Recent Happenings

I suck in tight, breath deeply, and wish I could free up a hand to wipe the beading sweat off of my right brow. Three seconds pass. Ah, relief, the Obi is tightened. The bow is then formed, and hiked around to my middle back. I enter the zori shoes, take baby steps in the restrictive, but breathable summer kimono, and carefully make my way out the door, one short step in front of the other. Finally, I am now ready for a night out with my girlfriends.

Garbed in traditional Yukata, sunday night my girls and I ventured out to catch the ten thousand bravura display of Hanabi, or fireworks. Fireworks in Japan are incomparable to that of its American Fourth of July counterpart. The 45-minute booming affair doesn't leave the audience hoping for more, rather they ogle at the sky, pondering the pleasures of summer.

The summer fire candy isn't something new in Japan, and is preserved by younger generations as they stay in touch with their culture by decoring themselves in summer kimono and topping it off with an eclectic hairstyle.

In the Edo Period (1603-1867), fireworks became popular among people of high standing. As a pastime indulged in by the Shogun (the leader of samurai) and the daimyo (feudal lords), fireworks were set off as they sat in their private boats enjoying the summer breeze. Hanabi soon came into vogue among the ordinary people of Edo as well. The first fireworks were shown by the Tokyo riverside in 1733; the then-Shogun initiated the fireworks display as part of a memorial service for those who died in the record famine in the previous year. Ever since then, hanabi has become a regular summer feature.

What makes Japanese so passionate about Hanabi? One answer may be that fireworks evoke a feeling similar to that which Japanese have toward cherry blossoms. That is, in the splendid bursts of the fireworks Japanese see a metaphor for life: beautiful but ephemeral.

For me, it's a chance to make a big deal about an often overlooked, unnoticable feeling. The feeling of lasting friendships in new places. The feeling of warm summer nights. The feeling of pure contentment: wishing you could be no other place than right where you are. The hopes of an endless summer are ignited as showers of light span overhead.