News in Pictures / Summer Festivals Resume Across Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:23 JST, August 1, 2023

From local Bon Odori summer dance festivals to famous firework displays, midsummer events are being held across the nation, in many cases for the first time in four years.

About 20,000 fireworks lit up the Tokyo sky on Saturday, dazzling the more than 1 million spectators who gathered for the Sumida River Fireworks Festival.

Many events featuring more than 10,000 fireworks are slated to take place in August, in locations such as Omagari, Akita Prefecture; Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture; and Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. Some firework displays, however, are being canceled because of soaring gunpowder prices caused mainly by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Experts are also alarmed over the resumed spread of coronavirus infections. “It’s important to ventilate spaces on a regular basis and wear masks as needed,” said Haruo Ozaki, head of the Tokyo Medical Association.