4 Japanese Fireworks Shows for Beach Lovers - JAPANKURU Let’s share our Japanese Stories!

Image Source: photoAC

What does summer mean for you?

You'll get a good idea of what it means to the people of Japan by just watching a few Japanese movies or dramas. When the setting is summer, you know all of the characters are headed to the beach, and there just has to be one super-dramatic scene at the fireworks festival! Do the main characters have their first kiss!? Well, we'll never know, but you too can enjoy the natural drama of fireworks exploding over the ocean this summer if you head to any of these great fireworks festivals on the coast! If you've never seen a Japanese fireworks display before, you may be pretty wowed at the length and scale of their shows. Find yourself a comfy spot in the sand, then lay back, relax, and enjoy the hour+ of really well-executed explosions.

(Although, if you're looking for romance and fireworks aren't your style, you could always visit a Tanabata festival instead.)

Kamakura Fireworks Festival

This is a smaller scale event when it comes to Japanese fireworks display, which means only... 2,500 fireworks? That doesn't seem all that tiny to me. The show is set off over Kamakura's famous Yuigahama Beach, so everyone can sit in the soft sand and get a good view of this small display, admiring the colorful lights over the water. This year's theme is "a fireworks festival created by everybody," so do your part and pay a visit!

Image Source: photoAC

71st Annual Kamakura Fireworks Festival
Location: Yuigahama Beach, Zaimokuza Beach
Date/Time: July 7 | 19:20 ~ 20:10
Access: 5 min. from Enoshima Electric Railway's Yuigahama Station or Wadazuka Station, 15 min. from JR Kamakura Station
Official Website

Tateyama Fireworks Festival

Here at Japankuru, we're so taken with the fireworks set off over Tateyama Bay each year that we wrote a whole article dedicated to just that festival. Aside from the fireworks, Tateyama Bay is famous for its great view of Mt. Fuji across the water. It's been chosen as one of the country's "100 Best Views" of the mountain, and the best view is during sunset. Get there at the right time and with the right weather, and you'll see the sun setting right into the mountain's peak. Once the sun has set, though, it's time for fireworks! The Tateyama Fireworks Festival is a pretty huge fireworks display, with more than 10,000 fireworks set off over an hour and fifteen minutes. Throw on a yukata and find a good place to sit on the beach before it gets too crowded.

Tateyama Fireworks Festival 2019
Location: Hojo Coast
Date/Time: August 8 | 19:30 ~ 20:45
Access: 5 min. from JR Tateyama Station
Official Website

Atami Fireworks Festival

This festival is unique in that it doesn't just take place over the course of one or two hours, once a summer. The festival is broken up into lots of parts scattered throughout the seasons, so whatever time of year it is when you visit Atami, you can probably check out a little chunk of the festival. The event originally started when the Atami area wasn't doing very well, and the colorful fireworks were a way of cheering up the populous, but it's been going on for over 60 years now. The layout of Atami, with mountains surrounding the water where the fireworks are set off, creates a basin that encourages echos. It makes the whole experience very dramatic.

Image Source: photoAC

Atami Fireworks Festival 2019
Location: Atami Bay
Date/Time: 20:20~
Spring: 6/16, 6/29
Summer: 7/26, 7/30, 8/5, 8/8, 8/18, 8/23, 8/30
Autumn: 9/16
Winter: 12/8, 12/15
Access: Atami Station
Official Website

Tsu Fireworks Display

This fireworks display has been going on since the Taisho Era, the early 20th century. Nowadays many still come to relax on the beach and enjoy the fireworks going off over the water. The fireworks come in a variety of types, with some meant to represent azaleas, the city of Tsu's official flower.

Tsu Fireworks Display
Location: Akogiura Coast
Date/Time: July 27 | 19:45 ~ 21:00
Access: Shuttle bus from Tsu Station.
Official Website

Image Source: Tsu City Tourism Association

Can you just imagine yourself in that one Japanese drama, now? Enjoying a magical evening under the colorful fireworks, with the lights flashing across the water...

No matter who you plan to go with, a night out on the beach enjoying the fireworks sounds like a pretty good way to spend a summer evening to me.

If you'd rather enjoy the season some other way, though, there's so much else you can do in Japan. From art exhibitions in Tokyo, to hydrangea flower-viewing, or even a trip to Okinawa; Japan is your oyster!

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