Numata Hongo Fireworks Festival

This now colorful summer festival has somewhat dark origins. It has grown out of an event to mourn the large numbers of people lost due to famine and disease during the great famines of the Tempo Era in the first half of the 19th century.

Over time the event turned into a chance for local farmers and farm workers to let off steam once the hard task of rice planting was complete.

Today, the festival features a fireworks display of the same number of blasts as the year (Eg 2018 in 2018), the usual festival stalls and entertainment such as drumming, and attracts around 25,000 people.

The fireworks are between 20:35 and 21:00, but the festival starts at 16:00.

Access: 5 minutes from Hongo JR Station on the Sanyo Line.