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Secret fireworks festivals take place across Japan to lift spirits during coronavirus crisis【Pics】

Casey Baseel Jun 3, 2020
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An iconic part of summer in Japan gets a throwback to its 18th century samurai-era roots.

Along with towering cumulonimbus clouds and chirping cicadas, fireworks are an iconic element of a Japanese summer. In a normal year, countless fireworks festivals, ranging from huge events that draw out hundreds of thousands of spectators to small local gatherings, take place across the country.

2020 is, however, turning out to be anything but a normal year. While the official state of coronavirus emergency has been lifted in much of Japan, large events are still being discouraged and many people are voluntarily doing what they can to avoid crowds, which has led to the cancellation of just about every fireworks festival that was supposed to happen this summer. So a lot of people were surprised on Monday night when they suddenly saw scenes like this.

コロナの悪疫退散を祈願した花火が、先程全国一斉に打ち上げられました。密を避けるために事前情報なし、クラファンや後援も無しで花火師さんたちの持ち出しだそうです。小さい花火かと思ってたら、最後は大輪の花が咲きました。見事に見切れちゃったけど、心意気が嬉しい。#cheeruphanabi #花火 pic.twitter.com/LC45m24X9p

— 別所隆弘 Takahiro Bessho (@TakahiroBessho) June 1, 2020

Roughly 160 fireworks producing companies decided to launch what they dubbed the Cheer up! Hanabi Project (hanabi being the Japanese word for “fireworks”), lighting up the night sky simultaneously in various locations around Japan.

▼ The Sumidagawa River and Skytree in Tokyo

昨夜の花火大会🎇🌃#コロナ退散の願いを込めて🙏🎇
素敵なプロジェクトでした😭

知り合いから動画をいただきました📲
嬉しいのは見せてくれようとするその気もち✨

少しばかりお裾分けです🎇#cheeruphanabi pic.twitter.com/bTndTwui49

— たかこ (@KcLg5GJEje0rmw7) June 2, 2020

▼ Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture’s historical Kintai Bridge

山口県岩国市でも、疫病退散を願って花火が上がりました🎇
感動しました😭
1日も早く収束しますように。
そして来年は、おっきな花火をみんなで見たいです#cheeruphanabi pic.twitter.com/MR0XEzZZwe

— もふもふ (@sugarcocoa1031) June 1, 2020

The project was kept a closely guarded secret, with reports of the initiative itself only circulating and getting attention a day before the event. Even then, specific locations were not revealed prior to the fireworks being launched, helping keep crowd sizes small while still letting locals enjoy the show.

▼ Gifu Castle atop the hill and the lights of cormorant fishing boats on the Nagaragawa River

岐阜城と長良川の鵜飼と花火#cheeruphanabi pic.twitter.com/vTtqB8WvIE

— NOK (@naok_in_aud) June 1, 2020

▼ The hot spring town of Kinugawa, Tochigi Prefecture

https://twitter.com/0Tdk77SWV0C668t/status/1267415199553744896

But while this was a big departure from the way these events are usually organized in Japan, it’s actually in keeping with the country’s very first major fireworks festival. Back in the 18th century, Tokugwa Yoshimune, the eight shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, ordered a fireworks display over Tokyo’s Sumidagawa River to appease the souls of the dead and boost the spirits of the living as Japan suffered under the twin tragedies of a famine and cholera epidemic.

▼ Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture

新型コロナウイルス収束を願う「全国一斉悪疫退散花火」広島の夜空を照らす！さきほど午後８時から約５分間、呉ポートピアパークと太田川で花火が打ち上げられました！ちゅピCOMは6月4日午前11時からの #ちゅピCOM SPORTS＆LIFE で花火の準備と本番の様子をお届け！#ちゅピCOMスポライ #広島花火 pic.twitter.com/9LO4vNr9Jr

— ちゅピＣＯＭ (@chupicom_group) June 1, 2020

▼ Sukagawa, Fukushima Prefecture

福島県　須賀川市
花火が上がりました🎆
まだまだ油断せず頑張りましょう💪

花火をあげてくれた方々に感謝🙌#cheeruphanabi #CheerUp花火プロジェクト pic.twitter.com/XPg9lwGHe8

— るいーじ (@saitamarun) June 1, 2020

Keisuke Saiki, the managing director of Yamanashi Prefecture-based Marugo, one of the fireworks producers that participated in the Cheer up! Hanabi Project, said “We hope this will help blow away some of the fatigue people are feeling from the coronavirus pandemic, and also give them a feeling of hope.”

Sources: Iza via Ceron, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he usually goes to at least six fireworks festivals every summer.