Traditional boat race
- Date
- Year 1960
- Oct. 29, 2014
- Address
- Ohashi Bridge, Minamata-gawa River
- The traditional boat race at the mouth of Minamata-gawa River. They say that the race began around 1897 as a recreation for the tenants, whose owner, a merchant dealing with charcoal and materials for ships, saw some dragon boats in Nagasaki. It draws a crowd on both right and left banks of the coast.
- The present mouth of Minamata-gawa River. The Minamata-Ohashi Bridge was built and cars come and go on the bridge. The boat race, which was once called off in 1943 due to the Pacific War, resumed by the Nitchitsu-Showa Association in 1949. Since 1952 it has been hosted by Minamata City Board of Education and packed with crowds cheering both teams.
Reference sources
- The Edo Period:
The Picture Map of Ashikita-gun, Collection of Kumamoto Gakuen University Library, the late Edo Period. - The Meiji Period:
The Japanese National Atlas at the end of Edo Period and in the Meiji Period, Kashiwa Shobo, Collection of Kumamoto Gakuen University Library, 1983.
