2. A word from the manager of Hetomato

更新日：2020年9月18日

My family has been helping to organise Hetomato for a long time. My father was a manager, and so was his father before him. When I turned 43, it was decided in a family meeting that it was my turn to inherit the responsibility.

My motto and goal is to protect our traditions, but it is getting increasingly difficult. Our biggest problem is finding enough girls to take part in 'Hanetsuki'. With the decreasing population, the number of recently married girls is very small. Sometimes I have had to ask locals who live outside Goto to join in, just so we can play.

It would be impossible for this festival to succeed without the help of everyone in the community. We have Hetomato meetings every year to help with the organisation, and everyone from the elderly down to Elementary school students take part. The Elementary school students take part in sumo, and the Junior High school students play sumo and tug-of-war.

I really hope that the children remember Sakiyama and our unique traditions fondly when they grow up!