Largest Firework Display in the World? Tondabayashi, Japan

Posted by Jackie Hewett on Tue 10th July 2007 at 03:43 AM, Filed in Far East,  August

If pyrotechnics are your thing you should put a visit to Tondabayashi City on 1st August on your ‘to do’ list.  They claim to host the largest annual firework display with some 100,000 fireworks let off in just one hour – usually starting at about 19.45.  The grand finale sees some 7000 fireworks launched simultaneously.

The event started in 1953 at the request of the founder of the PL religious group (or Church of Perfect Liberty) and is staged on the area known as the PL Hills.  The Japanese word for firework is ‘Hanabi’, and they even have a hanabi ‘season’ – basically every summer lakes, rivers and even ski resorts all over Japan let off a barrage of explosions with up to 5,000 displays taking place throughout July and August.  About 250 of these are large scale events and 50 are held around Tokyo.  The Tondabayashi display is famed for its ‘Niagara’ which rises to some 50 meters and stretches nearly a kilometre across the sky to represent a waterfall.

Tondabayashi is in Osaka, which is Japan’s second largest city after Tokyo and is the economic and cultural centre of western Japan and years ago was the capital of Japan.  There are many reasons besides the fireworks for paying the city a visit:

• Minami area - famous for authentic Osaka culture and is home to the Dotonbori Canal (the symbol of the city) with many neon light bars and shops, including a giant mechanical crab
• Shinsaibashi area has thousands of clothes shops and fashion boutiques which draws in throngs of young people
• Tennoji area has a tower modelled on the Eiffel Tower (Tsutenkaku Tower) with a 91-meter high observatory giving great views and photo opportunities over the city and the nearby Rokko mountains
• Jan-Jan Yokocho street is packed full of stand-up pubs with pin-ball machines and budget restaurants serving deep-fried meat skewers with dipping sauce
• Osaka castle built 400 years ago with white walls adorned with gold surrounded by a moat

• The PL Tower for World Peace which looks like a piece of Gaudi architecture

• Osaka’s Universal Studios theme park boasting 18 major attractions
• ‘Eat till you drop’ culture with the local delicacy of octopus dumplings (tako-yaki)

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