It's reported by Sankei Shimbun on October 9, 2016 that about 275,000 people including 18,000 competitors gather to watch an annual giant tug-of-war event - The Naha Tug of War on a main road in the central part of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. The giant rope used for the competition was 200 meters long with weight of 43 tons.
That day, two giant ropes with length of 100 meters each were combined together and the battle between the East and West teams began. After 25 minutes fierce competition, west team won the game finally.
The history of the Naha Tug-of-War goes back to the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom when the contest was held in order to get rid of evil and pray for good harvests. The tradition was broken off in 1935, but was revived again in 1971 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Naha municipal government, and has been held every year since then. The Naha Giant Tug-of-War was considered as the largest tug-of-war in the world and properly documented and certified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1997.