Spectacular and magnificent fireworks bloom in the sky—the top 3 “Nagaoka” Fireworks Festival in Japan

Text & Photos /Kavanagh

Held annually on August 2nd and 3rd, the “Nagaoka Giant Fireworks Festival” (officially known as the “Nagaoka Matsuri”) launches a total of 20,000 fireworks over the two days, making it one of Japan’s three major fireworks festivals (the other two being the National Fireworks Competition [Omagari Fireworks] and the Tsukuba National Fireworks Competition).

That morning, I first visited the Shibata Castle, then met up with a friend at JR Nagaoka Station around noon. As soon as I arrived at Nagaoka Station, I saw it was packed with people—

Fireworks models displayed at the station, among which the “Sansakudama” is the largest type of firework used in the festival and is also a signature attraction of the Nagaoka Giant Fireworks Festival.

Fireworks launching equipment on display in front of the station.

The venue for the Nagaoka Giant Fireworks Festival is located between the “Ote Ohashi” and “Chosei Ohashi” bridges in Nagaoka City. On the side closer to JR Nagaoka Station, most of the area consists of paid seating, while the embankment grassy area on the other side offers free viewing spots.

JR Nagaoka Station.

A parade along the road.

The Nagaoka Fireworks Festival runs from 7:10 PM to 9:00 PM. We arrived in Nagaoka around 3:00 PM to secure our spot. On the way, we passed by a large supermarket where crowds of people were frantically stocking up on food and drinks like refugees. Since the wait would be long and there were no big supermarkets near the venue, we also went in and bought plenty of food and drinks.

The Ote Ohashi bridge—this bridge is super~~ loooong~~!! Walking across this long bridge in the summer afternoon almost gave me heatstroke...

Next to the Ote Bridge, you can see the viewing areas. The ones with chairs in front are the paid viewing sections, while the blue tarp-covered areas behind are the free ones.

I thought we had arrived early enough to get a good spot, but almost all of them were already taken!! (The official website says free viewing areas open for seating at noon—friends planning to go to the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival, please take note: arrive early!) We walked from the Ote Bridge side toward Chosei Bridge and finally managed to find a tiny bit of space, squeezing in where we could.

Our spot was roughly on the right side above Chosei Bridge, marked as “102.”

And then began the long wait of an unmarried girlfriend (yes, I know, the cliché of every fireworks festival travelogue I write)... The waiting time was really quite long (about as long as an unmarried girlfriend’s wait) (how long is that?).....

Just after 7:00 PM, amid everyone’s eager anticipation, the first test firework shot up into the sky.

The fireworks slicing through the night sky drew waves of gasps, and the audience’s excitement reached a boiling point.

And then came the continuous display of a midsummer night’s fireworks show.

All kinds of fireworks soared into the sky, bursting in the darkness and then transforming into colorful blooms that slowly descended before finally vanishing into the night.

Since our viewing position was somewhat on the “diagonal side,” we actually couldn’t capture the most beautiful angles of the fireworks. For example, the firework in the photo above—if you’re sitting in the paid section and looking straight on, the fireworks span the entire night sky. Unlike what we saw, where they overlapped heavily.

The consequence of not bringing a shutter release cable was that I occasionally ended up with overexposed photos.

Transmitted

The legendary Sansakudama!! When it burst, it was like a cosmic explosion, filling the entire sky with fireworks.

Since we couldn’t book a hotel in Nagaoka, we packed up before the fireworks ended and headed back to Nagaoka Station...

It seemed everyone else had the same idea. Because of the huge crowd and the fact that Chosei Bridge was closed during the fireworks, we got stuck in a traffic jam in front of the bridge for nearly an hour. I was so worried about missing the Shinkansen that the wait felt agonizing—finally, when Chosei Bridge reopened, we sprinted the 20-minute journey back to Nagaoka Station, squeezing our way into the packed station with great effort, and managed to board the JR train to our lodging...

The “unmarried girlfriend’s long wait” + the “arduous journey home” are the hallmarks of the fireworks festival experience. Before enjoying the beautiful fireworks, be sure to mentally prepare yourself for this!!

Lastly, my advice: if you’re only going to see a fireworks festival once, strongly consider spending the money for a better-seated “paid viewing area”! Later, I saw photos taken by Sakio-san from the paid area of the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival, and it looked completely different from what I saw!!

Kavanagh @ Kyoto, staying freely.

Kavana X Japan Travel Frenzy