Explosive Extravaganza! Sugoi Nagaoka Hanabi

~You've been waiting for it, and HERE IT IS: a single mega-post containing the best pictures I took of Nagoka's fireworks! The fireworks actually lasted for three nights (one of which was a bonus night to celebrate Nagaoka's 100th anniversary as a city), but I was only able to watch the first two due to my work schedule.

The motto of the annual Nagaoka festival is, "Don't die until you've seen the best fireworks show on Earth!" While at first this may seem to be a grandiose statement, it is, in my admittedly limited experience, completely true! For those of you in the Triangle area, imagine the grand finale of the 4th of July fireworks at Symphony Lake in Cary. Now, imagine that the grand finale repeats every two minutes for two hours. That's the best comparison I can make at this point.

^ This picture is dark and blurry, but I think it accurately conveys the festering mass of human flesh that packed the riverbanks to watch the fireworks. I don't take up much space, but even so I had difficulty finding a spot. It was a good spot, but damnably cramped and uncomfortable for a two-hour event.

Anyway, the fireworks of Nagoaka are famous not only for their bright colors and dazzling effects, but for their sheer SIZE. There things were gigantic! Remember the huge firework displayed at the history museum, the sanjaku-gosun dama? Several of those were detonated over the course of the event.

^ The fireworks began with the "Niagara Falls". This was a series of massive sparklers placed along the entire length of the Chosei Bridge (2,791.34 feet). The sparks rained down to the Shinano river like a glowing waterfall, as a massive sanjaku-gosun dama exploded in the background (probably waking up children in Beijing). Can you see the half-moon on the outskirts of the blast? This is one of my favorite pictures.

Here's a video I made of the Niagara Falls fireworks:




^ The aftermath of a Super Vesuvius Grand Star Mine. The "Vesuvius" class of fireworks all contained a fountain of fiery colored sparks several hundred feet high, with explosions on the top. As you might guess from the name, it looks a lot like an erupting volcano...of the explosive variety. Here's a video:



^ Sure, this looks pretty, but it doesn't convey the immensity of these blasts. To get an idea of the size, the length of the above picture is at least a mile. The larger explosions lit up the sky as bright as day.

^ There were around 45 "sets" of fireworks each night, each set sponsored by a different company that was announced over speakers after the detonations. I'm told that each set costs around $10,000! The only fireworks not sponsored by businesses were those in the grand finale, which were paid for by merchandising and donations.

The above two pictures are of the "Vesuvius Grand Wide Star Mine", one of the most impressive (and most impressively-named) fireworks. Naturally, here's a video:



^ Many of the fireworks created unique patterns and shapes. I'm especially fond of this beauty, which created multiple glowing rings around a central spherical pattern. This firework was part of the "Vesuvius Grand Miracle Star Mine", which you can see in this video:



^ It's Japantastic!

^ Almost all of the fireworks contained more than one color. This one is supposed to look like a flower, and I think the designers did a fantastic job.

^ The Japanese onlookers responded to each progressively-better explosion not with Oohs and Aaahs, but rather with quick exclamations of "Sugoi! Sugoi!", which roughly translates to "Super! Super!".

Here's a video of a "Vesuvius Grand Star Mine". Keep in mind that this was the standard class of firework used for the two-hour event. Over twenty-five of these were blasted off:




^ My very favorite fireworks picture, the result of lucky timing. I managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of this energy-based lifeform, which is born knowing all the secrets of the universe. Unfortunately, its lifespan is only three seconds. Bummer.

Just before the grand finale was a set of "Design Fireworks"; unique creations of dazzling magnificence:



Unfortunately, my memory card ran out of space just before the grand finale...but fear not! My friend Chris was at the event and was able to make this video of the finale:



^ The finale features the 'Phoenix' fireworks, which (as you can see) look like birds when they explode. The phoenix is a mythological avian creature that has flames for wings and dies in a fiery explosion after a millennia of life, only to have a new phoenix be reborn from the ashes. After Nagaoka was destroyed by U.S. bombs in World War II, a new city arose from the ashes; hence the phoenix is the symbol of the city and a reminder that great things can arise even after terrible destruction.

Please let me know if you enjoyed these pictures and videos. For more (and, I must admit, better) pictures, check out Chris' Flickr site (also now on the links at right). And if you're looking for the best fireworks on Earth, look no farther than Nagaoka. It's a real blast!
~Oyasumi.