title, as even the victorious drifted off downstream along with the rest of the floating debris.

Fortunately, the teams didn’t seem overly concerned about who won or lost, and afterwards all the competitors and spectators (some with kite induced minor head injuries) headed for the local izakaya. There everyone got down to the more serious business of eating raw sea critters. The drinking competitions continued until some had collapsed while others had come up with innovative ideas for their next kite.