Comments on: Another Explosive Summer of Japanese Hanabi

By: Ao

Ao — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:38:18 +0000

Alex Case,

No but that comment does make you an oji-san (welcome to the club!)

By: Alex Case

Alex Case — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:41:22 +0000

Thanks for all the technical info on fireworks, it made it much more interesting when I saw the Ota-ku ones on the Tama river last night. Does that make me an Ota-ku fireworks otaku? Didn’t see a Winnie the Pooh one (though have seen a Pooh-san tattoo, ha!).

Something wrong with the fireworks- must be Chinese! Sigh…

By: fuckedgaijin

fuckedgaijin — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:25:54 +0000

I just got back from the Edogawa hanabi taikai. Great night with lots of wind from the approaching typhoon, which was good as it blew all the smoke away. Japanese fireworks are great.

By: simeon

simeon — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:39:26 +0000

Just went to the Yokohama one. Coming back year after year – each time they seem to get better. Three things seem to always bring out the most “ooohs” and “waaahs”. The really beautiful ones – multi-staged, multi-colored. The really big ones – like the huge bronze ones that seem to shower down forever. And the recognizable shapes.

Past year’s tricks were circles, squares and faces – amazing in itself. This year they went 3D. Before, the circles and squares were 3D, really cool. But the Mickeys and Poohs were 2D. This year, I swear I saw Pooh’s face in 3D – nose and cheeks sticking out and everything. I was awed.

Oh! and one of the finale bursts. We knew it was going to be a big one, but as it streamed up, it took a sharp crook down at an angle. Everyone thought that something went wrong. Then as our eyes traced the rogue dud, up above it, hundreds of multiple flowered bursts filled the sky in the place where it would have been had it continued on it’s normal course…they tricked us! Everyone was cheering and laughing at themselves.

Gotta love Japan.

By: COODOO

COODOO — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:35:02 +0000

I’m going to go to “Hanabi-Taikai” this year!!

Please check this beautiful photos.

Slide show : Awesome photo of Fire works.
http://www.digitaldj.jp/2007/07/06_200000.html

By: Ao

Ao — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:30:07 +0000

“the fuel inside the stars gets starved of oxygen slightly, making the combustion leaner, brighter and last longer.”

This reminds me of a hanabi taikai I went to once. It was windy as hell, but it wasn’t raining so they didn’t have to cancel it. The fireworks were shot up over the lake, and they were blown overhead by the wind, which made them look quite beautiful actually. Then they started using the long streaming variety described in the article. Now, these are very nice and pretty if they fall into a lake, but it’s much more interesting if they fall on spectators’ heads! It was like a dozen fireballs slowly streaming down onto the screaming crowd. Several people were injured, some with 2nd and 3rd degree burns (a lady from my office lost half of her hair).

The logical thing to do would have been to cancel the rest of the show, or at least that type of fireworks. However, sponsors pour millions of yen into the shows and they would not have been happy. After a 15-minute pause, the show went on, and sure enough another stream of fireballs fell down upon the screaming crowd. By this point they decided it was time to pack up and call it a night.

The general conclusion I heard the next day is that it must have been because they were Chinese fireworks.