Firework festival time for Japan

Yupp, summer is firework festival time in Japan and it's definitely worth pushing through thousands of Japanese people to see. Originally around 1800, after the development of fireworks in Japan, the festivals were competitions held between different groups in Japan. Although now, most festivals are just a party with a great display of exploding powder. One of the best parts of the festival is all the cheap food. The amount of small booths (most run by Yakuza) is amazing. You can get everything from shaved ice to full on meals for really cheap! The display of fireworks usually last for about 1 - 2 hours and depending on the city can be quite big. A lot of people wear what I call the "summer kimono". It's a lot more comfortable than a kimono and definitely a lot cooler. The one I went to down in Numazu is really famous in the surrounding areas. People come from Tokyo (about a 2 hour highway drive) to participate in the fesitval and I don't blame them. Since I am from Vancouver, this isn't the first time I have seen fireworks, I'm sure most of you are familiar is the HSBC Celebration of Lights. I usually go to watch 2 or 3 of the shows every year, but that comes no where close to the atmosphere of the festivals here. I can't really explain it in words, so I'll just upload a few of the videos and photos. Hopefully you can figure out how great these evenings are.







Sorry guys, I forgot I have to transfer the Videos on the other computer. I will try and get them up as soon as possible! Enjoy the photos for now. Cheers!