Hanabi Daikai Firework Festival Season End of Summer / Back to School How are you seeing out the summer? While in the UK we wait until Bonfire Night and New Year’s Eve before getting out the fireworks, the fuses are lit a lot earlier in Japan. Most popular around the closing weeks of summer, the ‘hanabi daikai’ firework parties that explode across skylines all over Japan much more closely resemble something like a street party or festival, and are meant to signify the last hurrah before school starts again and the cold slowly begins to set in. The swansong for the summer is usually hosted over a bay or a river (nature’s most spectacular mirror) and is no trivial affair - the firework shells are substantial at anything up to 1.2 meters in diameters. It is not unheard of for festival-goers to turn up several hours in advance to bag the best spots, or to even splash out in advance for paid priority seats with a perfect view of the festivities. But what’s it all for? Originally, the superstition was that fireworks served as an effective way to see off any wandering spirits still lingering either side of Obon, Japan’s ‘day of the dead’. Over the years, however, the biggest draw has since become the sense of community and celebration that is born. Taking place at night, when the heat of the summer sun has relented, firework festivals provide a space for families, neighbours and friends to come together, don a festive yukata and indulge in the delicious treats on offer at the fairground game stalls and yatai food stalls that, for one memorable night in summer, throng the high streets and backstreets of so many cities in Japan. ▪️‘Postcards from Japan’ is a monthly feature from the team at JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization, London) @visitjapan_uk. #Japan #festival #fireworks #hanabi #hanabidaikai #firework#laketoya #hokkaido #visitjapan #party #community #familyandfriends #summer #season #backtoschool #japanese #japaneseculture #traveller #tourist #tourism #traveldaily #travelgram #travelinfo #japantrip #cooljapan #japantour #japaninstagram #MUJI @mujiuk