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Japan's fireworks industry is seeing sparks of hope as annual public pyrotechnics displays gradually return and demand for children's fireworks from families staying home amid the coronavirus pandemic rises.
The increasingly buoyant mood comes after two years of virus restrictions blocking summer shows, and as the sector also faces falling domestic manufacturer numbers and increasingly strong regulation in major exporter China.
A traditional art form, their general use began in the Edo period (1603-1868). However, records show they were seen by public figures even earlier including Tokugawa shogunate founder Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616).
Fireworks are broadly split into two categories, the launching types typically seen at shows, and children's fireworks such as sparklers.
Domestic production of the latter has fallen since the 1960s due to safety concerns over accidents and cost-cutting shifts to manufacturing in China, according to Kensaku Nose, senior director at the International Cooperation of Children's Fireworks.
The shift to China and normalization of relations with the country in 1972 meant that in recent years, some 90 percent of children's fireworks purchased in Japan were made in China.
But factors including tougher regulations in response to accidents at factories and soaring raw materials costs have seen imports from China fall to a third of their 1997 peak, when fireworks worth some $28 million came to Japan. The falling child population has also shrunk the domestic market.
While the industry had expected the downturn to keep going, local manufacturers and wholesalers have been feeling positive off the back of increased demand from families staying home amid the pandemic.
"It's ironic, but I hope that being at home gives people a chance to discover the appeal of fireworks," Nose said.
Fireworks displays were inextricably linked to Japan's summer festivals, but many have been canceled since 2020 over concerns of people gathering closely in the same space.
This year, however, has seen events go ahead with infection prevention measures in prefectures including Hokkaido, Akita, Niigata and Shizuoka.
Some organizers are even eschewing the traditional summer time frame to hold pyrotechnics events in the spring or fall, a move welcomed by Haruyuki Kono from the Japan Pyrotechnics Association.
"I hope that in future we can cement the idea of fireworks as year-round events," he said.
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Hopefully, they’ll hold off until the rest of us can get back into the country.
Our local fireworks display was supposed to go ahead this coming weekend, but the bed-wetters in the city council campaigned successfully for its cancellation again.
Instead of stopping the event, these nervous Nellies should just let people decide for themselves whether they want to attend. People who are afraid can stay home, and everyone who wants to go can enjoy the night.
Japanese fireworks and festivals are the best in the world! Hurry up and open the borders so others can enjoy them as well!
We’ve been waiting long enough, open up already…we all promise to wear our masks
and run the other way when you look at us sideways
Good to see the displays coming back. Friends have been sending videos of their ones.
Ibaraki is hosting a massive 90-minute fireworks show in September 2022. Non-stop fireworks for one and a half hours –
Thank you China for your gift of gunpowder.
one of the few companies that hope their business goes up in smoke!
some University in my area caught on fire from the “limited” fireworks shows they put on this year.
way to bring back a 2 year hiatus tradition guys.
This year there are also fewer Japanese, minus 600,000. Foreigners minus 100,000. Covid probably. Or maybe yellow troll disease.
Fireworks are pretty but I fear the super-spreader events that they could be.
Japan definitely has some of the most spectacular pyrotechnics displays ive ever viewed.
But iam a bit concerned how easily fireworks are purchased and even by children and not behind the counter.
I noticed in Japan the regulations for selling , purchasing or storage are not equal standards compared to the USA .UK or Canada.
And what happened to Abe san should be of concern in regards to gunpowder
Thankyou China for your gift of Gunpowder
I read it was actually the Mongols that created gunpowder not the Chinese
But i wasn't there so how could say for sure.
Japan definitely has some of the most spectacular pyrotechnics displays ive ever viewed.
Try Las Fallas in Valencia....
Yes they are goof here but plenty of other places have great disp[ays too.
Hardly any large fireworks festivals have been scheduled for Tokyo this year, but a few minutes north of Tokyo’s Kita-ku, across the Arakawa River, the city of Kawaguchi will be sending nearly 10,000 fireworks into the air on the evening of 5 November. No sweat, no mosquitoes, just a cozy autumn evening.
Large fireworks, unlike in other countries, are not usually bought by the public. They are for pyrotechnic display companies. Just the small stuff like sparklers for children and handheld fireworks.
https://digjapan.travel/en/blog/id=12139
China just put on a fireworks show!!! At least they can take credit for inventing something instead of stealing it and that is gunpowder.
"This year, however, has seen events go ahead with infection prevention measures in prefectures including Hokkaido, Akita, Niigata and Shizuoka."
What prevention measures? Places where they are holding festivals are more packed then ever, which is one reason the rate of infections shot up exponentially.
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