The Kashima Gatalympics

Athletes and thrill-seekers gathered in Saga Prefecture yesterday for the Kashima Gatalympics, an event its official site translates into English as “the big athletic meet on the mudflats.” Here’s a clip from FTV news showing some of the action:

The Gatalympics are a series of competitions that take place on (and in!) the mudflats of the Ariake Sea. This region has a tidal range of six meters – the greatest in Japan.

When the prefecture plan for Saga was published in 1984, we learnt that our lovely hometown of Kashima was never going to have Highway or Shinkansen train connections.
Mr. Masahiko Kuwahara, now mayor of Kashima, was president of the junior chamber.
He created a committee called “Forum Kashima” to improve our city’s cultural calendar.
As a result, the 1st Kashima Gatalympic event was held on May 3rd, 1985.

As the Gatalympics became famous, the mudflats that had been neglected before were improved in condition and status. Under a new perspective, the mudflats became an important and valued symbol for the growth of the city as a whole. It was therefore natural for the mudflats to be central to the event for which Kashima is recognized nationwide.

Towards the end of the video clip, some foreigners who participated in the muddy event share their impressions. One girl says it was “GOOD TIME! GOOD! I HAVE A FUN! FUN!” Her friend also had a good time (she used Japanese instead of stupid broken English).