44FESTA is quickly becoming my favorite regular yo-yo event. An almost monthly meeting with over eighty people is just too cool.

The sixth edition of 44FESTA was held on the 23rd of February, two days short of Masanobu Iwata’s birthday. Lots of neat stuff took place for this special occasion.

First up, a special guest appearance by five-time North Japan champion Kentaro Mannen, followed by demos and lessons from Kendama USA pro Turner Thorne, and Gloken’s Tamotsu Kubota, and Akira Tajima.

The mini-contest, my favorite part of the FESTA every time, was a yo-yo tower challenge, where a predetermined set of yo-yos had to be stacked as high as possible.

The freestyle contest set a new record, with 31 contestants, and once again the new generation of players triumphed over the old-schoolers, with Hajime Miura finally getting first place after several runner-up results:

1. Hajime Miura
2. Daiki Tanaka
3. Atsushi Yamada
4. Kento Muraoka
5. Kentaro Mannen

The highlight of the day, however, was this fantastic (and hilarious) video made for Masanobu Iwata’s birthday, featuring yo-yo legends Hiroyuki Suzuki, Master Nakamura, Tsubasa Onishi, Hidemasa Semba and many others. The intro is in Japanese, but you definitely don’t want to miss the part starting at 1:35!

A belated Happy Birthday from YoYoNews, Iwata-san!

The next edition of 44FESTA will be on April 26th! Don’t miss it!