But this was now our third summer trip to Japan and we had never witnessed a Japanese fireworks festival. It was my biggest wish for this trip that we finally get to experience it.
My wife had seen Japanese hanabi many times when she lived in Japan. And though they are quite spectacular, she said the crowds they draw often make it a very unpleasant experience. But for this trip, she did her research and found that we could book a dinner cruise and witness the hanabi from a traditional Japanese barge-style boat called a yakatabune. We would be away from the massive crowd while having a really nice Japanese dinner. It was also a rare festival held on a weeknight, which fit our schedule better. That all sounded good to us, and that was our big activity for this day.
After a short break back at my in-laws apartment (too short of a break for Kai, who complained loudly), we set foot for the train station to take us way across town where the fireworks would be held.
Before the trip, my Japanese friend at work had told me that many Japanese people who go on this type of yakatabune cruise dress up in beautiful yukata (summer kimono). And so she suggested that Kai and I wear jinbei, a traditional Japanese clothing worn by men. And so on our first day here in Japan, we had picked up jinbei for me and Kai to wear on this night.
The walk to the train station was only 15 minutes, but in the 98 degree heat (cooled down from 100+ the day before), Kai complained the entire way and said he did not want to wear the Japanese garb anymore. The material on the jinbei is quite light, so it was not the clothing that was making him hot; everyone was hot in that heat.
But he also felt self conscious about how he appeared. We told him that others would be wearing traditional clothing on the boat, but when he didn't see anyone dressed that way on the subway, he continued to express anxiety.
The train ride was over an hour, and seemed even longer at times, but we finally made it to our destination.
We boarded the yakatabune and Kai was happier. For one thing, it was nicely air conditioned inside so it was very cool.
The first part of the dinner was already on the table. It would be a traditional Japanese meal, including sushi.
We also found that many others on the boat, especially the women, wore very nice Japanese yukata. I think Kai was relieved and no longer threatened to take off his jinbei.
Looking at the other passengers, it appeared that we were the only foreigners on the boat. This was in sharp contrast to the previous evening at the Robot Restaurant where it was all foreigners. It was very cool that we were having an authentic Japanese experience, something that most tourists don't get to do.
We ate our dinner while the boat traveled up the Edogawa River to the area where the fireworks would be held. I believe it took over an hour to get to Katsushika-ku, and then we had to wait an hour more until the fireworks would start. It gave us plenty of time to eat dinner.
Kai doesn't like most sushi so we let him eat all of the edamame and gave him almost all of our shrimp tempura. The rest of us enjoyed everything else.
Then they announced that the fireworks would soon begin so we went outside and up to the roof of the boat where we could see the hanabi.
It is hard to take great photos of fireworks, and these just do not fully capture the experience, but here are a couple of shots to give you an idea.
There were a few times when we thought we had seen the finale, only to have the fireworks continue.
In all, it lasted over an hour and it was quite the show. We all enjoyed it very much!
We went back inside the boat and had dessert.
Then it was a long ride back to the dock where we had started from. It was nearly 10 o'clock by that time. And we still had a long subway ride to get back to the apartment.
I am always amazed at how crowded the trains in Tokyo are at that hour.
We finally got home around 11:00 pm, tired but happy for the great experience we had that night.
And now we will be on to our next adventure, something totally different.
That was a nice adventure. Dinner and a show...always a winning combination. When I lived in Japan the last time, I avoided all contact with other foreigners. Fortunately, I rarely saw any. I lived near the business district of Osaka...so, it was a rare sight to see tourists there. You got a great experience on that boat.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great idea to escape the crowds.
Crowds are usually an expected part of the experience when visiting Tokyo, so it was nice to have this experience where we were able to get away for a time yet still see the hanabi.
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