Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Festival 2010

One of the biggest and most beloved fireworks festivals in Osaka, the Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Festival (なにわ淀川花火大会) has been held along the Shin-Yodogawa River every year since 1989, and despite its size, the festival is put on almost entirely by the local residents and businesses of the Juso neighborhood. Attendance each year is approximately 500,000 people, and the fireworks display is massive. The 2010 festival will be held on Saturday, August 7: the fireworks start launching at 7:50 pm and the show lasts until around 9:00 pm, but unless you have a reserved seat somewhere, I suggest bringing your tarp and staking out a place along the river in the afternoon if you want any chance of sitting. Most people dress up in yukata and have picnics beforehand, making it an all-day event.

The closest stations to the festival are Tsukamoto Station (JR Kobe/San’yo Line) and Juso Station (Hankyu Kobe, Kyoto and Takarazuka Lines). Admission is free unless you want reserved seats. The festival’s homepage (Japanese only) can be viewed here.

Note: Photo by Wikimedia Commons.

Tenjin Matsuri 2010

Only one week remains until Osaka’s biggest festival, the Tenjin Matsuri. Millions attend this epic event, known as one of the three great festivals of Japan, and also as the greatest boat festival in the world. It reflects Osaka’s mercantile, canal-centric history as Japan’s “city of water.” The Tenjin Matsuri’s history reaches back 1,000 years, and is dedicated to Sugawara-no-Michizane, who is enshrined and worshipped as the Tenman Tenjin, the god of learning and the arts. Needless to say, it is an important time for Osakans, and is a huge part of Osakan culture.

Along with a tremendous fireworks display, over 100 boats and 3,000 people take part in the festival, and spectators from around Japan and all corners of the world flock to Osaka, clad in yukata and geta for a summer experience they will never forget. The festival technically takes place throughout the month, but the main events are on July 24 and 25. It starts at the Tenmangu Shrine (link to Japanese-only site), and proceeds first by land through the streets and then by water down the Okawa River. Bunraku performances and other events take part throughout Osaka, and of course there are plenty of food stalls and alcoholic beverages for sale along the riverbanks. The boats going down the river is the highlight of the event, with hypnotic rhythms throwing people into a dancing frenzy as the decorated, lit-up vessels cruise down the river and circle the bonfire blazing atop the water’s surface.

Once again, that’s July 24 and 25, 2010. For more information, as well as footage and shots of this spectacular event, check out at Osaka-Info’s website.

Photos from Nipponbashi Festa 2010

More photos at my Flickr photostream!

I attended the Nipponbashi Festa 2010 in Den Den Town, Osaka, this weekend for the first time, and I must say it was quite an experience. Crowds filled the streets from Ebisucho to Nipponbashi, and fans and shop promoters alike went all-out with costumes representing their favorite anime, manga, movie and video game characters. In case you didn’t make it to the festival, check out the photos and videos (including footage of the maid parade!) at my Flickr photostream.