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🏮 Itoman Tsuna Hiki

糸満綱引き

Itoman, Okinawa (Itoman Roundabout to Shiroganedo) · Every year in mid August

Traditional performing arts

335 days to go
Rooms around Itoman, Okinawa fill up while the festival is on.

The Itoman Otsunahiki, held in Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture, on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, is a Shinto ritual praying for a bountiful harvest, a good catch, household safety, and good health. Using one of the largest ropes in the prefecture, reaching 180 meters when the male and female ropes are combined, teams split into north and south pull against each other, and the outcome divines good or bad fortune. While other regions increasingly turn such events into holiday tourist attractions, Itoman holds it on the traditional date, and locally it is also called Hachigwachi Juuguyaa. On the day, from 8:30 a.m., small ropes made in each of the 10 districts of Aza Itoman are twisted together, and the south and north sides alternately spend about three hours making the male and female large ropes. In the Dounnee procession starting at 2:00 p.m., more than 1,000 citizens, led by flag bearers with yugafuu and kariyushi banners, perform dances and children's eisa and parade about 1 kilometer from Itoman Elementary School to Hakugindo. In the main event from 5:00 p.m., young men dressed as the legendary figure Shitaku appear and enact a glaring standoff, after which the heated tug-of-war between north and south finally unfolds.

Getting there

Between Itoman Rotary and Hakugindo. On the day, traffic is restricted on Prefectural Route 256 between Hakugindo and Itoman Rotary. Use buses for public transport. The nearest bus stop is near Itoman Rotary.