Tokyo Bay Fireworks

This last Saturday, James and I were invited to watch the Tokyo Bay Fireworks show from the apartment of a family here at TUC. Japan has a great love for summer fireworks shows, and they occur all throughout the summer in various neighborhoods of Tokyo. But this show is apparently the biggest show of the summer, and there were thousands of people that showed up to watch. Japanese people dress in traditional apparel, kimonos and wooden sandels, and it is a beautiful array of human origami that lines the streets. I must say, we were very glad to be watching from an apartment balcony and not down amongst the masses. The party we were at was full of food and festivities –over 50 people crowded into the apartment. Little children ran around in their own mini-kimonos, anxiously waiting for the big show to start.

And when the show finally did start, boy was it a show! I have never seen a fireworks display that came even close to this one – 80 full minutes of spectacular colors, shapes, and sparks filling the sky! Be sure to press play on the last photo - it's a little video clip of the show.

James and Isaku-san, the host of this grand party.

This little girl was adorable - spent the whole night running around and waving her fan, shouting out "butterfly fireworks" in Japanese.

The view from the apartment deck.

The sky turned a luscious shade of pink as the sun began to set.

And the fireworks were magnificent!

Here is a little video clip of the show - you can see the rainbow bridge in the background, which is the biggest bridge in Tokyo.