TOKYO: Firework displays have been called off at many summer festivals in Japan this year, mainly due to rising personnel costs and complaints about firework cinders.

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced summer festivals to be canceled or held on a much smaller scale for the past few years, the summer festival season has yet to return to its full glory before the arrival of the disease in Japan at the start of 2020.

Since that year, the Iruma River Tanabata star festival in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, has been canceled or held on a reduced scale due to COVID-19.

The festival’s executive team brought back the pre-COVID style of launching fireworks for last year’s event. The decision, however, led to road congestion and large crowds in riverside areas.

For this year’s event, set for Saturday and Sunday, the team considered bolstering security to ensure festivalgoers’ safety but ultimately decided not to hold a firework display.

The team took into consideration rising costs to employ security guards and the 30 or so complaints from nearby residents over last year’s event, including those saying that their homes’ roofs and solar panels had been blackened by firework cinders.

“We need to implement new measures to prevent (firework cinders) from spreading and gain the understanding of local residents,” a member of the team said.

Firework remains were also behind the cancellation of this year’s summer fireworks festival in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, western Japan, after a host of complaints that such cinders caused vehicle discoloration in the neighborhood of last year’s festival, which took place after a three-year break.

The event’s executive committee hopes to hold the festival next year by implementing measures to address such concerns, including launching fireworks on a smaller scale.

The traditional highlight of the Kasamatsu riverside festival in Kasamatsu, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, was a display of fireworks launched from boats.

The firework display, however, has not been held since 2020.

Reflecting the skyrocketing firework costs and personnel costs in the past four years, the event’s executive team decided to hold this year a different kind of event Aug. 17, featuring soap bubbles, music and lights.

“We came up with an event not affected by problems linked to fireworks,” Yuki Imai, a member of the team, said. “We hope (visitors) will enjoy a new sensation.”

Meanwhile, a summer festival in Nakagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, will make its return Aug. 24 after a four-year absence. The festival will also bring back fireworks.

The cost of holding the event has ballooned to around 17 million yen this year from around 12 million to 14 million yen in the past. The expenses will be mainly covered by subsidies from Nakagawa and contributions from companies.

“We aim to hold a memorable festival for our visitors,” said Ryo Iwamoto, a senior official of the event’s executive committee.

JIJI Press