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Fun beach kite flying in Tokyo
Kite flying is something many of us did when we were kids. I know Japan is famous for it. But until recently, I hadn’t seen it in Tokyo. Well, one fine afternoon, I saw some people flying them at Kasai Rinkai Park. It was a fun spectacle for photography.
What was my photo gear for the day?
- Camera body: Fujifilm X-T3
- Lens: Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
How was the kite photography experience?
That day I was there for bird photography. So I only had my 100-400 mm lens on my camera. In some ways, that was good and terrible in others. It made zooming in on the kites in the sky easy. But it also made it difficult to get shots of the background. A wider lens would have been better for that.
People were flying all sorts of on the Kasai Rinkai Park beach. Early in the afternoon, I saw an octopus, a cobra, and a couple of aircraft-shaped ones. Later in the day, some people doing stunts joined them.
There was an older group of gentlemen. They seemed to have years of experience, judging by how the kites danced in the sky. I doubt I could have flown them so skilfully.
The octopus and cobra kites were giant. They might have measured twenty meters long. That’s a guess, though. There was another strange thing. I didn’t know who flew them! The owners weren’t around.
But some huge bags with massive spikes secured them to the ground. I’m guessing some heavy weights were inside. The owners were probably nearby on sunchairs enjoying the sight.
On that day, the wind for flying was excellent. It was pretty strong and steady. The pilots I could see had no problem keeping their craft aloft. I’m sure the birds I was also photographing that day enjoyed the conditions.
I’ll have to photograph one of those huge traditional Japanese kites one day. That would be a blast. I’ll do some research, and hopefully, that will happen one day. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
To see the stories mentioned in this article, look at:
External kite flying websites:
- Hamamatsu Kite Festival (Official website)