Gatakoage 蛾凧揚げ ("Moth Kite Flying")
Cultural event
18th Day of the Ninth Month
During the ninth month of the year when autumn approaches, the strong winds around the Yamato Mountain Range begin to pick up. Starting some time in the 4th century GE, the children's past time of kite flying began to pick up popularity among adults, and a couple of neighbors in Yamaseki began to craft elaborate kites styled after murasaki, yarenma, and sensô moths. The fad began to spread like a wildfire and in time became a tradition. Today the Gatakoage is a national celebration that is held on the eighteenth day of the ninth month, during which people eat gayaki, a sort of moth-shaped pastry, that is filled with sweet red bean paste, and fly colorful, moth-shaped kites.
