2010-07-31 Fireworks

- "Zach, would you like to comment on the fireworks?"

- "Sure."

And here he goes:

"There was a million billion people stretching out as far as the eyes could see. It was also hot. That was OK, though, because the fireworks were awesome!"

We went to see fireworks exhibition in Tachikawa, Tokyo. Tachikawa is located in the west side of Tokyo and is about 1 hour train ride from Meguro. Fireworks in Sumidagawa is the oldest and biggest exhibition, however, there was a million people came to this exhibition last year and most people I asked about it told me that they could only see the backs and heads of people as they waddled through the crowd... So we decided to go to the one in Tachikawa where we would be able to find a decent space to sit down and relax.

My sister, Ritsuko, had bought him a set of Yukata which is a casual summer kimono. It is black with dragon prints. The belt has velcro and easy to put on. The sandals called "Geta" came with the yukata, too, though it seemed very uncomfortable to walk in.

Mr. Michigan in Black Yukata

When we arrived at Tachikawa station, we saw the rain pouring down hard and people running with their hands, towels, and things over their heads. We decided to wait at the station for the rain to die down a little, worrying that the tonight's fireworks exhibition might get canceled.

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Fortunately, the rainy clouds seemed to have passed after a while. It was still cloudy, but people, us among them, decided to enter the park and heads towards the site.

Blue sunflowers.. Mr. sun is not smiling in the sky today...

Sunflowers + 1

Filled with expectations! We can see the fireworks exhibition tonight!

Though the umbrella

People! People! People!

Waking up after a good nap, we saw the site filled with people.. Though excited I was with the fireworks which I was about to see, I was getting a bit concerned about our way back...

From our seat, we could see a full view of the fireworks and could feel the shock waves from the explosions!

I could hear lots of "Oooooh" and "Aaaaaaaah" coming from the people around us, and "すげ～っ マジすげ～～っ (= awesome!)" from the person in black yukata sitting right next to me.

It was a great summer night.