Tug-of-War

These are pictures from the annual Okinawa Tug-of War. They close down highway 58 and everyone is invited to participate in the pull. The rope they use has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Here are the guys leading the opposing sides. They balance up there pretty well considering the rope moves as people pull and the guys on top chant and whistle. I think they place their feet in loops in the rope to steady themselves, but we did see one guy fall. He didn't actually fall off the rope, just onto the rope.

This part of the rope is linked with another part from the other side. They place a "pin" about the size of a 2 1/2 foot in diameter tree trunk in the loops to link the two parts of the rope together (you can see one of the loops to the far right of the picture). The section of the rope that wins is transported all over the island to the various villages to be seen at those village's festivals.

In this picture, there is only one guy standing on the rope at this point, but when the actual tug-of-war happens there are several guys in these little outfits that chant and shout and blow whistles to urge everyone to pull.

The rope is made up of lots of little ropes. One side of the rope is about 3 blocks long so when they link it together with the "pin" it is twice that length. It stands about 4 feet tall at the tallest point.