Things Explode.

Last night we hopped on a train for what I believe was Aino, Japan. The ride was a crowded hour on the JR Line. A rig with more of a feel for commuting than for travel. The train’s occupants were a mix of folks in your everyday clothing as well as traditional garb. Most popular were these classic outfits, among teenage girls. With hair done up, wooden sandals, and a big bow holding it all together in back, these young ladies were ready to see some fireworks. It appears that for many community events it is typical practice to dust off tradition and dawn such attire. A couple of ALTs that have been here a few years, had their own such outfits and joined in.

Arriving at the station, men in uniform were everywhere, some armed with megaphones. All with the goal to corral us from train to outside, where we were on our own to find the best vantage point. The first staging outside was a carnival-like series of food tents. Everyone had hotdogs. The Japanese love hotdogs. You could get a basic dog on a stick, a coiled dog on a stick, a dog wrapped in dough, a corndog, and probably more variation. You would not, however, have found a dog in a bun. That just does not happen here.

We got off the train at 6:00, which seemed early for seeing fireworks, but apparently the show was to begin pre-sundown. We found a nice plot of grass (a rarity in these parts) on the lawn of some big business building. We had plenty of space leading me to believe our squat was less than legal. No complaints surfaced, so we enjoyed the show.

The show burst to life just as the sun was considering its last act of the day. It was then I saw justification for the early start time. I have worked up a little mathematical equation that does well to explain the setting:

if…
Sunset = Pretty
and…
Fireworks = Awesome

then…
Sunset + Fireworks = Pretty Awesome

It has been a while since I have taken such a class, but I feel my tabulations to be quite sound.

The show went on for two hours. Every now and then there was a pause so that the viewers could consult their guide and know who was responsible for sponsoring each section. Personally, I would had liked to have seen the two hours of ammunition shot up in one hour’s time. But it was still great. They had some stuff that I definitely have not seen in the United States. Apparently we are not the best at blowing things up. As I am still in the honeymoon stage with my digital camera, I spent near the whole duration bouncing around trying to snatch the right shot. Why did I not bring a tripod?

A shot of some traditional garb on one of the ALTs


Some footage from the beginning, with random commentary