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CU two spiders on wed on twig and one dropping off
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GV spectators PAN TO official putting spiders on stick
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SV ZOOM INTO CU Man putting spiders on stick and spiders fighting on twig and then on webs with CUS of Spectators cheering (7 shots)
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Officials coaxing spiders worth stick watched by crowd (2 shots)
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: For nearly 400 years the Japanese have been supporting what must be one of the world's most unusual sports - spider fighting. Every year on Boys Day, hundreds of spectators arrive in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu to watch the sport.

SYNOPSIS: The spiders are all female. Fans of the sport spend their weekends combing the mountains of Kyushu for strong, mean looking specimens to put into the competition.

This year's fight attracted more than 800 spectators. It's not legally a betting sport but money was changing hands rapidly as 300 spiders fought each other.

For four hours, female spiders of various sizes and shapes were pitted against each other on top of a 40 centimetre (15.7 inches) long stick. The winner was the spider which crippledits opponent or pushed it form the stick. The sport first gained popularity in the 1600s when the local Kagoshima lord, Yoshihiro Shimazu allegedly introduced this sport to his soldiers. It was supposed to be a way of raising troop morale for an attack on Korea under the legendary Japanese general, Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

Devotees to the sport are as enthusiastic as ever, They even have ploys to make their female spiders more vicious. One formula is to spit a fiery potato wine at them each day.