Japanese with anime voice: episode62
Hello, I’m Sachi.
Today, May 28, is Fireworks Day. On this day in Kyoho 18, fireworks were set off at the Sumida River during the opening of the river for the Suijin Festival. In fact, the year before, there had been a great famine and cholera outbreak, and fireworks were set off to mourn those who had died during the famine. This became the Ryogoku River Festival Fireworks, and it continues to this day. Fireworks in Japan are usually displayed in the summer months of July and August, so why May? The date of May 28, Kyoho 18, corresponds to July 9, 1733 in today’s new calendar. The old Japanese calendar and the current calendar are about two months different.
Fireworks are great, aren’t they? It’s a summer tradition in Japan. I looked up how many fireworks shows there are in Japan, and how many do you think there are? I couldn’t find the exact number because there are so many! Sorry. One site listed 346 events, but I don’t know for sure. That means there may be more, just not known. Maybe, there are still some small villages that hold fireworks festivals.
Incidentally, my hometown is in a very rural area, but there are fireworks festivals. But it is not listed in Wikipedia, the list of fireworks festivals in Japan. LOL You see, there are still many fireworks festivals in various parts of Japan that are not well known.
The fireworks festival in my hometown used to be called “川祭り (Kawa Matsuri)” (river festival). Over time, the main event became a fireworks display, and now the name “river festival” has been taken away and changed to “Arigatou Hanabi” (thank you for the fireworks). The fireworks at the time of the river festival were so dull that they could not be compared to the famous fireworks displays. But I liked it because it told the story of Ibi’s countryside. Since the Arigatou Hanabi, they have started to focus more on the fireworks, and the fireworks are now more worth seeing.
That’s fine, but what I don’t agree with is that they neglected the river festival. The river festival itself should have had its own meaning. It is said that the Arigatou Hanabi originated from the Suijin Matsuri started in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) to pray for recovery from flood damage, which I believe is the river festival. So, fireworks were not the only purpose of the festival. I think it’s good to get with the times, but I don’t think it’s right to change the original festival just because of that. Well, there is no point in complaining about it here.
But aside from that, fireworks are all about yukata, aren’t they? This year, I want to wear a lot of yukata. I have been to fireworks festivals wearing yukata in the past, and they say that women in yukata look 20% more beautiful than usual. Is there such a saying in your country? Well, I think it’s just the fact that they are different from their regular clothes that makes them look that way.
Well, there was a time in my youth when I looked 20% more beautiful than ever. When I was in high school, I wore a yukata, took the train, and went to a fireworks display with friends a little far away. I think we walked quite a distance after arriving at the station. The people I went to the fireworks with were my childhood friend and two other classmates. And two boys from another school came. Actually, the purpose of the fireworks show was to introduce the boys to my classmates. The fireworks were just an afterthought. And one of the boys was a classmate from my hometown. I was surprised, because I didn’t know that he and my childhood friend were connected. I was going to introduce my classmate to a boy from my hometown. The six of us walked to the fireworks display. The friend of my former classmate was wearing a tank top. It was a very revealing tank top. We were looking at him from behind, and we were talking about the tank top he was wearing. This is his taste in clothes, so it is none of our business. I just didn’t like men in tank tops. So, apparently, my former classmate liked a girl in my class. He wanted to be alone with her. So he talked to my childhood friend and asked me to be his friend’s companion. The tank-top boy. I was like, “No, no, there are other girls. Why me?” The reason was that his friend liked me. Well, I was wearing a yukata. Yukata girls are 20% more attractive. It was almost like I was chosen by process of elimination. Moreover, it was dark at night, and we were walking at a distance from each other, so we didn’t see each other’s faces. Anyway, at the time, I had an overreaction to boys wearing tank tops and refused to wear them, saying that I absolutely hated. In hindsight, all I had to do was talk to him for a minute. No one was asking me to go out with him. So, I should not have rejected him more than I had to, I think. Still, I was an adolescent girl at the time. I just couldn’t accept a boy wearing a tank top. It was such a youthful memory! This year, I would like to wear a yukata and go to a fireworks display in my hometown. I am planning to make a YouTube vlog video of it. Please take a look if you like. But it will be distributed in the latter half of August. Don’t forget.
