■Topics 2019
2019-02-22 NichibunkenNews
Evening Seminar (February 7, 2019) “The Kites of Shirone: How to Make a Small City Known Worldwide”
“The Kites of Shirone: How to Make a Small City Known Worldwide,” Cecile Laly (JSPS postdoctoral fellow and visiting research fellow at Nichibunken)Cecile Laly introduced the 300-year-old Shirone Giant Kite Battle, designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Niigata prefecture.
In the annual giant kite battle, “West” and “East” teams each fly a giant kite the size of twenty-four tatami mats from opposite banks of the Nakanokuchi river, a branch of the Shinano. When the ropes of the kites entangle the kites are crashed into the river, and the teams pull on the ropes with all their strength until the ropes of one or the other team break. The world’s largest-kite festival, this battle is a traditional early summer event of the Echigo Plain (Niigata prefecture). Legend holds that the contest goes back to 1737, and in the intervening centuries the techniques of large-size kite making have undergone various improvement, but the rules of the East- and West-team battle as it is conducted today were fixed some 100 years ago. The Shirone area in the city of Niigata now has a kite museum where visitors can see real giant kites and learn about their history and traditions. The area attracts attention of kite fans from around the world.
Laly said a collection of Japanese kites shown by a Paris museum first prompted her to research kites and visit different kite-making places in Japan. “Shirone has a greater variety of kites and far more kite-related works of art than anywhere else,” she says. “It is the place to visit by all means,” she emphasized. Her presentation included episodes about visiting foreigners who took great interest in Shirone kites and made friends with local residents. Another historic episode she related was about Theodor Edler von Lerch, a military man of Austria-Hungary Empire known for his introduction of skiing to Japan, who was so impressed by the Shirone kite battle that he called it “battle in the ancient Way of the Samurai” and in 1911 presented to Shirone a championship flag he had sent from his home country.
Some of the photographs from the “Wadako: Stories of Japanese Kites” exhibition held twice in Paris in 2018 by Cecile Laly and a professional photographer were also on the display at the seminar, demonstrating the fascination of Japanese kites that share much with contemporary art.
(Reported by Shiraishi Eri, assistant professor, Office of Digital Resources, Publications, and Public Information)
