Went to a tug of war this weekend. It's an annual event here in Japan. This rope is in the guiness book of world records. The thing weighs about 7 tons. Tens of thousands of people show up for this event. It was pretty neat. Afterwards there is a huge beer fest that's about a 10 minute walk from the tug of war. The rope is so big that it can't be lifted, and people are walking up on top of it. There are smaller ropes that branch off the sides of the main rope, like handels, and that is what you tug. Everyone just grabs the side ropes and starts pullin. Here's a few pics!

Me and my boi Thomas standing on it

This is the knot in the middle that you try to pull to your side to win.

These kids start making a bunch of noise and cheer you on to motivate your side to pull harder!

This gold ball blows open and a bunch of balloons and shit come flying out right before the event starts. We got 1 balloon, but later gave it away to this cute lil like 2 year old kid who came up to us with open arms and a big smile wanting it. You couldn't tell the lil guy no, he was cute!

Here's the kid

Of course my side won!!

we got to cut off some of the rope to keep as a suvineir, but i left it in the trunk of the taxi. whoops.

some random cute japanese girls that started dancin on the rope after we won.

some more cute japanese kids that helped us win with their pure muscle mass!!

thomas's trophy for winning!!

and here is my trophy. Good ol Jun! Actually her whole name is Junko Miagi. That's right, she's Ms. Miagi, I hope to god I never meet her dad Mr. Miagi, he'd tear me up!!!

OK last picture I promise. This is just a pick of a car we were behind on the way there. They have some wierd names for cars here. That right there is the Dhaitsu NAKED!!

Wow, Japanese people are weird. Honestly, who thinks "Hey, we should have this enormous tug-of-war competition with a rope that weighs thousands of pounds! Now that's a good idea! :stick:

But hey, bring me home one of those naked vans! Quality stuff. :lol:

It has some sort of tradition behind it. Something to do with the battle of the samurai's before they were killed off I think. In the opening ceremony, some people dressed up like samurai's meet at the center of the rope and do a little act, and then the gold ball blows off and the tugging begins. You may think it's weird, but it was really cool and a tradition of theirs based off something in their history.

But hey, running up and down a wooden floor throwing balls in to baskets hanging off poles is a great idea :secret: I think the Japanese culture is really interesting, I also like there big penis parade!

You are one sick individual, Mr. Hughes!! :ohmy:

Didnt someone get maimed in that event a few years ago? Like lost an arm or something?

They do have a parade/festival basically worshiping the penis! I saw a show about it on the Discovery Channel or or National Geographic channel. It was actually quite interesting, they had parade floats, lolli-pops, etc. all in the shape of a penis.

i wouldn't be telling everyone on an open forum about how much you like the penis parade hughes ;)

Very cool - thanks for sharing the pics withus!!! So, does she speak english pretty well or are you learning the language?

I love weiner. [/b][/quote]
Maybe you should move to Japan then.... or San Fransisco. :stick:

He's right, move here. You won't regret a thing. Hell you won't even miss DSM's. They'll be the last thing on your mind when you're cruisin around in an R32 you picked up for 2000 bux. Anywho, her english is so-so. I am trying to learn this language. Despite what I've always heard, Japanese seems very easy to learn. I don't know how to explain it, but the layout is just so simple. If you are good at memorizing things, then it'd be cake. Just have to memorize what words mean. There really isn't a whole lot of past/future tense, or words with double meanings like too and two. It's hard to explain, but it is a very simple layout. Next semester I am going to take some Japanese classes. Right now I can speak enough to say: Hi, yes, no, tired, cute ass, how are you, i speak a little japanese, right, left, bring me a beer please, thanks, sorry, and real basic shit like that. Anywho thanx for the kind words. If you really think this is a retarded festival, then maybe you need to realise there is more to this world then what you consider to be normal. I bet seeing crime on the news is normal to you, right? Well come visit Okinawa, there is basically ZERO crime, except for car accidents and drunk ass americans actin like idiots. I think it was a really cool event. Parents bring their children to this, half the damn island comes to it. Anywho, here's a couple more pics i found, enjoy!

random motivator guy

junko again

Despite its strangeness, I'd be more than willing to participate--sounds like good times.

And I have to ask, what's up with you guys and the peace sign? lol

I'd love to at least come out there and visit for a little while. I can guarantee you I wouldn't miss DSM's....especially since all the nice JDM stuff is out there and it isn't very expensive!

too buku!!!

Haha, ya so you noticed the peace sign eh? It's just what everyone here does for some reason. They told us jokingly when we first got here that you will see all the japanese people doing that, but it didn't mean peace, it meant TWO (as in 2 bombs). But that isn't true, they just do peace signs in all their pictures. 2 year olds all the way to 70 year olds do it. Don't know why, but doesn't bother me none. Maybe it's cuz they are peaceful people. i dunno

wow dude that festival looks really fun. and the crime rate is really low out there?? thats gotta be nice. sheesh somethign is wrong here in the U.S. when i was livin over in israel it was WAY more safer then here WAYYY safer. but thatd be some sweet festival !

So thats all you need to speak to get by huh? :lol:

Ya crime is basically non existant here, well besides the Yakuza. But they don't have a huge presence here, they just mainly run the huge prostitution neighborhood called Mayahara (which is legal too). Other then that, there is no crime, just a bunch of car accidents because they drive like monkeys, and Americans who get drunk and try to steal or deface shit.

DRIFTO!!! :3gears: :naughty: :cheers: