Fireworks in Kobe

'Tis the fireworks season in Japan.

Normally by now the rainy season has given in to the "oh my god, hot" season in which the 80-90% humidity gets punched up with 90-100 degree heat. This is what I am truly afraid of. So far, though, the rainy season - which started late and has really only recently seemed like the kind of deluge I had imagined - has run late. Between rain storms, the weather is warm and humid, but not unbearably hot. My Japanese teacher - who is simply unable to imagine the weather being hot into October, has instead decided that if the rainy season goes late, it means maybe there won't BE an "oh my god, hot" season. I'm more of a pessimist.

In any case, by now it is suppose to be terribly hot, but not rainy. The perfect time to plan city festivals and fireworks. It is common for cities to have their own fireworks displays during the month of August, and some people will travel around to see what different cities come up with for the year. Unfortunately, with the economic downturn, many cities (especially smaller ones) have had to cancel their fireworks for the year. Not so, Kobe. No, Kobe decided to fill the fireworks gap and offer 2,000 more fireworks than last year. My Japanese teacher and I plotted together to determine the best vantage point. The trick is to find somewhere close enough that you have a good view, but far enough that you can go right before the show starts and still be able to see anything at all. If you want to be in the best viewing place (Harborland) you pretty much have to stake claim to your spot in the morning and stay all day. If, like us, you want to have a nice leisurely sushi dinner

Wait, wait. Let me tell you about the sushi dinner....

As Gwen and Nicole discovered during their stay, it is actually quite easy to live in Japan and never eat sushi. Russell and I had only really been to one sushi restaurant in four months before last night (not including the sushi take-out you can get by the station or the pre-made sushi you get at the grocery store - those are fine, but nothing to write home about). Last night was something to write home about. So without any further ado... My Japanese teacher knew of this restaurant that specialized in HUMONGOUS slabs of meat on tiny little balls of rice. I have had humongous slabs of fish before and it doesn't always mean it is tastier than the more traditional size. In this case, though, it was awesome. We took a picture of the shrimp with a 100 yen coin for scale. A 100 yen coin is roughly the size of a quarter. Check these beauties out! All of the sushi was super, super tasty. We only had four pieces each and I felt like I could roll home. Five stars, my friends, five stars.

To get back to the main event, though, if you are planning to eat and then head over just in time to catch first burst of color... well, then you compromise. We finally decided to try taking the train out to the island where I work and sit on the park along the bank facing Harborland. I had heard that the bridge had a solid traffic jam the year before, so we made plans to leave early and walk back (to avoid hitting public transportation at the same time as the mob). We got to the school no problem, but all of the prime spots were taken. We ended up sitting on a sidewalk curb behind a cement barricade. We were comfortable, but we couldn't see everything perfectly. It was still fun, though.

There was, naturally, street food set up for the throngs of people along the banks of the bay. Russell couldn't resist. In attempt to be healthy he paid 200 yen (~$2.00) for a cucumber on a stick. He thought maybe it would be a fancy cucumber on a stick for that price, but no. It was just a cucumber on a stick. We kind of gave him a hard time about it. He refused to show regret, though and instead decided he would keep the stick so he could recreate the experience at home.

Finally it was fireworks time. We were too lazy to stand through the entire 45 minute display, so instead we stayed seated on our curb and were content to miss a few of the lower-lying explosions. It was still beautiful and fun. Another fun part about fireworks in Japan is that young people (mostly just the girls, but sometimes the guys too) wear the traditional yukata. This looks like a kimono to a westerner, but it weighs about 20 pounds less and is far more comfortable in summer. The men's Yukata looks something like cotton wrap pajamas and is generally less gussied up than the yukata. I didn't get any pictures (my apologies). I will try to make it out to the Osaka fireworks next week and do a better job documenting. We did have a bit of a rain scare half way through the show, but it was an extremely short cloudburst and otherwise the night was dry.