By NOBORU TOMURA/ Staff Writer
July 20, 2024 at 17:55 JST
An impressive pillar of fire spews out from a handheld bamboo cannon at the Toyohashi Gion Matsuri festival in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, on July 19. (Shigetaka Kodama)
TOYOHASHI, Aichi Prefecture--The three-day Toyohashi Gion Matsuri, one of the must-see festivals in Japan, kicked off July 19 at Yoshida Jinja shrine here.
Held annually since the middle of the Edo Period (1603-1867), the festival features handheld “tube” fireworks that spew out pillars of fire, showering the people holding with them in a cascade of sparks.
Just like last year, around 350 fireworks were dedicated to the shrine.
Spectators thronged the area as representatives of shrine parishioners from each nearby town gingerly hoisted the lit bamboo cannons.
The activity makes the festival one of summer’s most eye-catching events.
On the evening of July 20, about 12,000 fireworks will be launched on the banks of the nearby Toyokawa river.
Special fireworks that shoot up from a barge floating on the river will be revived for the first time in 10 years, organizers said.
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