HAMAMATSU CITY

Float parades carrying children

These days, each neighborhood participates as a group in the festival; raising kites in celebration of newborn children and parading the neighborhood float around. Seeing this festival in all its glory is an experience not soon forgotten, but one may wonder what is involved to pull of such a well-coordinated, complex performance and why they do it.

A committee dedicated to preparing for the festival exists in each and every one of the 170 neighborhoods in the city. This committee is made up of enthusiastic, completely dedicated volunteers, many of which proudly declare their undying love for the festival and sacrifice their free time to ensure its success.

Preparations begin in earnest 6 months or more before the actual start of the festival. Each committee member is entrusted with a particular responsibility. Some are in charge of finding families who have had children since the last festival. Other recruit and train the troop of children who provide support for the kite fliers and float pullers with their bugle calls and drumming. Posters are put up around the neighborhood, fliers are distributed and even door-to-door visits are made.

Kites in storage at a neighborhood festival headquarter building.

Kites are made and decorated with the children’s names and family crest. All kites also proudly display the unique neighborhood symbol of each area. As you might not expect, all kites are basically the same, differing only in size. However, the location of and way in which the kite strings are attached are unique to each neighborhood and highly guarded secrets.


All in all, an extraordinary amount of time and effort is required to successfully pull of this festival. But what is it that drives these people to sacrifice their personal time? Why do families spend thousands of dollars to have a kite flown with their children’s name on it for an hour or two? Like many events passed down over time, some details are lost as they become a part of the local culture. More than anything it is the desire of families and neighborhoods to ensure their children grow up strong and healthy that drives them.

Giant Neri Circle

This is evident by the fact that everyone from parents to teachers and students to grandparents come together to celebrate and wish for a prosperous life for the newly born children. It is not often that you find high school students having a good time side by side with their parents, teachers and other adults. But the feeling of community and family is so strong during this festival that norms are forgotten and the togetherness, that makes this festival so unique, occurs.