Everyone pulls a rope two hundred meters long. In Naha, Okinawa, the Great Tug-of-War uses the largest straw rope in the world, certified by Guinness, weighing forty tons. The crowd divides into east and west and pulls. Anyone may join, visitor or local, and at the starting signal tens of thousands seize the rope at once. There is a winner, but something matters more than winning. Afterward, people cut off pieces of the rope to take home; displayed in the house, they promise health and the prosperity of descendants, the rope becoming a charm. The tradition dates to the Ryukyu Kingdom nearly five hundred years ago, a royal rite in which districts tested their strength. War once severed it, but it revived afterward. Tens of thousands of hands grip a single rope, and for one day Okinawa becomes one.