Summer is approaching in earnest with high temperatures.

This summer, summer festivals and fireworks displays, which have been restricted due to the Corona disaster, are likely to return to their usual form.

Amid growing expectations that "this year is the year ...!", some of them are holding the event in a new style.

The key word is "decentralized".

Tenjin Festival is back

On the 6th, it was announced that the Tenjin Festival, which is said to be a summer tradition in Osaka, will be held in its original form for the first time in four years.

The Tenjin Festival is a major event in Osaka.

About 100 boats carrying mikoshi and spectators come and go on the large river that flows through the city. And thousands of votive fireworks were being launched.

However, due to the influence of the new coronavirus, this funato and fireworks have been canceled since 2020.

Last year, a procession of people dressed in colorful costumes paraded through the town for the first time in three years, but this year it has finally returned to its original form.

Festivals in various places are being revived one after another

This summer, pre-Corona summer festivals and fireworks displays are likely to return in various parts of Kansai.

▽Gion Festival (Kyoto) Tourists will be able to enter the mountain hoko from July 7st
~ 1st
▽Nara Tokakai (Nara) August 31th ~ 8th
Last year, the time was shortened and the scale was reduced, but this year it will
be

held on the same scale as before the Corona disaster. ▽Lake Biwa Fireworks Festival (Shiga) August 5 Held in the same format as before the Corona disaster for the first time in
four years (reduced free seats to relieve congestion and increased paid seats that require reservations) ▽ Inagawa Fireworks Festival (Hyogo, Osaka)

August 14 Held
in the same format as before the Corona disaster for the first time in
five years

I can live without fireworks.

Osaka's Tenjin Festival is finally coming back.

Katsuragi Smokeworks, a 73-year-old fireworks manufacturer in Osaka that manufactures and launches fireworks used at festivals, is preparing for the festival.

Behind the door that director Masashi Kida rattled open ...

There are already a lot of fireworks balls.

In anticipation of the revival of fireworks launches, this company has been preparing fireworks at its factory in Nara Prefecture since around October last year, and has already finished making more than 10 types of fireworks, including fireworks that open up to 50 meters in diameter, and is currently working on planning the launches.

According to the company, festivals and fireworks festivals in various places were canceled during the Corona disaster, and the production of fireworks was completely stopped.

We have developed personal fireworks that can be enjoyed during camping, but the production volume of fireworks has fallen to about 20% of what it was before the spread of infection.

Fireworks displays are expected to resume in various places this year, and the amount of orders is growing at the same pace as before the spread of infection, or even more.

Kida recreating fireworks

Masashi Kida of Katsuragi Smoke Fire:
"It's been four years, so I thought I'd add more noise to the gorgeousness and dispel evil. I'm happy to be able to bring summer to Osaka for the first time in four years."

I'm worried about whether I can collect ships

The new corona is also casting a shadow on the ship used in the revived "Funato Go".

Since boats pass under bridges with low girders, they need to fit within a size of 1.5 meters in height and 8 meters in width, and in the past, workboats collected from all over the Kansai region were decorated for festivals.

However, due to the Corona disaster, there have been cases where companies that own workboats have dismantled their ships in order to reduce maintenance costs, and this time it is not possible to gather the target number only from the companies that have been renting them in the past.

Therefore, we are considering renting from distant places such as Shikoku or building new ships.

The person in charge of Hirose Sangyo Kaiun, who is in charge of arranging the boats, said, "I am worried about whether we will be able to collect ships, but this is the first time in four years, so we want to make it in
time."

Is "decentralized holding" a trend?

The site of the festival that overcomes the corona disaster and tries to return it to its original form.

On the other hand, as we proceeded with our coverage, we felt that there was an increase in the number of festivals and fireworks displays called "decentralized" festivals with multiple schedules and venues.

▽SHIRAHAMA 2023 Fireworks Rally (Shirahama, Wakayama)
7 days from July 16, 23, 30, August 8 and 20 ▽Nagahama-Lake Kitabiwa Fireworks Festival (Shiga) for 27 days



from September 5~9 ▽Minato HANABI (Kobe)

These fireworks festivals for 5 days

from October 8th ~ 4th were originally set off in one day, but in order to avoid crowding due to the corona disaster, we have taken measures to disperse the schedule.

However, when we talked to the organizers, they said that this decentralization was surprisingly well received by the audience.

In a questionnaire conducted after the Kobe City Fireworks Festival held on a distributed schedule last year, some people said, "It was easy to push strollers and bring small children because it was not crowded."

In addition, in a questionnaire conducted after the Kakogawa Festival Fireworks Festival in Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, where the venues were dispersed, 8% of the respondents gave high marks saying that it was "very good" or "good."

There were also welcoming voices such as "There was a crowd accident in Korea, so decentralization is a good measure" and "It was good because I was limp in the crowd until then."

In addition, it seems that holding a distributed fireworks display also has the effect of reducing security costs.

According to the executive committee members of the Nagahama-Kitabiwako Fireworks Festival, about 7% of the cost of the fireworks festival is for operation and security.

If the schedule is distributed, large-scale congestion will not occur, so the number of security guards who regulate and guide traffic can be greatly reduced, and security costs can be reduced.

The cost of the tournament is about half that of what it cost in one day.

In each style

When I interviewed people involved in the festival, I found that they wanted many people to enjoy the revival in its original form and the start of a new style.

Why don't you enjoy this summer in a style that suits you?