The Kashima Gatalympics is an event held in the mudflats of the Ariake Sea off Kashima city in Saga Prefecture, Japan. The event takes place every year at the end of May.
The Gatalympics are a series of fun-filled competitions that take place on the mudflats.[1] The Ariake Sea is perfect for this kind of event as it has a tidal range of six meters - the biggest in Japan. Participants compete in unique games, where they become covered with mud. The games consist of silly, game-show type contests such as a mud sumo tournament and a surf board race. It has grown into one of the most famous events of Saga Prefecture with a wide variety of people participating- Japanese and foreigners alike.
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When the prefecture plan for Saga was published in 1984, it was decided that Kashima City was never going to have a highway or a Shinkansen train connection. Mr. Masahiko Kuwahara, the mayor of Kashima, was also the president of the junior chamber. He created a committee called "Forum Kashima" to improve the city's cultural calendar. As a result, the 1st Kashima Gatalympic event was held on May 3, 1985.[1]
As the Gatalympics became famous, the mudflats that had been neglected before were improved in condition and status. Under a new perspective, the mudflats became an important and valued symbol for the growth of the city as a whole. It was therefore natural that the mudflats became the central reason for which Kashima is now recognized for.[1]
The proposed name for this event translates as "The big athletic meet on the mudflats." Though accurate, it was also a little dry. A second title was proposed: "The Gata-olympic big athletic meet on the mudflats". Finally, whilst heavily under the influence of alcohol, somebody could only utter as much as "Gatalympic" and from then on, that name has stuck like mud.[1]