Well, in the early part of the season, (read July!) the weather sure wasn’t quite as good as it ought to have been for ideal fireworks viewing but by the time we got to Aug 4th it really started to come around. Particularly beautiful was Kobe Minato last Saturday night and for those luck souls out there in Kyoto, I sure hope you were able to make it to Ujigawa Hanabi Taikai tonight! Yoko and I really wanted to go but because it was on a Wednesday night this year, and Wednesday night is an especially busy night at my Smith’s School of English franchise in Kotoen, it was simply out of the question.
A beautiful turnout was at Otsu Biwako Hanabi Taikai on the 8th, always an impressive event and a rather auspicious festival for the area, and especially this year the crowd was a tiny bit smaller and more managable than it had been in the past. Same was true for PL back on Aug 1st. Both were held on Monday nights this year and I imagine that was the reason.
From here on we are looking at Nara Tohkae every night until the 14th, Fukuchiyama on Aug 15, a lovely country festival filled throughout the night with activities for everyone. Aug 16th gives us Miyazu, Tsuruga and Daimonji in Kyoto. Aug 16 is always the most auspicious day of Obon and too many wonderful events have to compete for our attention on this day. We will probably go to Tsuruga which boasts a large Hanabi Tohronagashi festival in Tsuruga Bay up on the Echizen Coast in Fukui Prefecture. A bit tough without a car, and a real pain to find a place to park when you do have wheels to get there, but I tell you it’s worth the extra hassle. Tsuruga is my personal favorite festival in Kansai.
Inagawa on Aug 20th, located between Itami and Kawanishi is a decent festival and is pretty easy to get to for those a bit limited in movement and those who just think it’s too hot!
Martin Werner Zander, Partner in the Smith’s School of English Company
マーティン・ワーナー・ザンダー
Owner, Smith’s School Franchise in Kotoen
Leave a Reply