I like burny things, Part 1 (image intensive)

They must know me very... maybe too well at the JET selection committee. Why else would they pop me in a city where they hold one of the biggest fireworks festivals in the country? They must have understood that I function best when I have the opportunity to indulge my inherent pyromania.

There were capacity crowds in the streets, especially on the bridge near the field where all the fireworks had been set up. Lots of stores selling food like takoyaki, yakisoba, beer, fried chicken and okonomiyaki, game stores where you could test your skills or your luck, and lots of girls in yukata. So of course I had to put mine on as well in order to blend in with the crowd. Took more than half an hour, but it didn't come apart at all the whole night, which was a good thing, despite my best efforts to sit comfortably (or inelegantly, if you like) all through the fireworks show.


This is my sempai's friend and I, partaking of festival food and drink before the fireworks. I swear, the one holding the beer is not me. Honest!

Between mouthfuls of takoyaki, grilled squid and Tim Tams (thanks Kate!) I managed to get a few nice shots of the fireworks. I'll let the pics speak for themselves, eh?






















I only butt in here to point out that Anpan-man made an appearance in the night sky, together with Kamen Rider, which I totally failed to get a decent shot of.


Here's a 1 minute movie (with soundtrack!) I made of one of the displays. Keep in mind that this was by no means the most impressive series of fireworks; the finale was way better.

Oooh.... aaaah....

I have to say this beats the stuff we get in Sydney on New Years, and dare I say it, even the 2000 Olympics. The sad thing is that future fireworks displays will probably have less of an impact after this, which is a bit of a shame considering fire is so very pretty...

Just so you know, Sukagawa is also the site of one of the 3 big fire festivals in Japan, the Taimatsu Akashi in November. I hear it commemorates how the people of the town kept Masamune Date (yes, the lil' shrimp from the Samurai Warriors games) from invading the local castle by waving fiery torches at him. If he sounds like a wimp to you, I'd have to say I'd also think twice about taking on a bunch of townspeople brandishing stacks of burning straw and bamboo over 20 metres tall that they put together *themselves*.

Burn, baby, BURN!