What to do and see in Tohoku, Japan: The Best Seasonal Fireworks

A tradition dating back to 1910, this fireworks festival is known throughout Japan as the definitive fireworks meet, with pyrotechnicians from throughout the nation competing to show off their skills. The new technologies on display top themselves every year, and the stories told by the displays and innovative production values are highlights. Competitors vie in three categories: daytime fireworks, #10 round-shell fireworks, and creative fireworks. The overall champion receives the Prime Minister's Prize. The finale, featuring wide starmines a year in the making from the Omagari Fireworks Cooperative Association, is an absolute can't-miss, with a story and scale that leaves viewers speechless.

Yamagata Prefecture's largest fireworks show draws an average of over 200,000 spectators annually. Hosted on the bank of the Su River in Yamagata City, the festival features over 20,000 fireworks-fireworks in the shape of anime characters, fireworks that spell out messages, tetsuzu firework hand cannons, and more. Besides the bustling street stalls near the launch site, there are numerous parks and viewing platforms that provide excellent vantage points from which to watch the show from a variety of angles.

This fireworks festival is held the first Saturday in August every year in Sakata, Yamagata. Said to be the largest in the Tohoku region, the festival is set on the Mogami River in Sakata and features 12,000 fireworks. "Kiss of Fire" starmines, explosive fusillades of "shaku-tama" fireworks, fireworks shaped like anime characters that are popular with the kids, fireworks that spell out heartfelt messages-all are brilliantly reflected in the water. The impressive finale features a massive "Niagara Falls" display spanning 2 kilometers: don't miss it!

Held every summer in Sukagawa City, this is one of the largest fireworks displays in Fukushima Prefecture. Set on the banks of the Shakado River, which flows through the city, the festival features the launching of roughly 10,000 fireworks. The highlight of the festival is the vivid colors reflected on the surface of the Shakado River when many jumbo star mines are floating in the sky overhead. The festival is full of moments worth seeing, such as creative musical fireworks and music fire (both of which are marvelously synchronized with music) and waterfall fireworks where droplets of light flow downward like a waterfall, and the keen competition among famous pyrotechnicians in launching splendid No. 10 Ball fireworks evokes cheers from the spectators.

The Iwaki Onahama Port Fireworks, boasting more than 60 years of history, features the launching of 10,000 fireworks. The main attraction is the elaborately programmed creative fireworks that are set off in coordination with the latest musical hits or nostalgic film tunes of years gone by. The many magnificent fireworks launched into the sky over Onahama Port captivate the crowds below.

This fireworks show is held on the eve of the traditional Sendai Tanabata Festival, which dates back to the time of Date Masamune, founder of the Sendai domain. Held in the area around Sendai's Nishi Park, the show features the launching of as many as roughly 16,000 fireworks. What is most distinctive about this show is the fact that its large-scale fireworks can be viewed right from the center of the city. The impressive contest of light and sound can be viewed with pleasure from a number of different angles. A varied lineup of events is held during the period of the Tanabata Festival, with Tanabata dining halls as well as areas dedicated to Orihime and Hikoboshi set up in the shopping streets and squares (which are colorfully festooned with bamboo branches), a Milky Way overhead lighting display, and objets d'art.

This festival is held the fourth weekend in July in the main event venue of the town of Tohoku in Kamikita, Aomori. It hosts a wide variety of events that the whole family, kids & adults alike, can enjoy, such as a huge treasure hunt, homemade raft races, "beach flags" beach sprinting races, freshwater clam harvesting, a marathon, and more. The first night features a huge fireworks show, with about 2,800 fireworks and displays from famous pyrotechnicians and fireworks companies that light up the lake's surface with color. Both days of the festival feature numerous gift shops and street stalls.