By NOBORU TOMURA
July 22, 2023 at 17:47 JST
The spectacular Toyohashi Gion Matsuri festival, one of the most eye-catching summer events in Japan, features handheld “tube” fireworks that explode in a shower of fiery sparks.
This traditional event dates to the middle of the Edo Period (1603-1867).
The spectacular two-day festivities at Yoshida Jinja shrine in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, were scheduled to wind up July 22.
This year, a ceremonial presentation was held for 350 fireworks on the same scale as four years ago before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit.
Under restrictions put in place for the duration of COVID-19 the number of fireworks in the event was limited to around 20 in 2020, 100 in 2021 and about double that in 2022.
In the meantime, dedications to the deities continued.
On this last day, around 13,000 fireworks were expected to be launched after a four-year hiatus from the nearby Toyokawa river.
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Festival participants with traditional hand-held fireworks at the Yoshida Jinja shrine in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on July 21 (Tadashi Mizowaki)
