Kashiwazaki Gion Matsuri

Went to the Kashiwazaki Gion matsuri after school. Kashiwazaki is about 1.5 hrs away from my town. It's by the Japan sea coast. It's one of the richer towns of Niigata because it as several nuclear power plants, which produce half of Tokyo's energy needs.

A shrine in a pretty garden that caught my eye on the way to the event venue.

Before the hanabi started, there was taiko drumming from some boats at sea.

The fireworks display was great! There were over 15,000 fireworks set off and it lasted for almost 2 hours. There were loads of people. The entire stretch of the beach was dotted with picnickers at least 1 hour before the event started. More and more people came pouring in as the hanabi started and the weather cleared up. I couldn't believe how many people there were...and it was a weeknight too!

Smiley faces hanabi

A short video of one of the last few hanabi: These fireworks were set off to form a row measuring 2,500m long just above the sea. Very nice!