Sunday, August 4, 2019

Itabashi Fireworks Festival

When I think of summer in Japan, I immediately form images of festivals, traditional summer outfits (yukata and jinbei), and fireworks.  Almost any night of the week from the last half of July through the end of August, there is always something to do once the sun has set.

One of my favorite things to do after dark is to see the fantastic firework displays.  Last year we wanted to check out the Itabashi Fireworks Festival, but we were in Shikinejima (which was amazing!).  Since we were in town this year, we knew we just had to go!

The Itabashi Fireworks Festival is a huge event.  My husband read a lot about it and decided our best bet would be to buy seats to view the show.  There are free seats, but you must arrive SUPER EARLY to reserve them and we didn't want to sit around in the heat for that long.  It was a personal choice, and the right one for our family.

We rode up and down hills to get there around 6:30.  We parked our bike in a school sports field that was full of volunteers helping direct all the traffic.  Then we waded through the crowds to find our assigned seats.  It was so nice showing up just a short time before the show and not having to worry about where we would be seated. 


Sitting in amphitheater-like seats near the riverbank, we ate bento we had brought with us and watched the sun set. 


The show began promptly at 7.  There was still a touch of light in the sky, but it didn't matter.  It is so wonderful not having to wait until 10 for a fireworks show like we did in Seattle.  From the get go, we were in awe. 


For the 60th anniversary of the show, they were putting on the best for the entire hour and a half.  With over 12,000 fireworks, our mouths dropped open and stayed that way.


We loved the special fireworks, including: the 700 meters of waterfall fireworks; the biggest fireworks in Tokyo that blew up to 306 meters in diameter; and all the special shaped fireworks like Pokémon, butterfly, and cat face.


The entire show was beyond belief.  We gasped, cheered, and delighted through the whole experience.  From start to finished, it was incredible.  Words just don't do it justice.


I'm amazed to know that this is not Tokyo's biggest fireworks show of the year.  What does that entail because this one was one for the record books for me.

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