Sanjo Tourism Guide

 The Sanjo “Ika gassen” (Kite battle) is one of the three major kite battles in the Niigata area. Kite battling in Sanjo originated around the Tokugawa period (1603 - 1867) as a competition between the children of Murakami clan bureaucrats and the children of commoners. A competition to test their skills in kite flying and kite fighting. Such competitions consisted of how high one could fly their kite without the kite flyer being seen, tangling your kite onto the other kite so to snag or cut their string. Also, capturing fallen kites and destroying them. The kite battles between children soon involved adults, and the battling became an annual event. As time went by, the kites grew larger and local communities would compete against each other within the city and soon the event became a city wide event. Currently there are approximately 20 kite teams whom compete each other in the Sanjo Great Kite Battle.

 In Sanjo, kites are called "ika" (squid), instead of the more usual Japanese "tako" (homophone for an octopus), so this kite battle is called "Ika Gassen". Kites in Sanjo tend to be hexagonal, as rectangular kites were rarely made. Hexagonal kites painted with pictures of medieval warriors are flown from the banks of the Ikarashi River and they fight against each other in a re-creation of the battles of long ago.

 The kites themselves are also quite unique in the sense that, not only are they hexagonal, but the kites can be rolled up into a small bundle. Sanjo kites have been introduced to the world as "Sanjo Rokkaku", and claims to be the birthplace of the worlds hexagonal kites.