A slagging match of an entirely different style is being hailed as the savior of the Tottori Prefecture town of Nanbu, home of the National Persimmon Pip Spitting Contest, according to Spa! (2/12).

Nanbu has been hosting the national persimmon pip spitting championships for the past 20 years to promote its local specialty of fuyu persimmons.

"We needed some event that would promote fuyu persimmons and heard that Yamanashi Prefecture had a wildly successful cherry pip spitting competition, so we ripped off their idea, Teruaki Itamochi, a representative of the Nanbu Municipal Government tells Spa!, recalling how the competition got started.

Nanbu's National Persimmon Pip Spitting Contest is run entirely by volunteers and it's apparently not an easy task.

"To promote the persimmons, we first get contestants to eat them and find out just how delicious they are," Itamochi says. "The trouble with that is, unlike cherries which can be eaten as they are, persimmons need to be peeled. You should see how much persimmon peel we have left over at the end of the contest."

Competitors in the pip spitting contest have traditionally fought it out for the main prize of an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii. This enticing prize has helped draw people into taking part and competitors from outside of Tottori Prefecture have increased yearly since the contest's inception. In some years, there have been more than 1,000 competitors battling it out to see who can spit a persimmon pip the farthest.

Among the most notable contests in the event's history would be the 2006 championships, the official says, noting that a lack of finances meant the Hawaii trip prize couldn't be offered that year. The lack of money actually turned out to be the silver lining in a cloud.

"It was a huge contest that year and also saw an unprecedented tie for first place. If it was a normal year, we would have had to pay for trips to Hawaii for both the winners," Itamochi says. "To be honest, I was glad the trip wasn't up for grabs that year, so we avoided any troubles over the prizes."

Last year, the lure of Hawaii returned to a financially rehabilitated contest and the town was filled with people spitting pips in practice for the real thing.

"You would be surprised how many people foul out by overstepping the spitting line when they go too fast in their run up," Itamochi tells Spa! "There's a knack to spitting persimmon pips. Or, I should say, there's quite a bit of luck involved, because the shape of the pip strongly influences the way it travels through the air. I think it's that element of uncertainty that keeps bringing people back." (By Ryann Connell)