What to do and see in Chubu, Japan: The Best Events

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 Japanese Grand Prix is a Formula One World Championship car racing event. Top drivers from the world over come to compete in what is often a title-deciding race at the end of the sporting season. Adrenaline runs high as huge crowds are drawn to the stadiums to watch top-performing vehicles handle over 150 miles of looped driving, and the excellent motorists who control them at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.

For those who've wondered what it's like to be inside of a mosh pit in Japan, the Fuji Rock Festival is calling. While it's one of the world's tamest, cleanest, and most respectful concert festivals, the three-day event still brings major jams to its stages, attracting over 200 musicians a year, from international headliners to local up-and-comers. From hard rock to alternative music, it's a quirky festival that combines the best of Japanese hospitality with leather-clad band members. Make sure to keep an eye out for unique events throughout the festival, too-- steak eating contest, anyone?

The Tetsuya Odori is the highlight of the Gujo Odori dance festival. Taking place in heat of late summer, locals and visitors alike dominate to the evening streets to learn and perform Japanese traditional folk dances. Taking place over four days, dancers remain on the street energetically whirling from 8:00pm until dawn the following day. While any form of dress is welcome, shops and stalls rent out patterned yukata, and many guests don wooden 'geta' shoes that help to keep the rhythm and add to the beat of the music. It's a whirlwind of spirit and zeal, where strangers become friends and hundreds of people enjoy dancing like no one is watching.

Held every year on August 15th during Obon, this festival was founded to comfort the souls of those who died in natural disasters, fell in battle, or drowned in the Yahagi River. As sutras are chanted and incense is burnt, approximately 2,000 Buddhist lanterns are floated on the river. The ensuing fireworks display lasts for an hour and features about 3,000 fireworks, lighting up the river together with the lanterns. The fireworks are set off from sandbars along the river, and watching the display at such close range-150 meters, soaring right up above you-makes for a spectacular visual and tactile experience.

One of the classic hallmarks of summer in the city of Gamagori, the Gamagori Festival is held on a Saturday every July, attracting over 200,000 visitors a year to its wide variety of events. On Sunday, the festival concludes with a fireworks display in the cool of the evening. The show's biggest attractions are its giant "3-shakudama" fireworks, the largest class of fireworks on the Pacific Coast, which reach diameters of 650 meters-they leave the crowds truly awestruck when they light up the night sky.

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.

The Mikuni Fireworks festival has a history reaching back to before WWII, and is held annually on the Mikuni Sunset Beach on August 11. The display boasts the full-impact splendor of no. 20 (12-Inch diameter) fireworks shells, set piece fireworks and chrysanthemum bursts, with a total of around 7,000 fireworks that paint the night sky in majestic colors. The chief highlights of the event are the water-level fireworks, which are lit on the boat and hurled towards the water, exploding in a wonderful semicircular shape against the horizon. Aside from the area around the beach, the fireworks can also be witnessed from the area around the Kuzuryu River Boat Park on the opposing shore.

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.