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.
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 made it difficult to get shots that would include some 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 stunt kite flying joined them.
The stunt fliers looked like a group of older gentlemen. They seemed to have years of experience, judging by how the kites danced in the sky. They didn’t look easy to fly.
The octopus and cobra kites were giant. They might have measured twenty meters in length. That’s a guess, though. There was another strange thing. I didn’t know who flew them!
Some huge bags with massive spikes secured them to the ground. I’m guessing there was some heavy weight inside too. The owners were probably nearby on a sunchair enjoying the sight.
On that day, the wind for kite 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’d love to photograph one of those huge traditional Japanese kites in the future. That would be a blast. I’ll do some research, and hopefully, it will happen.
By the way, Tokyo has a kite museum, which is worth checking out. You could buy one there and find a place to fly in the city! If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Pingback: Kite Museum is flying high in Nihonbashi - Tokyo in Pics