Kids' Activities 03-1

Carp Streamers

	Carp streamers fly above the river at Tsuetate. (Tsuetate Onsen Tourist Association)

On April 11 at Tsuetate, a hot-spring resort located in Kumamoto Prefecture's Ogunimachi, 3,500 carp streamers were attached to a rope that spans the Tsuetate River, which runs through Tsuetate. These carp streamers, which were put up ahead of the Carp Streamer Festival, appear to be swimming upstream when the wind passes through them.

In order to welcome the Belgian national team, which will hold a training camp in Kumamoto just before the World Cup, and the team from Cameroon, which will stay in neighboring Oita Prefecture, the Carp Streamer Festival will be extended by 15 days and will continue until May 30. The carp streamers, which give a poetic beauty to the season, will "swim" above the Tsuetate River for the duration of the festival. In addition to photography and painting contests, there are plans for a morning fair and a fishing pond.

And for 12 days beginning April 26, carp streamers are being flown outside of Hakata Station in Fukuoka. (Nishinippon Shimbun)