General InfoFirst Issue: USAGI YOJIMBO Volume 1, Issue 20 Comics Which Contain This StoryThis story can be found in the following comics:
CharactersThe following characters are mentioned in the story: Story SynopsisThe Kite Story is divided into 4 separate tales; the story beginning in the town of Niigata Prefecture during the Tako-Kichi Matsuri (Kite-Crazy festival) with "The Kite Maker's tale". This tale tells the story of Tatsusaburo, a kite maker. He explains how each year he starts building his kite in autumn to make it ready for the festival. He tells of the way he constructs an Odako (a giant kite) and the tale finishes when his team is ready to launch the Odako during the festival. The next tale is "The Gambler's tale". This tale is the story of Hatsu, a gambler. During the festival, he and his fellow gamblers play dice and usually win, because they cheat. Usagi then enters the inn and is offered to play. He initially refuses, but eventually decides he'll play, only to cut the dice and show they're weighted. The angry villagers run the gamblers out of town and when other angry gamblers go after them, Hatsu places the blame on Usagi. The next tale is "The Ronin's tale". It is the story of Usagi who is crossing the town of Niigata during this kite festival. The gamblers then show up with the angry villagers to blame Usagi for the cheating. Usagi flees from them and escapes by jumping on a Tatsusaburo's Odako, which flies off, much to the kite-maker's dismay. The other village gambler's learn that it was in fact Hatsu and his gang who are the real cheaters and give them their retribution. The final tale is "The Kite Maker's Tale 2" where it's autumn once again and the kite maker is rebuilding his famous Odako. He discovers the bones of his previous Odako, and Usagi's footprints leading away from it as well. Realizing that the ronin must still be alive, he contemplates the bones, but in the end decides to make an even larger Odako for next year.
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A Kite Story
