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The 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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General Info
