Every year in October, Okinawa is host to the great Naha festival. During this festival the streets of Kokusai Dori are lined with tens of thousands of people who watch hatagashira being thrust into the air as groups circle and pass the long poles between individuals--each awaiting his turn to carry these emblems which honor the city, town, or village they are from. The Naha Festival is also home to the great tug-of-war, the world's largest with a rope that weighs over 90,000 pounds and is pulled by the tens of thousands of people who crowd the streets.