00:00 John Daub: It is a super hot summer afternoon in Tokyo and it is so exciting because today is the day of the Sumida-gawa (Sumida River) fireworks festival here on this side of the river here in Skytree, which is an island that's on the Sumida River.

00:40 John Daub: Already people have set up blue sheets for tonight's festivities and in the distance you can see some of the boats that are getting into place for tonight's fireworks performance here in the city. And this fireworks festival really does matter to the city.

01:20 John Daub: It's been canceled or not held for the last four years and you would think it was just because of coronavirus. But actually there's another reason perhaps. It's a slightly different way to look at it and I'll get into that in this video.

02:00 John Daub: But today is also a day where people will sit outside. Look at that guy. Sit outside in the sun. Wow. I think they're getting in position too. This is the main river that goes through the city of Tokyo.

02:40 John Daub: And yeah, everybody is going to be vying for position on the river. The bridge is close to Asakusa and this is where the festival takes place. Let me pull up a map here to give you a better idea. Right there.

03:20 John Daub: This is the information given by the city of Tokyo and Sumida Ward as well as Taito-ku (Taito Ward), which is the ward in Tokyo that will be holding this on one side and the other side I believe. You can see that most of this part of the Sumida River is shut down or is closed, highly restricted because of the fireworks that are going on today.

04:00 John Daub: And that red area means that you cannot go on those bridges to watch the fireworks so be forewarned if you are in Tokyo. Here comes this boat aloha I guess he found out he can't go he found out he couldn't go let me pull up see if I can get a bigger shot of this here there you go.

04:40 John Daub: So on the this is Asakusa on the left side and Oshiage is on the right Oshiage you see that a3 on the right side that's the Tokyo Skytree that you see also when I show it to you in this video the left side is Kaminarimon and Sensoji Temple which is you know Asakusa is a very popular tourist destination that's on the left side.

05:20 John Daub: So straddling those two attractions along the river they're gonna be having two barges that'll be launching these fireworks and the barges let me see if I have a picture of it of it here I'm pretty sure I do yes I thought I did yeah I'll get that up here the barges are going to be launching at different times.

06:00 John Daub: So you have two fireworks festivals in two different areas here's a picture right here two fireworks festivals at two different areas launching at the same time that's what the barge looks like in the river right now if you're in Asakusa you'll be able to see these being set up with fireworks there's a number one and a number two.

06:40 John Daub: And the number one is gonna be going first of course I'm thinking of something else with that fireworks and number two is about 15 minutes later and then you have these competing fireworks a little windy but you can see this we got beautiful blue skies here beautiful blue skies look at this wow this is gonna be perfect.

07:20 John Daub: The wind is actually sometimes not a bad thing because it gets rid of the smoke but the barges will be starting at set one of them at 7 and 715 and they go on till about 830 so it's not a super long festival but this significant the Tokyo now they had cancelled this they hadn't done it in 2020 2021 2022 and I believe 2023.

08:00 John Daub: What do they have a 2019 they often cancel this also because of rain this is still in some years considered the rainy season and when they cancel that in the rainy season you know they don't light off those fireworks the fireworks end up going into a vault and they end up getting disposed of believe it or not and insurance covers it.

08:40 John Daub: It's a huge waste I think but you know it's a business too and you can't have you can't give the fireworks away that's what insurance is for I guess you have rain insurance at least that's what I've been told the pandemic would be the initial reason that you would think but it was more than just the pandemic.

09:20 John Daub: So I've been in Japan everybody knows I've been in Japan for 25 years and I was here during the great you don't typically see dudes walking shirts off in the city it's very that's how hot it is though the 2011 earthquake and tsunami they cancelled all the festivals and I think that a festival is a time to celebrate.

10:00 John Daub: And there are times where there are not times to celebrate and as a collective people the Japanese will not hold festivals at times of great suffering and the 2011 a year they cancelled the cherry blossoms why do you cancel cherry blossoms they're going to bloom anyways but all the festivals the food booths the actual events that they held around it were cancelled because of the great suffering of Tohoku.

10:40 John Daub: And I noticed this you know I was kind of disturbed because I said you shouldn't we shouldn't cancel it because of that but maybe I just didn't understand that but then when the pandemic hit I could understand it a little bit more they cancelled it because it just as a collective as a people collectively they did not feel like the celebrations were right.

11:20 John Daub: So it wasn't about I don't know if it sure played a part of it but it wasn't just about oh it's going to be a contagious event where people get sick it wasn't just because of that I think it just had to do in particular in 2020 about look this is a time where people are dying it's people are suffering it's just not a time to celebrate.

12:00 John Daub: But this is still a business and this year it's roaring you should see it it is crazy you can see in people's eyes as you walk past them you can see people's eyes there is a spring in their step literally I saw it every time I walk around just yesterday when I walk around the city I can see more and more people are wearing masks.

12:40 John Daub: I'd say most people are not wearing them than are we just here's a boat going underneath the bridge here he's probably going to go back into position in a couple of hours more people than that are not wearing masks in Tokyo basically because of heat exhaustion and this is a good thing and you can see smiles for once.

13:20 John Daub: It doesn't feel the same WRX turbos in the house so this festival is very significant to the people here in Tokyo because it is a continuance of the normalization of life and it's almost like the festivals that went on during the pandemic they weren't festivals they were rituals called shinji (rituals) which are things that have ritualistically gone on for sometimes a thousand years.

14:00 John Daub: I'm going to a festival tomorrow that continued over the pandemic the ritual part of it which has been going on in the same spot for 700 years and I'll try to take you in there with me tomorrow make sure you subscribe the festival here as I said has two barges all right so I'm going to have to explain this how I get this here.

14:40 John Daub: So they have a actual program this is just this isn't just a bunch of exploding fireworks each one of these programs has a significant purpose and probably in these hanabi taikai (fireworks grand competitions) is what they call them which are like big festivals competitions almost where these companies have sponsored movements or sections of the fireworks festivals.

15:20 John Daub: And over a schedule they will be launching them typically with announcements to the millions of maybe hundreds of thousands if not maybe I think there's like two or three million people will be crowding the streets which is the thumbnail of this video you'll see that and they make these announcements during the fireworks festival it might be a tax write-off but there it is.

16:00 John Daub: That's the festival program and here's a shot of the streets here it is absolute chaos when the so right now the streets are open the traffic but very shortly they're going to close the traffic and you see this video right here in your screen and let's put this front and center this comes from YouTube shorts I borrowed it just take a look at this first.

16:40 John Daub: Oh sorry sorry this is from last week's fireworks festival in in Katase Kaku this is in Shin Kitasenju I believe there's just so many people so I've got a feeling like today's fireworks festival is going to be just as crowded I actually have I have it somewhere else here it is like this is a really good video.

17:20 John Daub: So you're going to want to see this one as soon as the streets close down here it is right here as soon as the streets close down look at this it'll come back up here people take the blue sheets and just fill the sheets up here look at that that's just crazy although it'll run through it again here this comes from Japan Life 23 thank you.

18:00 John Daub: And then this is the reason why I kind of stay away from this festival it is crowded in the streets you can't move and it's tensions are high very much so you see them as soon as the police blow the whistle and then the people who are waiting on the sides that have done this year after year they know what to do they're fast.

18:40 John Daub: It's like blue sheet ninja they get in there they take it over yeah here's the poster for the Sumida-gawa fireworks festival this year it's a big deal right this is also history as you see some dude sun tanning down there man these people are hardcore the sun is hot in Japan yesterday we had somebody from United Arab Emirates visiting.

19:20 John Daub: And he said that he gets sunburned and he never gets sunburned in Dubai probably because I don't know maybe the tall buildings are blocking the sun but it's really hot there well they got people up on the hill there maybe I should get a blue sheet there as well but can I's grandpa grandfather father grandpa sorry Leo's grandpa as Mohammed is here thank you from Singapore much appreciated.

20:00 John Daub: Can I's grandpa I'll leave it there for you guys Leo's grandpa or can I's father on the up top of his apartment building they have a view of the Sumida-gawa fireworks and they live close to Asakusa so it is prime real estate I might go there to go and watch one half of it and then watch a little bit of it here because I think the view might be better.

20:40 John Daub: Going along the river for an episode I'm making but it's a really significant festival for the city of Tokyo that hasn't been taken part in it hadn't done in the last three four years so tonight is special now they publicly broadcast this on national TV I think it's TBS that runs it and the reason why they do it Coco right there please don't bring your toddler.

21:20 John Daub: The firework displays here Coco please don't tell me how to parent and yes we probably will be he will be on the roof of a building watching the fireworks he's two and a half years old he's going to be fine so there you go this festival is super crowded so they televised it and it's best for most people to stay home because you don't want first of all it's too hot to be outside right now too.

22:00 John Daub: And you have to be crazy to be out there waiting with a blue sheet I've done it it completely sucks the energy out of you in the next couple of days unless you're like a teenager and then it's only like 12 hours tomorrow we'll probably be tired but yeah they also have your must for dogs which is probably a good idea because they do not they cannot anticipate the blasts the deer the local population.

22:40 John Daub: But I'm not going to stop tradition fireworks are just too special for humanity I think even the fish probably think something is going on so what are you going to do not hold them I don't know but I love fireworks too much sorry too many people have started romances love had kids underneath the fireworks probably I don't know but it's just part of human amenity.

23:20 John Daub: And I see some jellyfish starting to come into the river here which is a telling sign of something else but if you are in Tokyo right now just you want to make sure that you're not over make sure you're drinking enough and taking care of yourself because it is really hot now this is this sheet of the fireworks that will be on display tonight they're none of them are bigger than number five.

24:00 John Daub: All right so just to put in perspective I did a fireworks festival we put on our own fireworks festival two years ago and we had number 10 shell fireworks which are called shakudama (star shells) on the right side which are massive you see they're launched up as high as the Tokyo Skytree pretty much and the width of them are huge.

24:40 John Daub: And we had viewers actually sponsor these and I think you could do it this year let me give you the link to that but the fireworks today don't get any bigger than number five which is 150 meters of width and they shoot up 200 meters high which is still not as high as the Tokyo Skytree so majority of them will be number two and three.

25:20 John Daub: Number two are not very big they're just 50 meters wide and 100 meters wide and they go up 80 to 120 meters and this is sometimes not ideal because they're blocked by a lot of the buildings in the neighborhood which is that have straight views to those barges are so crowded right now people know where to look.

26:00 John Daub: And since you have I've given you the information of where those barges are you can kind of on Google Maps figure out where to be sitting or just look for where the crowds are there are also a lot of yatai (food stalls) on the street sides for you to get street food because a lot of the restaurants will also be outside selling it but they'll close the inside because they don't want everybody using their restroom.

26:40 John Daub: Should be absolutely insane they just close the inside sell the food on the outside make sure you bring a plastic bag with you so that you can take your trash home with you now here's the QR code because I want you all to come with me on September so this is my pitch here I want you to come with me on September 9th 10th and 11th.

27:20 John Daub: As we go to Katakai in Niigata that has the biggest look at I'm banging the metal here the biggest fireworks festival the fireworks are 64 times bigger than why am I because it's fireworks the fireworks are 64 times bigger than the shakudama I want you to wrap your head around that which are bigger the fireworks that we shot up are number tens.

28:00 John Daub: The number 40s are I think he said they're not four times bigger they're 64 times bigger than the size tens which are already massive he shoots one up for he shoots two up every year they used to be the Guinness Book of World Records of the largest fireworks shot up was his here's a picture of us together with that fireworks look at that.

28:40 John Daub: I'm standing it's almost as tall as it's way more heavier than me but it's half the size of me a firework shell is not supposed to be that big neither is that rope that carries it there's Honda-san looking down and he said to me I asked him is it dangerous to be here he goes yes it's dangerous now I don't know how much of that is him playing it up.

29:20 John Daub: But yeah I would not want to be there if this one explodes he's going to be launching this up on the 10th and 11th I'm taking you if you sign up on a bus tour there with reserved seating to go and see this firework shell here it is being dropped into a pipe by a crane because it's so big usually you hand load them.

30:00 John Daub: Yeah you're not going to hand load this 420 kilogram beast this is what is going to be released in the air on September 10th and 11th I hope that you guys can join me we're not close to filling it yet yeah it would be great if you came we do have an amazing program here for you if you do come you can meet me at Tokyo Station at around 8 in the morning.

30:40 John Daub: And we'll walk over to the Shinkansen and meet at Niigata Station and transfer to we're going to a kominka (traditional farmhouse) for food then we'll go to the festival there are lots of festival booths there then we have reserved seating we have a really nice hotel with an amazing view you're probably going to see it in the morning since it'll be dark when we return there.

31:06 John Daub: It has an onsen (hot spring) we're going to go see the birthplace of where Japanese koi are it's amazing you get a chance to hold the koi then we'll have lunch and then head back home it's an amazing day trip and it's a reason to get out into the countryside I'm hoping that we have some more people here's the QR code for that more people sign up for this put it right in the center of your screen as I find a way to shuffle through all these photos I opened here how do I get rid of them there it is yeah there you go there's the QR code if you're watching on a TV get your smartphone out and you can open the camera app and you'll take it to the thing or in the live stream there's a link to take you we definitely need at least 10 more people to sign up to make it more fun here goes another barge sorry that's just a boat I don't think he's going anywhere I think he's going to be in a position it might be just too early there's a lot of traffic on the river today all right I'll take some questions about the fireworks yeah only if you are here in September and if you live in Japan it'd be great if you actually considered coming with us if you always wanted to go to Katakai this is an excuse to do so now if you went by yourself you would end up paying with the Shinkansen tickets and everything about 65% of this trip but we already got the and everything is booked up so the hotel the transportation to and from you don't have to worry about local trains or anything like that we're very comfortable so that's all in the price of it which is 70,000 yen wait a second so that does not include the Shinkansen tickets but if you're to get around and with the hotel and everything it comes pretty close to that since it's a peak season so are they racing each other I wonder you know it's so hot I would jump in and ask them but I'm not going to do that here's the poster for the Katakai this is the fireworks festival that we'll be going to in September I'm going and if we get enough people Leo and Kanae will go as well with us I don't know if Leo is actually going to the festival at night he might be too sleepy but I'd like them to come Leo is old enough to appreciate fireworks now the space boat has there's three of them they come down here every 40 minutes maybe not today I'm pretty sure they get a schedule today and the space boat is called the suijou bus (water bus) S-U-I-J-O-U which means water in Japanese suijou bus and the tickets have gone up but I think that's a good thing because they need to stay in business I think the Himiko is the one that looks more like the space boat like more like terrestrial extraterrestrial but here's the fireworks from a couple days ago it's absolutely stunning right this is inside of the city of Tokyo the fireworks that we're going to see in Katakai are 64 times bigger than this the shells which is outstanding you'll never see another fireworks festival larger than the one in September that we go to in Katakai I'm serious I'll try to live stream it for everybody too I think there might be enough signal for that I think I can get a Wi-Fi from the TV network or something I don't know we'll try to find a way to do it but Katakai it's got a special place in my heart because I like the founder of this the guy who shoots it up and creates the yonshakudama (4-shaku shell) his father created the sanshakudama (3-shaku shell) which is the largest fireworks that mega shell was shot during the Meiji era this guy has been a rebel this guy's family the Honda family in Katakai has been a rebel since the Meiji era 165 years ago or something they've been shooting up mega fireworks shells he had a cannon he made a special made cannon he shot up a sanshakudama which is like 40 times bigger than what they'd ever shot up before and it blew the people away back in that era they didn't have social media back then but the shrine was created in memory as a result of that you could see the original cannon and statues of his dad of his great grandfather and now he created to be bigger than his father the yonshakudama which is an insane task and he still makes them every year which doesn't make a lot of sense because they're so hard there's a high failure rate and the charge just to get that up in the air has to be extraordinary he won't show that because that's the actual secrets to the proprietary technology inside there is the charge to shoot it up and of course what's inside but he has a way he's been doing it now for decades since the 80s I think for 40 some years he's been shooting up this yonshakudama you're not going to be able to see unless you if you're coming to Japan you won't be able to see something better and bigger than this one it'll be something that you'll probably be telling your kids about or your grandkids or great grandkids for all I know that you saw something this big because it is it is awe inspiring with the whole sky and the height that it goes up which is like a kilometer in the air is incredible and that boom man it will it wakes up your soul which is a good thing sometimes we need that taiko (drums) drums do that for me too all right so there's my pitch and tonight's information I hope and this will be useful for 2024 and 2025 that that information is not it's not going to change too much that's just so massive man look at that yonshakudama that's what we're going to see on the left side is a nishakudama (2-shaku shell) which is a size 20 the one that the big one is a size 40 that's what we're going to be seeing on in September so I do hope that you guys sign up I'm sorry I'm pushing really hard that's today's fireworks you're supposed to push hard supposed to I want you all to come if you're here in September and if you live here in Japan we'd really appreciate it it's our own private bus so yeah we can do whatever we want no one's telling us to do there's also insurance involved here and the website's on Ide-san's website and she's the one who's going to take care of all the money cause she's paying for the bus and everything Arthur Vandeley is here thank you Arthur Arthur thank you this is going to be an amazing adventure and I'll live stream as much of it as I can if the people in the bus are okay with that maybe we can do some karaoke karaoke I think that'll be a lot of fun but if you have any questions leave them in the comments below if you're in Tokyo leave your impressions of this fireworks festival for you this is another fireworks here is in another world this is just massive and the festival around it it is different than the United States not to I'm not going to talk down about the fireworks that we have in America cause I love red white and boom you know Ohio I've seen some massive fireworks festivals there and I grew up with the fireworks festivals as a kid it's just a special special time with your family the memories that you have but when I came here and I saw I was in the city of Okazaki I saw that they had fireworks at Okazaki on the bridge and then they had dudes they had dudes with do you know Roman candles they had like little sticks they had dudes with Roman candles the size that you had to hug like six of them and these dudes would light a fuse and these things would just go like sparks spraying in the air and they're just like ah like this with the sparks flying up on the top of the side of the like Roman candle missile it's freaking awesome like it's insane they're professionals don't try that at home although I don't think you could that's what I'm talking about it's just it's another level the amount of people the food the yatai probably you drink a couple a little bit too much I pretty much stopped drinking there's so much there's so much around the fireworks festivals here in Japan world needs dudes art absolutely more dudes please one day I hope to be one of those guys holding a elephant sized Roman candle cause it just seems like something fun the passion that they have some of the festivals in Japan are over the top I'm not kidding ah what's the one the Omizutori (water drawing festival) I forget there's one in Nagano where they ride down a log and every year somebody gets killed but it is a ritual more than a festival where men and now women get on top of it and ride a log down and these are massive trees if the log rolls so do you let's just put it like that they only hold that festival once every six years and I couldn't go last year because of the pandemic they restricted me which I was very very upset about I was very angry I had some polite Japanese expletives which they could not hear me because I was doing it with my facial expressions over the phone it's the best way in Japan yeah Saya has some liquid courage for sure some good sake which is in abundance around here I'm actually near Shinkawa yeah this is Chuo-bashi I like this bridge because it's far enough away from the festival which is just where the Skytree is the festival will be held just across from the Tokyo Skytree in not too long from now in about 6 hours from now it will be held so I'm looking forward to it Leo is going to be with Grandpa and Kanae I'm going to join them a little bit later and film a little bit outside get some of the madness for an episode I'm making I think it's going to be really good and if you just happen to be in Japan and you come here please stay safe and bring a lot of water bring water with you because the event is going to be packed be patient going home maybe even rent bikes or go home walking yeah this is a special day and enjoy it the city is really infectious right now with I don't know a feeling of summer joy maybe you can hear it in the sound of my voice but I'm really happy to be here I'm happy that summer is finally here I won't be streaming it because I'll be filming it for a main channel episode but next year I might be in a position at a friend's house on a balcony I was invited to go but I just can't this year I'll see if I can stream it for next year but this year yeah let's just enjoy it and then next year we'll enjoy it live I don't know I would love to do it live we'll see maybe there's a signal where I am and I have a little bit of time and I live stream it for 10 15 minutes who knows that's why you subscribe make sure you're part of our Discord server because you get notifications too better than that Patreon helps support the Postcard Club and I'll see you guys all oh by the way this is yesterday shout out to Matt Matt Alt a buddy of mine he's on the Japanology+ he's also a really great author I almost said Arthur because Arthur Vandelay he's a very great author of books about subculture in Japan and a lot more and he's also a really good friend and I'm glad that we got to hang out yesterday with some high school kids and talk about their uniforms and the culture of uniforms in Japan yesterday this is the final scene of an episode coming I believe before the end of the month so thank you Matt for coming yeah I was really hot yesterday thanks for watching the live stream there you go I'll see you again tonight perhaps definitely tomorrow as I make my way to Fukushima with a cameraman and an assistant to film the Soma no Umaoi (Soma Wild Horse Chase) festival in Fukushima on one of the hottest days of the year yeah I have frozen water in my bag to take with me because I don't even think I have a vending machine out there to drink enough but it's going to be an amazing main channel episode and I'll try to live stream the experience along the way that's what this channel is all about you're coming with me thanks everybody see you again tomorrow or tonight just we just don't know that's the excitement of go you just kind of go with the flow do it have a nice weekend.