Naha Ōtsunahiki

那覇大綱挽まつり

On a city-centre highway junction, locals and visitors split into East and West and pull against each other on one enormous rope.

9–11 October 2027

345 days away

Every year, the 2nd Monday of October, minus 2 days, for 3 days

Future dates: 9 October 2027 · 7 October 2028 · 6 October 2029

Origin

According to the plan published by its organisers, the Naha Ōtsunahiki Preservation Society, it began around 1450 as a rope-pull held in celebration. The city describes it today as a festival for all its citizens, carrying on a traditional rite, bringing people together, and drawing visitors.

What to look for

The main day is the Sunday. Late in the morning, the ufunna sunei — the great procession — moves along Kokusai-dōri: fourteen hatagashira, towering ornamented banner poles of East and West, are swung high into the air by some three thousand people in rope-pull costume. In the afternoon everything moves to the Kumoji junction on Route 58. After rites that include the kanuchi-chiji, in which the East’s "male" rope and the West’s "female" rope are locked together with a great wooden pin called the kanuchi, a gong sounds, the chief judge’s flag comes down, and the pull begins. When a siren ends it, everyone dances the kachāshī — the hand-waving dance with which Okinawans celebrate — to share the joy of the day. The rope is not only for locals. The national office that manages the highway describes Okinawans, tourists and visitors from abroad pulling together.

How to watch

The organising committee bans drone photography at every venue for the whole festival, and for safety no blades — kitchen knives, knives or scissors — may be brought in.

If you go

The festival runs over the three days up to Sports Day, the second Monday of October — Saturday to Monday — with the procession and the rope-pull on the Sunday. Kokusai-dōri is closed to traffic from late morning to early afternoon, and Route 58 from the afternoon into the evening. Over the same days a citizens’ festival with fireworks, run by the local broadcaster RBC, is held at Ōnoyama Park. It falls in typhoon season, so in bad weather check the organisers’ announcements.

Where

Kumoji junction on Route 58 and Kokusai-dōri

Naha, Okinawa

Open in maps

Sources

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