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By HEIDI DEGROOT EASTHAM
Rappahannock News Contributing Writer
Just for one moment take yourself out of our county, and put yourself atop a windswept dune in the city of Hamamatsu, about 130 miles • southwest of Tokyo. ! You can not believe your eyes as they fix on a vividly colored kite straining against its tether. Battle cries of “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!-(Forward! Forward!)” erupt. The symbol of anew generation soars skyward.
Today, Japan’s Rokkaku Challenge draws nearly two million peoiple.I This emotion-charged scene ; takes place hundreds of times in early May during the city’s annual three-day tribute to its first born sons. These huge kites are sponsored by different neighborhoods, ; some bearing the boys’ names. ’• The role of a first bom son re• mains the backbone of Japanese sorial structure. When a man dies, his eldest son usually inherits all his wealth and responsibility for keeping the fmaily unified. These strong ties help keep the community’s iden• tity. ; The people of Hammamatsu be• lieve the festival dates from the 11500s, when a kite was flown to honor the birth of a prince. Another legend suggests that the sport began when a ruler told his people to fight with kites instead of with one another. (Not such a bad thought.)
Go back to the sky, the kite lines are like spider webs, several are en
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