Blog

今年の戸倉温泉「千曲川花火大会」は全国ニュースになりました。

この小さな町が3.11以降の自粛ムードをブッ飛ばして、花火大会を盛大に開催したからじゃなくて、

直前に大雨が降ったからじゃなくて、

小さい町の割に大々的にやって、1万発もだして、千曲川の上と音を反射する城山と五里ヶ峰の間と言う最適な場面で、目の前で見れて、最後は万葉橋のナイアガラと言う感動的な花火だからじゃなくて、

じゃ、何でニュースになったでしょうか?

その大雨のせいで、千曲川の水の流れが溢れて、花火師の11人は帰られなくなったからです。夜中、消防のクレーンで助けられた。けがはなくて、良かった。花火大会も雨で中止にならずに、それも良かった。

でも、一つは分かった:戸倉の花火の皆さんに騙されていた。「５０何間、雨で中止になったのは1回もない」と言われました。今回はスターツの時に大雨だったにかかわらず、中止にならなかった。という事は、という事は、今まで雨で中止にならなかった理由は、雨が降っても中止しないからだ。なるほど！

でも、スタートの時は雨が降ったが、その後止んで、私の布団引きの作業が終わってから花火を見に行った頃は既に星空になっていました。星と花火、素敵な合わせでした。

Togura's Chikuma River Fireworks Display last night made the national news.

Not because our small town was able to put on the show despite other festival being cut back in the aftermath of the 3.11 disaster.

And not because the show went on after a heavy squall at the start.

And also not because it's an amazingly extensive show with 10,000 blasts of fireworks, surprisingly big for such a small town; not to mention the picturesque setting over the Chikuma River situated in a narrow valley with mountains that reverbrate the sound.

So, why was our show in the news?

Because 11 of the pyrotechnicians got caught on their island by raising river waters. The water volume was swollen by rainfall upriver, and the 11 men had to be rescued by a fire department crane. Fortunately, none of the 11 were hurt. And also fortunately, the show was not interrupted by the rain.

I did learn one thing though. Those Togura fireworks guys duped me. They had said the show had never been canceled by rain in 50+ years. Last night, the show went on despite rain at the start. So when they say it had never been canceled, they mean that even though it rained, they never canceled. Ah hah!

But I, for one, was glad the show took place. By the time I finished flipping futons at our inn and went down to the river, the rain had stopped and the stars were out. So I got to enjoy a fireworks show with twinkling stars, too.

花火師のレスキューニュースはこちらClick here for the pyrotechnicians rescue news