Intl. balloon festival kicks off in southwestern Japan's Saga City

An annual hot air balloon festival started in southwestern Japan's Saga City on Thursday. The Saga International Balloon Fiesta is one of Asia's largest balloon festivals. It takes place along the banks of the Kase River. This year, about 120 hot air balloons from 20 countries and regions, including the United States, Britain and Switzerland, are taking part in the event.

The balloonists compete to see how close they can drop a small sandbag onto a designated target while flying. The target is about 10 kilometers away from the launch site. The festival runs through Monday.