Summer fireworks on display in Asakusa (Photo: Janek Mann)

(Writer: Katsumi Fujita)
To visit Japan in the summer and not get along to at least one fireworks festival should be a criminal offence. Not only is Japan a leading nation globally in as far as firework production goes, it is amongst the very very best when it comes to putting on a show big enough, loud enough and colourful enough to knock the proverbial socks off any first-timer. Even long-timers will find much to appreciate at Japan's numerous hanabi taikai (Japanese for fireworks festival) that are held up and down the nation throughout the summer months.
Fortunately, for those in Tokyo in July, the Japanese capital plays host to two of the largest annual such festivals the nation oohs and aahhs at each summer, and both are within mere days of each other towards the end of the month.
Before getting into all things gunpowder though, it is best remembered that he Japanese passion for fireworks dates back centuries and is a serious business.
Around the same time Europe was being ravaged by the Black Death, New York was still called New Amsterdam, and the USA was still 75 years shy of George Washington being born, the Japanese military capital and base of the nation's de-facto rulers, the Tokugawa clan - Edo as was, Tokyo as is - suffered a devastating fire that wiped out huge portions of the city leaving over 100,000 dead. At the time this amounted to a significant percent of the city's population with many dying as a result of the government imposed restrictions on bridges across rivers that would have provided some respite from the flames.