To finish off the long weekend we arrived in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture. I’d been to Kitakami a few times before, and there’s nothing really special about this small city, except their fireworks.

The banks of the Kitakami River are located just a few minutes walk from the train station. We arrived by car in the late afternoon, and found some paid parking after a short search. The area to watch the fireworks was amazing, at least in my opinion. There’s a long paved walkway that runs above the riverside; below there’s a narrow grassy area. By the time we arrived most of the grassy area was taken, so we opted to stay up above on the walkway. Did I mention that all the food and alcohol stalls were right beside the walkway? That may have influenced our decision as well! The walkway sits about 20 feet above the grassy area, as a result there’s a short retaining wall to prevent people from doing a header down below.

If you don’t plan on coming very early in the day to claim some grass, remember to bring some small folding stools/chairs, so you don’t have to lean against the retaining wall while you enjoy the fireworks.

As I mentioned before, the venue is great; there’s not a bad spot whatsoever to see the fireworks. The far side of the river is lined with torches, where there are the three launch sites. A few small canoes also sit up river; during the night they light small candles and send them down the river. Thousands of them must have passed by during the two hour event.

The fireworks themselves were amazing, probably the 2nd best event I saw this year. The only negative was the constant delays after each salvo was launched. I guess you can “buy” a firework and dedicate it to someone, so they would constantly stop and blab about this and that, then shoot off a few more and blab.

Definitely recommended though. If you live in Tohoku and won’t be making it to Omagari, this is the place to go!

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