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With most of Japan’s summer fireworks festivals cancelled due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, this virtual tour makes it possible to experience the colourful spectacle from a new perspective. The online experience, available via Airbnb, sheds light on the history and production of fireworks at one of the country’s biggest hanabi (fireworks) destinations. It’s conducted as a live-stream via Zoom, taking you through Omagari in Akita prefecture, which is known for one of the country’s three most spectacular fireworks festivals.
You’ll ‘meet’ your host at a café in front of Omagari Station. They’ll then take you along the Hanabi Shotengai (fireworks shopping street) to the local fireworks museum. Here, you can get an insight into the area’s famous Omagari Fireworks Festival and learn about its history. As the tour continues, you’ll even get to visit the location of the annual event.
The highlight of the tour is a visit to a fireworks factory in Omagari. Since it’s a live-stream, you’ll be able to follow the production process in real time and get first-hand information from the craftsmen themselves. You can even ask questions directly to the host or the craftsmen.
The tour is hosted by Yuri and Tomo, a couple of self-described ‘hanabi tourists’, who have travelled to fireworks festivals all over Japan. In pre-corona times, they even provided offline guided tours to various hanabi events.
The current batch of virtual tours, taking place between August 12 and 15, are held in Japanese. However, English tours are planned for September or October. The tour takes about 75 minutes and costs an upfront fee of ¥1,488 per person. A maximum of seven people can join the experience, but bigger group reservations are possible – just message Yuri and Tomo in advance. For more information and to reserve a spot, click here (Japanese only).
If you’d prefer to see the Omagari fireworks festival IRL, you’ll have to wait another year until August 28 2021.
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