Throughout Japan, there are several national festivals celebrating fireworks, where many well-known fireworks-makers get together and show off their products. One of these occurs relatively close to my placement in a town called Yatsushiro. This is one of the more crowded events I’ve been to in Japan, because everyone goes crazy for a fireworks show here, not to say I blame them. This type of show is usually worth a visit due to the breadth and depth of the show, showcasing works for a good hour or two.

I decided to attend the event with a friend, and we rode into town on the train a good hour before the show started. As some of my friends realized after the fact, traffic is horrible in the area surrounding the event space, which spans both sides of a river and most roads in the Japanese countryside are one lane, so it’s advisable to use public transport at times like these. The show didn’t start until 6 but we headed down at about 4:30, which was a really good call! As I said before, this is a crowded event, and even at 4:30 the trolley to the train station and subsequently the train was filled to the brink with people. Thanks to being an obvious foreigner, I was somewhat spared the people sandwiching due to my natural ‘gaikokujin aura,’ holding the Japanese around me at arm’s length through no effort of my own.

This particular show is held in late summer, so it’s a bit hot if you go, but if you bring a blanket or a chair and a couple of buds to man the space while you each track down snacks and drinks, it’s a great time. A lot of fireworks companies apparently come down to the area to showcase some of their better fireworks, with small breaks in between each company’s display. It was really worth seeing, so if you notice there’s one around you, definitely go at least once!