Arai Handheld Fireworks

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Arai Handheld Fireworks (Enshu Arai tezutsu hanabi)

***** Location: Arai, Shizuoka
***** Season: Late Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Arai Hand Cannon Fireworks Festival
遠州新居手筒花火 enshu arai tezutsu hanabi
hand-held large fireworks

last saturday in July at shrine Suwa Jinja 諏訪神社



This remarkable firework display dates back to the Edo period, Yoshida domaine, and has since been upheld by the wild menfolk of Arai town.

It is one of the special festivals along the old Tokaido road.

On the night of the fireworks, at the Shrine Suwa Jinja a special fire is lit, and the candles handed over to the main participants of each fireworks group. They carry it in lanterns to their followers and then carefully light the cannons.

The climax is the Sarutahiko enka 猿田彦煙火（さるたひこえんか) firework. One man clad like a tengu goblin with a long nose and 10th of others after him ignite their handheld firework cannons, jump around and dance in the sparks. Large columns of fire sparks brighten the night sky.




Look at a video here:
source : www.mustlovejapan.com

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Enshuu-arai-tezutsu-hanabi　


source :　nippon-kichi.jp

The participants take a whole year to prepare the cannons themselves, cutting bamboo, wrapping it in tatami mats, clearing the inside of the bamboo tubes, and finally, on the day before the fireworks, a specialist adds the chemicals for the firework. It is quite dangerous if not made properly, so each participants carries responsibility.


handheld firework cannons


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



Hiroshige: Tokaido


Arai-juku (新居宿)
was the thirty-first of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the city of Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. During the Edo period, it was located in Tōtōmi Province. The kanji for the post station were originally also written as 荒江 and 荒井 (Arai).

Arai-juku was located on the western shores of Lake Hamana (浜名湖, Hamana-ko). Travelers crossed the lake to reach Maisaka-juku, the previous post station on the Tōkaidō. Though there were many checkpoints along the Tōkaidō, the Arai Checkpoint is the only one that existed both on land and on the water.

Both the checkpoint and post station were often damaged from earthquakes and tsunami, which led to them both being moved to different locations. The current location was established after the earthquake of 1707. The existing checkpoint building was used as a school after the checkpoint was abolished at the start of the Meiji period. It is now preserved as a museum dedicated to the history and culture of the post stations.

The Kii-no-kuni-ya (紀伊の国屋, a preserved hatago (旅籠) still remaining today, served as a rest spot for official travelers coming from Kii Province further south. It is now a local history museum.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts a daimyo procession on sankin kotai crossing between Maisaka-juku and Arai-juku by boat. The daimyo is in a large vessel with his family crest, while his retainers follow in a smaller boat with the baggage.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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my Daruma
has many strange friends -
firework cannon




Daruma in Arai, beside a firework cannon
だるまと手筒花火


Daruma Museum

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Handheld fireworks bento at Toyohashi station
壷屋弁当部 : 手筒花火
Mikawa Bento

. EKIBEN 駅弁 Station Lunch Box


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Manhole with the fireworks
Toyohashi Town







. Manholes with Daruma だるま模様のマンホール 　


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Yaramaika Music Festival, Hamamatsu
やらまいか浜松
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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HAIKU




確と抱く手筒花火や男意気
shika to daku tezutsu hanabi ya otoko iki

they firmly hold on
to the firework cannons -
such brave men

Tateno Masao 楯野正雄

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Related words

***** . The 53 stations of the Tokaido 　

***** . Firework Display (hanabi 花火) 　


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