Miyajima Fireworks Festival to return

Miyajima’s fireworks festival is making a return this year.

The hugely popular Miyajima Underwater Fireworks Festival grew out of a local festival, and was held in August every year, with the exception of 2018 when local transport infrastructure was recovering from damage cause by extreme rainfall, from 1982 to 2019. The 2019 event attracted around 50,000 people to the island while another quarter of a million are said to have watched from the opposite shoreline.

The event was canceled the following two years, due to concerns that there would be a shortage of available security personnel who would be otherwise engaged with the planned Tokyo Olympics and the risk of the Covid virus spreading in crowded spaces. In August 2021, it was announced that the festival would no longer be held dues to safety concerns.

This year, however, fireworks will once again illuminate the great shrine of Itsukushima. The festival has been moved from the summer holidays to October, a less traditional time for fireworks in Japan, but definitely a more comfortable season in terms of temperature.

Other than the October 18 date, details are still sparse. According to an event press release and the official website, however, tickets will go on sale this summer. It will be interesting to see how organizers plan to control crowds, especially in light of the return of inbound tourism.

We will share more details about the event as they are released.