Loading place...
Loading place...
Route 58 near Kumoji intersection becomes the stage for the Naha Great Tug-of-War (那覇大綱挽), a Guinness World Record event where 15,000+ participants pull a 200-ton, 200-meter-long rope woven from rice straw. Outside the October festival, a segment of the rope is displayed on-site year-round.
The tradition dates back to the 17th-century Ryukyu Kingdom era, when rope-pulling rituals were performed to pray for good harvests. The modern incarnation began in 1971, the year before Okinawa's reversion to Japan, as a way to celebrate Okinawan identity. In 1997, the rope entered the Guinness Book of Records.