Bad news for fireworks fans: Kumamoto Mayor Ohnishi said today that holding the annual fireworks event at Lake Ezu would be “problematic” given earthquake damage affecting spectator flow, indicating that the event will be cancelled. 7 million yen has been budgeted for the event; instead, the money may be directed towards supporting other firework events in the prefecture.
Kumamoto City’s annual pyrotechnic spectacular had been held at Lake Ezu for years until being moved to Kumamoto Castle about a decade ago. Crowd-control problems led to the event being cancelled for a few years until it finally restarted again at Lake Ezu last year. Mayor Ohnishi is quoted as suggesting that, instead, he might plan something cool for the Kumamoto Marathon - which is held in February, so whatever he has in mind would not involve yukata, geta, and uchiwa tucked into obi. - William