Japan’s annual samurai spider fight pays tribute to a practice dating from 1598 – while protecting the species
The townsfolk of Kajiki, in Kagoshima prefecture, have been engaged in a centuries-long battle for 8-legged supremacy
The heat and humidity don’t appear to bother the competitors. Ahead of the fight, hundreds fill the small gymnasium, perched on long sticks or hanging in nets, some exploring their new environment.
For newcomers to the annual battle, now in its 110th year, the sight is a surprise; these fighters are not human, but spiders.
On June 16, some 370 spiders and their masters – 65 adults and 59 children – competed in one of Japan’s more unusual tournaments, held in Kajiki, Kagoshima prefecture (between Kagoshima city and Kagoshima Airport).
Affectionately named “samurai spiders” by organisers due to their fighting spirit, all are female and of the genus Argiope, or kogane in Japan, a large orb-weaving species with distinctive yellow and black stripes. At the end of the afternoon, a panel of judges will crown the champions after a series of kumo gassen (“spider fights”).
The practice dates from 1598, when Yoshihiro Shimazu (1535-1619), the 17th head of the local Shimazu clan, led his forces in battle on the Korean peninsula. He sought to raise flagging morale among his men by staging kumo gassen as there were many spiders in the area.
Shimazu encouraged his troops to bet on the contests and, according to legend, the mood in the soldiers’ camp improved greatly.
