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| Huge Kite Museum | |
| (Shouwa town, SAITAMA) |
T he annual event "The Huge Kites Flying Festival" is held on May 3 and 5, at the bank of Edo River, in Nishi-Houjyubana district of Shouwa-town.
T he Huge Kites (15 meters in height, 11 meters in width, and around 250 kilograms in weight) are flying by more than 150 young peoples each, celebrating the newborn babies of the year.
T he kite's bones are bamboo. Its sail is made of around 1,500 sheets of specially handmade paper that have been pasted together. The paper, called "Nishi no uchi", is slightly heavier than ordinary Japanese handmade paper, but has remarkable strength. Two hundred bridle lines, each 30 meters long, are tied at regular intervals to the face of the kite. The flying line used will be 450 meters to 900 meters long.
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T he festival is one of the most important traditional event for people since the past 100 years or more.
T
he Building of Museum has 4 stories and a big well hall exhibited 4 Huge Kites hanging on the wall after festival.
In addition to the above, the museum exhibits 400 kites or more from all over Japan and also from the world, and has a projection room, some meeting rooms and workshops.
T he museum holds kite-making schools for young people and other various cultural events for the season, and fulfills another function as a community center for local people.
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