The 5th Hokuryu Kendama Festival (hosted by the Hokuryu Kendama Club) is a great opportunity for adults and children to try their best at all sorts of things without fear of failure!

January 29, 2024
Feature Articles, Hokuryu Kendama Club
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Monday, January 29, 2024

The 5th Hokuryu Kendama Festival, sponsored by the Hokuryu Kendama Club (Representative: Kishi Naoki), was held on Saturday, January 27th from 3:30pm at the Kendo Room (2nd floor) of the Hokuryu Town Rural Environment Improvement Center.

table of contents

1 5th Hokuryu Kendama Festival
2 YouTube videos
3 Other photos
4 Related articles

5th Hokuryu Kendama Festival

This time, four adult friends of Mr. Kato, an adult member of the club, joined in at his invitation, and about 50 energetic children and adults from inside and outside Hokuryu Town participated in a lively, energetic, and fun-filled battle.

A Kendama Festival where adults and children can gather and enjoy themselves

John and Kiccy will be taking on the challenge wearing matching sweatshirts from last year's NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen!

Greetings from Professor John Masateru Akamatsu (Asahikawa City)

"Thanks to Kato-san's outreach efforts, adults are participating today. It's so much fun because they're really improving their skills by looking at Instagram.

Last year, I participated in the NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen with Kissy. I would like to continue to take on various challenges, do what I can, and improve everyone's abilities. I would like adults to think about who can appear on Kouhaku next time.

"I'd like to have fun today, so I look forward to working with you," said John.

A message from Representative Naoki Kishi

"Today, we are using the kendo room, so it is difficult to hear voices. If there is a lot of noise, it will be difficult to hear during the competition, so please be quiet.

There are two events: "Hand-held Nightingale Race" and "Trick Card Battle." I've attached the tournament schedule, so please take a look later.

The first race, the "Hand-held Bush Warbler Race," is a one-on-one competition with three pairs competing at a time.
In this race, the ball is moved by placing it on the edge or tip of a small plate. When the ball falls, you must stop in place and make sure it is on the plate before moving on. Moving the ball while it is still on the plate is not allowed.

The next event, "Trick Card Battle," is a one-on-one competition.
Players decide who will go first by playing rock-paper-scissors, then flip over a list card with a technique written on it and try the technique.
The first person to complete the trick gets a card and points. The number of cards you have is your point, and the player with the most wins.
If both players fail a technique, or if they succeed and the game ends in a draw, that card becomes invalid and is removed.
The first person to collect five cards wins.

If the number of cards is the same and the game is not decided, the invalid card will be used to challenge the technique, and the first to complete it will be the winner.

Three levels of trick card battle

In trick card battles, the techniques vary depending on your skill level.

Himawari level (up to passing Basic Level 1)

Hanging rice cake ~ Hakushu ~ Katatech
Small plates, large plates, and medium plates
Large hand-held plate - Ken
Stop (don't turn)
baseball
airplane
Mashikame
trapeze
Maeuchi
Tsubamegaeshi (large plate)

Dragon level (those who have passed Advanced Level 3)

airplane
Travelling around Japan
Toudai
Hanging stopper
Down spikes
Furiken
Haneken
Around the world
Platter ~ Lifting Platter
Hand sieve - upside down

Watermelon Level (A heated battle between adults and children)

A high-level battle in which adults also participate.

Hand-held Nightingale Race: Compete for speed by moving a ball on the edge of the board.

A technique that is extremely difficult to achieve stability

Trick Card Battle: Draw cards and compete with tricks

Bravely challenge yourself to 10 different techniques!

Award ceremony and medal presentation

Congratulations to the winners in each group!

Winner of the Hand-held Bush Warbler Race: Tamura Sota

Tamura Souta, winner of the Hand-held Bush Warbler Race — Winner of the Hand-held Bush Warbler Race: Tamura Sota

Trick Card Battle: Sunflower Level

Victory :Takahata Yui-chan
runner-up:Yuki Murakami
3rd place:Shuuto Sato

Trick Card Battle: Dragon Level

Victory :Naoki Komoto
runner-up:Natsuya Ogawa
3rd place:Tamura Sota

Trick Card Battle: Watermelon Level

Victory :Takeru-kun
runner-up:Ginji Yamada

Comments from Professor John Masateru Akamatsu

"Who had fun?!" (John)
"Yessssssss!!!" (everyone)
I'm so happy to see adults raising their hands.

We used to do the usual unicorn race and battle to see who would win, but this is the third year since we started doing this. We did a proper card battle, and although we were nervous, we were able to perform well and compete.

When Kissy and I flew to Tokyo to attend the event, we felt that we wanted adults and children to play together in the future.

This time, "Takeru-kun" was amazing. I couldn't beat him. A 49-year-old and a 6-year-old fought, and the 6-year-old won!

I think this is a great example of how amazing Takeru is, and how enthusiastic his parents are and how active they are in participating in events. Everyone was so great, so I think there's a lot of potential for him in the future.

I'm sure Kissy will come up with lots of fun ideas this year as well, so I'll practice hard and look forward to your continued support this year. Thank you."

Greetings from Representative Naoki Kishi

"Today, even the adults were excited.

Even adults fail at techniques. The reason why children today lack confidence in their actions is because they are afraid of failure.

Adults make a lot of mistakes too. I hope that children will also try their best at all sorts of things without being afraid of failure.

There will probably be no events for the sixth graders in the future, but there is a Kendama club, so I hope they will work hard in their daily activities and take part in Kendama quizzes and compete with their friends.

Today, we had many adults who came to enjoy the event, as well as people who came from far away, such as Asahikawa City and Mashike Town.

Recently, I've been hearing people say all over the place, "The Hokuryu Kendama Club is doing great!", which makes me very happy. This may be due to the effect of our participation in the NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen last year, but more than anything, we've been spreading the word about how hard everyone is working by posting on social media like Instagram.

There will be a Kendama event in Sapporo at the beginning of March. Some famous people will be there, so if you want to go, I hope you can join me. I hope to continue hosting various events in the future, inviting such amazing people.

JHON Sensei will also be holding a performance event at a live music venue on Saturday, February 24th. Ryu-kun participated in the event last year and won the championship. Adults and children alike are welcome to participate!

"Finally, we'll all take a group photo and then it's time to finish," said Representative Kishi.

Thank you for the fun Hokuryu Kendama Festival!

Commemorative photo

Through the skills of kendama, adults and children alike can hone their skills, improve their level, and enjoy playing energetically without fear of failure, with boundless love, gratitude, and prayers for the Hokuryu Kendama Festival, a sports game.

Praying for a bright future as the sun sets...