Photo= Can a 700-meter long stick of skewered dumplings be made?

A planning committee has been established by merchants and craftsmen in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture in order to hold an inaugural event to use "Cha-dango," or tea-flavored sweet dumplings, a famous confection of Uji, to connect the approximately 700-meter distance between Byodo-in Temple and Ujigami Shrine, two World Heritage Sites located on both sides of the Uji River. With the slogan of "the world's longest skewered dumplings," they will challenge the world record.

The event is called, "Let's connect World Heritage sites with dumplings." It was proposed by "Uji Sosei-kai," a group founded in 2012 by volunteers, including merchants and craftsmen in the city, to promote tourism in Uji and its neighboring areas. In response to their call, the Uji Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Uji City Tourist Association, local shopping malls and others have formed a planning committee. The event will take place on March 6, 2016, mainly on Tonoshima, an island in Kyoto Prefectural Uji Park, which is located at almost the halfway point between the temple and the shrine.

According to the planning committee, the distance from the gate of Ujigami Shrine to the front gate of Byodo-in Temple is approximately 700 meters. They plan to place half-circular dishes made from bamboo cut lengthwise between the shrine and the temple, and then tightly pack tea-flavored skewered dumplings on them. They calculate that it will take 35,000 dumplings with a width of two centimeters each. Participants will eat them after connecting the two sites.

Tamayo Tarutani, a management consultant who has been appointed the committee's chairperson, said, "I am sure that we can really do this. We would like to use this event as a trigger to communicate the attractions of Uji to the world." The planning committee will work out the event details hereafter.