On 9 November 2003, Tamotsu Kubota (4th year student, Faculty of Applied Biological Science) of the Hiroshima University Kendama Circle (DAMA Ken) won the Japan Kendama Moshikame Competition after continuing kendama for 8 hours. The current Guinness world record for kendama is 7 hours 35 minutes 55 seconds and so after gathering the necessary documents Tamotsu Kubota applied on 15 January 2004 to have his record put into the Guinness book.



Kendama developed as a game in France, but the kendama used in Hiroshima were developed 80 years ago at Hatuskaichi, Hiroshima City. "Moshikame" is one kind of kendama trick where the ball is flicked in turn between the big and small cups on each side. It was given this name from the children's song "usagi to kame" (rabbit and turtle). The rules are simple. The ball is flicked in time with this song at the speed of 135 times per minute. Hence, it requires a great deal of concentration. This competition began in 1975 and on 9 November 500 people participated at 5 competition areas throughout Japan.



Tamotsu Kubota was the only Hiroshima participant remaining after 2 hours, after 4 hours there were only 4 participants remaining nationwide and after 6 hours only the current Guinness record holder and Tamotsu Kubota remained. The current Guinness record holder fell out of the competition after 7 hours and 45 minutes. The competition runs for a maximum of 8 hours and this is the first time that a participant has reached this time limit.



Tamotsu Kubota says that kendama is both a sport and a game. The members of DAMA Ken are enthusiastically trying to spread kendama around Hiroshima, Japan and the world. If anyone is interested please visit the DAMA Ken web site by clicking on the link below.

DAMA Ken (in Japanese only)