Fire Flowers
There’s there are these things in Japan called Hanabi, they are fireworks festivals. Except 花火 (hanabi) means flower (hana) and fire (bi.) So instead of fireworks they are fire flowers, which I think is so much more appropriate. My friend Chiri went out in the ungodly heat at 12:30 to save us great seats. The fireworks didn’t start until 7:20. In other words, Chiri did us a huge favor. She said she wanted us (the foreigners) to be able to really experience it in the best way possible.
I arrived at the station at around three and Anna dressed my friend Momo and me in Yukata. It was so so hot. I was dripping sweat just standing there in a tank top and shorts, but we managed to get all Yukata’d up in the bathroom of the station. Classy. I wore one of Anna’s and she made the decision to not wear one because it was so hot. Great. We walked to the hanabi area, which took about 40 minutes probably because we stopped along the way to pick up food, drinks, ice cream because we were hot, etc. We had an area of two tarps and there was an incredible amount of people already. We picnicked and hung out for about three hours before the fireworks started. It was nice having the time with all these wonderful people before I left, although I probably should have been study. Whatever.
-
- The Crew
-
- Chiri Napping
-
- Tiff playing in the park
The fireworks started at 7:20 and it was amazing. Previously, the best fireworks I had ever seen were in Washington D.C. for Fourth of July. Those were pretty spectacular then. Now, I will never be able to look at fireworks in the states in the same way again. This was absolutely incredible. They lasted for over an hour and all of it seemed like the most epic grand finale ever. They had portions where it was set to music and everything. They do competitions and this was one of them. They had colors I had never seen before, they had shapes of some of the famous Japanese characters, they had extremely giant ones. They had fireworks that looked like absolute magic in the sky, fairy dust or something. It was spectacular. There were levels of fireworks too, like they had fountain like things at the bottom and another row of fireworks above, and another one above that. I wish I could explain this in a way that did what I saw justice. It was beautiful and loud and amazing. I was in awe for a solid hour and 10 minutes. It was really nice with Chiri’s fireworks commentary in the background. At one point there were really bright flashing ones, so I hear “Oh, I feel like I’m a model. Is this how models feel on the runways?” I turn around and of course, she’s model posing. Chiri, Tiff, and Anna were telling me that these were good, but this wasn’t even the best one. I’m not sure how it could get better, but I wish I could stay in Japan to find out. It’s just another one of those awesome traditions that is nonexistent in the states.
We had to wait for close to an hour to leave the area because it was so crowded with people. Chiri took advantage of this and decided to take a nap, so Japanese (the ability to sleep anywhere.) After that, we cleaned up, packed up, and set out. We made an adventure of the walk to the station with dancing, playing at parks, and Chiri taking pictures with random men. Nice. It was such a wonderful evening, especially since the wind started blowing and it wasn’t so deathly hot. I will miss nights like this and experiences like this, but I am so glad that I had the chance to have such a Japanese experience.
