Kumano Fireworks Festival

The Kumano Fireworks began as a Buddhist memorial for the dead of Obon, and they are still held on 17 August, whatever the weekday, on the long pebble beach of Shichirimihama beside Kumanoshi Station. The display is unusual in two ways. The first is the sea-surface detonation, in which a boat tows a sanshakudama shell at speed and it is set off as it hits the water, opening into a half-sphere of fire across the waves. The second is the finale at Onigajo, where shells are exploded among the rock formations at the end of the beach so the cliffs themselves light up and the sound comes back off the stone.

Because the date is fixed rather than tied to a weekend, it is easy to plan around, and because the town is so remote, it draws a crowd of the devoted rather than the casual. The beach itself is the viewing area, free and wide, though the sections nearest the launch sites are reserved. Sit on the pebbles well before dusk; the shells break low over the water and a spot at the shoreline gives the full effect of the surface detonation.

Kumano lies on the southern coast of the Kii Peninsula and is reached by the Nanki limited express from Nagoya, a train that sells out early for the festival, so reserve seats as soon as they go on sale. Most visitors build the fireworks into a walk on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes or a stay in the hot-spring towns nearby. Rough seas postpone the display to a later date in August, so keep the plan flexible and check before setting out.