All Japan Tamaire Association (AJTA)
A new sport born in Wassamu!
It takes skill and accurate team play…
But anyone can play and enjoy it.
All Japan Tamaire Association (AJTA)
"Tamaire" is a game traditionally played by elementary school children at sport festivals. It takes about 200 stuffed balls, 2 baskets and 2 poles to hold the baskets. Any number of children can participate.
The winner is determined by seeing how many balls can be thrown into each basket within a certain time. Traditionally there are two teams; one is the Red-team and the other is the White-team. Each team has about 100-stuffed balls colored Red or White. The balls are placed on the ground first and the children pick them up and throw them into the basket, which is on a pole about 1.5 meters or 2 meters high.
AJTA has made the game slightly more regulated and orderly so that adults can enjoy it as well. They also organized an official tournament held on the first or second Sunday of September each year.
The size of the basket and its height originated in very unique way, based on such things as the north latitude and the lowest recorded temperature in Wasamu town.
The History of the All Japan Tamaire Championship
It all started in August 1990 in a town called Wassamu-cho as an outdoor sport. It was the very first Tamaire Championship held as part of the town’s "Fureai Matsuri" festival or " Getting to know each other festival."
Since then the official rules as well as standards for equipment were formalized and introduced aiming to spread the game throughout Japan and to become a true "All-Japan Championship tournament."
Now it is well reorganized and can be enjoyed even by adults. It is so easy to play that you hardly notice the rules. Let us have fun and try to break the record.
AJTA’s official Tamaire
AJTA’s official Tamaire is played with 6 players.
Each team races against the clock to see who, within the shortest time, can throw all the balls into the basket.
- The balls used are 99 AJTA balls and 1 AJTA anchor ball.
- The balls must be placed around the pole but in any way preferred.
- The game must be played with 4~ 6 players.
- The players stand outside of the circle facing the spectators.
- The game begins when the starting gun is fired.
- The time is measured with stopwatches from the firing of the starting gun to when the anchor ball lands in the basket.
- All the AJTA balls must be thrown in first and as the final ball the AJTA anchor ball is thrown in. If the AJTA anchor ball is thrown in before all the AJTA balls are in the basket, the team is disqualified.
- All the 99+1 balls must be in the basket.
- Piggyback or any kind of tools such as poles or bars must not be used for throwing the balls.
- When a ball is on the edge of the basket hanging out it is counted as safe or in the basket.
- When the AJTA anchor ball is thrown and hits a ball on the edge of the basket causing the ball to fall it is still counted as safe or in the basket.
- If someone other than the players touches an AJTA ball the team is disqualified.
- Any other matters regarding governing the tournament will be notified at the coach’s conference.
The All Japan Tamaire Championship Tournament
It is regularly held on the first Sunday of September every year at the Wassamu-cho general gymnastic hall.
Official equipment
The association sells the official stuffed balls and baskets for your practice. Contact us by phone or fax.
Location
Played in an indoor gymnasium.
Official Championship Tournament Rules
1. Players
Number of participants: Eight players can be registered including the coach.
Actual players in a game are six. Both sexes can play on a team.
2. Ages
Must be over 16 years of age or high school students.
Teams with only high school student players cannot participate in the tournament unless it has at least one adult* due to the amount of prize* awarded.
*Some kind of ID is essential for the enrollment.
*The first prize is one million yen or approximately eight thousand three hundred US $.
3. The AJTA court
Mark the floor with a line tape.
The diameter is 3 meters. The basket pole is placed in the center.
4. The AJTA basket
The height of the basket from the floor to the tip of the basket is 4 meters and 12 centimeters*.
*This figure comes from the lowest recorded temperature in Wassamu- town.
The diameter of the basket and the depth are 44 centimeters*.
*This figure comes from Wassamu-town’s 44 north latitude.
5. The AJTA balls / The AJTA balls (Smaller ones)
The exterior material is cloth and it is stuffed with plastic particles.
The weight of a ball is 80 grams (with a 2-gram margin of error).
For an official tournament 99 balls are used.
The AJTA anchor ball (Larger one)
The exterior material is cloth and it is stuffed with plastic particles.
The weight of the ball is 250 grams (with a 5-gram margin of error).
For an official tournament 1 anchor ball is used.
6. The AJTA shoes
Any indoor sport shoes are acceptable.
How to
1. Starting Position
The AJTA anchor ball should be placed properly before starting the game so that the player who is in charge of throwing the anchor ball does not lose or waste any time.
The coach can give advice or instructions as long as he/she stays outside of the circle.
The total number of balls are 100: The AJTA balls (99) and the AJTA anchor ball (1)
2 The game begins
How you throw the balls in the basket is totally free as long as you do not use any kind of tool or piggyback.
The six players can have different roles in the game such as 2 of them only collecting the balls on the floor and the rest concentrating on throwing.
<Tip> The balls can be piled up before the game starts as shown.
3 Finish
One of the players throws the anchor ball as the last and final ball. The game ends as the anchor ball lands in the basket.
The English version was created based on the All Japan Tamaire association’s leaflet by The Bethel English Language Centre, Sapporo, Japan.
Email Contact: cees@sapporo.email.ne.jp
Head Office
C/O Wassamu- Town Tourism Association
18 Nishimachi Wassamu- Town Kamikawa-gun Hokkaido, Japan 098-0100
Telephone : 016532-2341
Facsimile : 016532-3104