Festive fireworks over Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge
Aug. 20 - Last Saturday I told my parents that Ann and I planned to watch a fireworks show that evening, and they asked me what the occasion was. To an American, this is not at all an odd question. We Americans tend to watch fireworks mainly on July 4 in celebration of our Independence Day.
I explained to my Mom and Dad that Japanese cities have fireworks shows throughout the summer and that this tradition goes back many, many years. I promised to blog about the Aug. 14 Tokyo Bay fireworks show so that they and other Americans can learn a bit more about how Japanese watch fireworks.
John and Suzanne Basalla from the Embassy enjoyed sushi along with Ann and me, while watching the brilliant fireworks from the World Trade Center Club.
Ann's friends invited us to watch the show from the comfort of their 38th floor World Trade Center Club near Hamamatsucho Station. We enjoyed a commanding view of Tokyo Bay, which was crowded with hundreds of pleasure boats between the shoreline below us and the Kachidoki landfill island across the bay. With our friends Suzanne and John, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of sushi and other snacks along with some delicious draft Ebisu beer courtesy of our World Trade Center hosts.
Almost as soon as it got dark, the show began. Japanese fireworks have so much variety and vibrant colors that we were completely enthralled during the entire 80-minute performance. I read in the newspaper that over 12,000 rockets were launched. Down below, we could see that traffic on the Harbor Freeway had slowed to a crawl. Suzanne commented that this would be a great evening to ride the monorail to Haneda Airport, because that monorail has wonderful close up views of Tokyo Bay.
Here are some fireworks over San Diego, my hometown.
What I liked best was seeing the show together with Ann. She has so much imagination that her comments enhanced my enjoyment that evening. "Ooh! That one looks like a weeping cherry tree," she said. Or "That is one of my favorites - it looks like the planet Saturn!" She thought other fireworks looked like a frog, or a rose, or like pixie dust. We had a great time, as did I am sure the over 100,000 people who came out to watch the show that evening. It will remain a delightful summertime memory for years to come.
For those of you who missed the show, here is a nice three-minute video of the Tokyo Bay Fireworks show from two years ago that will give you a good idea of why we liked it so much.
Until next time,
Jim
You have a very positive blog! Thank you.
