It turns out that there is a summer smell called "fireworks", Nagaoka Fireworks Festival

[one]

The Nagaoka Fireworks Festival is known as one of the three major fireworks festivals in Japan (along with the "National Fireworks Competition (Ogura)" and the "Tchiura National Fireworks Competition").

It attracts many tourists every year. Nagaoka City is not a tourist hotspot. In addition, the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival must start on August 2nd and 3rd every year. It is easy to encounter it on weekdays, and it is difficult for even Japanese people to get out. , not to mention foreign tourists, if it is in other seasons, such as winter, they may also stop by after skiing near Echigo, but it is held in summer, and in summer, the area around Niigata is considered a low season for tourism.

Despite such unfavorable circumstances and conditions, the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival used to attract millions of people every year, which is really impressive.

It’s been a long time since I came to Japan. This is our first visit here this year. We thought that the place must be very grand. Rumors say that there are no parking spaces in the whole city, because there are too many people there.

[two]

Tickets for the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival are divided into the left bank and the right bank of the Shinano River. Drivers remember to buy tickets for the left bank venue, because the left bank is close to the IC, which is the exit of the expressway, but if you go by Shinkansen, remember to buy tickets for the right bank, because the Shinkansen station Nagaoka is on the right bank. Don't think that you can cross the left bank and the right bank with a bridge. It doesn't matter. Because during the fireworks festival, fireworks will be released by the bridge, so the two bridges will be blocked. Open, so if you buy the wrong side, you have to wait until the end of the fireworks display to be able to go to the other side, which will be quite troublesome.

There are also chair seats to choose from. If we don’t want to push others, we choose chair seats. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s more comfortable to sit and watch. The location will be close to the center, and the view will be better.

[three]

At about 7:00 that morning, we chose to drive from Tokyo, the whole journey is about 250 kilometers, all IC Mercedes-Benz, but because the road before the expressway was a little traffic jam, it was just 11:30 when we arrived.

When I got off the expressway, there were already traffic signs indicating that the parking spaces were full, that the roads were closed, and some staff were already on the street preparing for the fireworks display at night.

When I went to the Wufuya that helped me put on the yukata, I didn't expect that it wasn't those old shops/small shops in Kyoto or Kawagoe, but a whole three-story building. The staff inside seemed to be very professional. I heard from P that wearing a yukata is not easy. Not as complicated as a kimono, but their service is also quite attentive.

Yukata and accessories are provided by P. She had watched countless YouTubes before she set off, and tried it on once at a cool boat party in Tokyo.

P confidently took out the yukata and accessories he prepared.

A blue-haired mother-in-law counted the items one by one and asked P: "Where's the towel? Did you bring a towel?"

"Towels? For wiping sweat, right?" I thought to myself.

P was very prepared, and brought one, but at least three were needed. Fortunately, there were spares in the car, so I immediately rushed to the car with a knife.

It turns out that the towel is one of the secret skills of wearing a yukata, which is used to "adjust the body shape". The yukata is very thin, so the ideal body shape to dress well is a little bucket waist. Ladies with a small waist like P (actually not) need to stuff the towel into the clothes. It is more upright and nice to wear.

According to P, the staff kept complimenting her choice of yukata and matching it well. (I don't know if it is the SOP of the reception, but the color selected by P is really beautiful and rare.)

Then people spent a lot of time helping her make a very Japanese girly hairstyle. When she came out, she actually said that she didn't look good and wanted to tie her hair up. I was so anxious that I immediately called her: "It looks good now, don't tie it up. (Isn’t it the same as tying it yourself before?)

Having said that, there are fewer people wearing yukata than expected, but it is reasonable, because there are not many good places to take pictures at the venue.

[Four]

After putting on the yukata, we went to eat and eat crab. Generally speaking, we only eat crab at two or three times throughout the year.

The first time point is after November 3rd every year, when the ban on precious crab species such as human crabs is lifted, and then find the best and most expensive hotel to stay for one night and have a full meal, only once a year (but P has many different names once a year), so it doesn't matter if it's expensive to eat.

The second time point is the hometown tax payment. Sometimes the hometown taxpayer will have some souvenirs from Hokkaido, and they will also eat a little bit. Anyway, the tax is so much, it is better to exchange some souvenirs to be happy and support the local economy.

The third time is when you pass by a famous fish market during your trip and try your luck.

Then basically the rest of the year will not touch the crab (sushi does not count).

I didn't do a lot of data collection this time, so I just picked a place to eat crab (called Jialuo's shop, don't ask where the branch is, it's called "Jialuo's shop") to eat and have a look. Generally speaking, we don't go there. Chain stores such as Crab Doraku, because the restaurants operated by the general chain are similar, there will not be too many surprises, the price and the quality of the food are basically OK, the price will not be so expensive that you think it is not worth it, and the food will not be bad. You want to complain, a restaurant with no surprises shouldn't waste Quota.

There are also coastal places in Nagaoka, but there are not many seafood specialties, and other local famous products are not very suitable (Nagaoka ginger glutinous oil ラーメン, イタリアン, Western style カツ丼, レーメン, へぎそば...).

We also went to several places in the Northeast, but in terms of food, we really couldn’t impress us very much. If you like to eat wild delicacies (and various carbohydrates), then you should like it more. .

However, one of the advantages of chain restaurants is that they are usually in a relatively spacious location, sitting more comfortably, maintaining social distance from other diners, and sitting for a long time without feeling embarrassed, which is also worthy of recognition.

[five]

After lunch, I went to get a fireworks bento. Because I went to the fireworks festival, there was no arrangement for dinner. I decided to go to a French restaurant to order two fireworks bentos. The bento is not expensive, but the quality is very good. The best thing is that there is no rice! There are more than ten kinds of small dishes in it, ranging from appetizers to desserts. The portion is small and the taste is good. All of them have been carefully thought out. The cooking methods, choice of ingredients and sauces have been made cold and unappetizing. It's the size of a bite, which is very convenient and intimate.

After going to get the bento, we headed to the parking place. We usually overestimate the risk. In the end, we bought a private parking lot at a price higher than the market price. The location is very far from the venue (by my standards) and it takes half an hour to walk.

On the way to the venue on foot, I always unconsciously check whether there is any parking place nearby, and whether there is a parking lot. Is it as expected that the whole city is full of cars, to confirm that I have spent money to rent a distance Is the parking lot so far from the venue reasonable (small device).

Another small tip here, I don’t know if there will be a lot of foreign tourists coming in if the switch is turned on in the future, but if there are only hundreds of thousands of domestic visitors, there should be enough parking spaces near the venue, and there is no need to buy parking tickets specially. Don't buy it so far. After the show, it's not very fun to wear bathrobes, step on clogs, and walk in the dark for more than half an hour in the rain.

We went to the venue a lot earlier. The venue is really big, divided into the left bank and the right bank, and each side also occupies a large area. From one bridge to the other bridge, all are different areas or seats, there are for you Padded and then sit on the seat (more expensive, and you need to occupy the seat early), there are also group seats, chair seats, bench seats, table seats, etc. We have young people, of course, choose chair seats, you can sit Take your time.

Fireworks festivals that cost money to watch must be a better choice, because the arrangement is more appropriate, and there are also places such as seats. While waiting, look around, unlike other fireworks festivals, everyone is more gentle, even if there are more young people, it will not feel very noisy, and many people are ready to shoot fireworks with photographic equipment.

The weather is not bad, it has always been between cloudy and sunny days, but when it was close to the beginning, the sky was dark and the clouds were getting thicker and thicker. At around 7:30, before the fireworks festival started , Japanese さすが Japanese, suddenly at a certain point in time as if the army was ready to attack, all of them took out raincoats from nowhere at the same time, and put them on silently. Fortunately, P was also ready. P asked me if I wanted to wear raincoats too, I told her that there was nothing wrong with following the Japanese, and I put on my raincoat.

As a result, after about a minute or two, it started to drizzle. At that time, I thought, in fact, there is no need to wear a raincoat, an umbrella is just fine, but later I found out that this is the gentleness of the Japanese, and the umbrella will block the view from the back (yes! That is to say, you are sitting in the front!) Some people He also endured the rain without an umbrella.

[six]

Originally, I didn't have great expectations for watching fireworks.

This time, I mainly watched it with P, because I watched a lot of fireworks on TV, not just "bububu" and then "huahuahua", is there anything special?

The sky is getting darker and darker, which means that the show is about to start.

The night had just come, and before it was velvety black, the sky seemed to be a dark blue that was occasionally misunderstood as black.

In Zhongshu, between the two sides of the Shinano River, a light bullet, dragging a flaming tail, shot from the ground into the dark mid-air with a "swoosh", and then exploded. the heart of every audience.

"Wow, it's so close!"

I even felt that the blast was blowing my raincoat slightly.

It turned out that I saw the fireworks in full bloom at such a close distance. The scene was so shocking. The next series of fireworks filled the night sky. Compared to seeing it on TV, it was really shocking.

The east wind blows all night, blooming thousands of trees, regenerating flowers among the flowers, and reproducing dreams in dreams.

The sound and light of the scene, coupled with the audience's reaction, cannot be experienced without the scene.

"すごい!" "やっば!"

There are as many as 40 fireworks performances, from 7:30 to 9:30, over two hours.

It is a veritable "fireworks display".

On the way to the fireworks festival, you will suddenly hear the siren of an air raid, which is very harsh, but at first you thought it was a performance effect and ignored it. The fireworks are different, very bright, kind of like flares.

Now that I think about it, there was a reason for this arrangement.

The predecessor of the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival is the Nagaoka Revival Festival. In the 20th year of the Showa era, during World War II, the U.S. Air Force raided Nagaoka City, killing 1,488 people and the mayor at the time. Eighty percent of the residential areas in the central area were burnt down by incendiary bombs dropped by B29 bombers.

Even more unfortunate is that the U.S. military air-dropped propaganda leaflets across Japan on July 27 and July 28 before launching the air strike on August 1, predicting the location of the air strike to avoid civilian damage, but by accident. , the word "Nagaoka" in Nagaoka City was actually written as "Takaoka", so Nagaoka City did not carry out complete air raid alert, resulting in tragic casualties. One year after the air raid, in the 21st year of the Showa era, that is, 70 years ago, the Nagaoka Revival Festival was held to symbolize the indomitable spirit of Nagaoka City's revival and disaster. A year later, in the 22nd year of the Showa era, The Nagaoka Revival Festival turned into a fireworks display.

From the air-raid alarms in the fireworks festival, the flare fireworks reminiscent of the air-raid scene, and the special fireworks design specially designed to pray for the safety of the dead, we can see that the fireworks festival is not only a fun entertainment for everyone to join in the fun, but also has a historical significance behind it. .

Reflect on and reflect on history, mourn the dead, look forward to a peaceful future, and cherish the hard-won peace.

As the last fireworks burnt out, the performance ended successfully, and the air was mixed with the unique smell of rain and fireworks.

It turned out to have a summer smell called "fireworks".