Things to do in Koshinetsu, Chubu: The Best Seasonal Fireworks

The main Suwako Hanabi fireworks show is held late in the summer. It is one of Japan's most notable shows, being one of the largest, with over 40,000 individual rockets fired into the air against the city lights and mountainous backdrop of Nagano. The main treat is the Grande Finale, where over a mile of cascading fireworks are set off all at once, in a breathtaking display. The secondary festival, in September, focuses on more technical, experimental, and customized styles of rocket.

One of the three great fireworks festivals of Japan, this is the main event that heralds the finale of the Nagaoka Festival. It was selected in 2016 as No.1 fireworks events, as chosen by noted fireworks experts. A must-see is a super-massive ball of fireworks, the "star mine," which is a congeries of five different-colored fireworks launched from five angles, and select Ju-go tama balls crafted by each fireworks veteran, with crowd-pleasing designs. A total of 20,000 fireworks are launched, and attendees number close to one million. The Nagaoka Festival itself was launched in 1946 as the Nagaoka Recovery Festival, a prayer for recovery after the August 1, 1945 air raids.

The Ojiya Matsuri is a three-day summer festival held annually in Ojiya, Niigata prefecture, and is the largest in the city. A variety of unique performances follow one after another, including a costumed Bon Festival dance, a folk dance, bullfighting, and a mechanical lantern puppet parade. In particular, the fireworks display is known as being the largest in the prefecture with over 7,000 fireworks shells, lighting up the summer sky with a variety of multicolored fireworks including set pieces, chrysanthemum bursts, and waterfall cascades. The extra-large "civilian group participation" chrysanthemums that mark the finale are a must-see. The overwhelming impressiveness of the event is truly mesmerizing.

This fireworks display is held in Ichikawa Misato, Yamanashi Prefecture, every year on August 7th, the town's "Fireworks Day." The event has a considerable history: originally the fireworks were set off for a ceremony at Shinmei Shrine, and during the Edo period this was famous as one of the Three Great Fireworks Festivals of Japan. Even today it is among the largest in the prefecture, with roughly 20,000 fireworks being set off each year. The highlight is the launching of a No. 20 Ball firework - not that common in Japan - which climbs through the sky to an altitude of roughly 500 meters before bursting to form an enormous flower roughly 500 meters in diameter. Also popular is the elaborate storyline of the festival's program, in which a sumptuous contest between music and fireworks captivates the many spectators.

The summer festival season at the Five Fuji Lakes kicks off with a festival at Lake Yamanaka, and the festival season comes to an end with the biggest of the festivals, the Lake Kawaguchi Kojosai. The festival takes place every year on August 4th and August 5th. On the 4th, the eve of the main festival, a dance stage and a small fireworks display using skyrockets are held, while on the next day a live concert by the lakeside is followed by the grand fireworks show. What with jumbo star mines, barrages of large ball fireworks, musical star mines, and more, between the two evenings a total of roughly 10,000 fireworks light up the summertime night sky.

This fireworks show, which serves as a finale to the Fuefuki City Summer Festival, has much that is worth seeing, such as rainbow star mines in seven colors, star mines that are synchronized with music, and a laser-beam show. The fireworks are set off on the banks of the Fuefuki River, and because the launching area is close to the viewing area, the effect can be felt from close up. Since the fireworks go off almost directly over the viewing stand, spectators feel as though they were surrounded by an umbrella of fireworks.

The Yamanakako Fireworks Festival Hokosai is the very first of the fireworks shows that are held around the Five Fuji Lakes each year. Fireworks are set off from Yamanaka, Asahioka, and two more sites, so they can be enjoyed from any point along the lakeshore. Viewing the fireworks elegantly from a sightseeing boat on the lake is also popular. This fireworks festival traces its roots back to the Taisho period, when students would set off fireworks at the lake, and the firework event was later given the name "hokosai" by the distinguished writer Tokutomi Soho. Today, one purpose of the festival is to propitiate the souls of those who died in the line of duty and to offer up thanks to the lake.