How do you beat Kai in the race in Okami

I know! I hated this part too. What you want to do is first bloom the cursed trees in the ENTIRE area, trust me, it makes it alot easier! Then you want to look up "How to beat Kai in Okami" on your fav search engine(s), and these are some key points mentioned in them: Kai always takes the long way, so watch some videos to see some of them and save you some time; On the frozen lakes, run on the very edge of the RIGHT side. There is snow there, so you will keep your traction. Next, if you get frozen, power slash yourself and the ice to immediatly free yourself. Don't collect treasure or time, as you will not need them. Also, try to memorize where the icicles fall so you can effectively avoid them. When you get to the areas where you round a corner with a fence on one side (I don't know if I can accureatly describe this area), just jump the fence to the other side instead of going all the way around. Finally, Kai gets to the very end at 2:10.

Good luck and may the great goddess Amaterasu run with you always!