Lake Suwa Fireworks Festival - Where Night Sky and Lake Surface Unite in an Immersive Fireworks Experience

Lake Suwa, located in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, is one of Shinshu's most beautiful lakes. Every August 15th, this lake serves as the stage for the Lake Suwa Fireworks Festival, which began in 1949 as a prayer for post-war recovery and peace. For over 70 years since then, it has continued to captivate countless people as one of Japan's most prestigious fireworks festivals.

The festival's greatest feature is its massive scale, with approximately 40,000 fireworks launched from the lake surface. Thanks to Lake Suwa's unique geography, surrounded by mountains on all sides, the thundering booms of the fireworks echo throughout the entire basin, creating an overwhelming experience you can feel resonating through your entire body. Additionally, the lake surface acts as a natural mirror, reflecting the fireworks and creating a fantastical scene where both the night sky and water surface are illuminated.

The highlights include the "Water Starmine," which spreads in a fan shape from the lake surface, "Kiss of Fire," where fireworks in the sky and on the lake surface become one, and "Niagara," a waterfall-like cascade stretching approximately 2 kilometers. With around 500,000 visitors each year, this fireworks festival is a quintessential Japanese summer tradition that international visitors should definitely experience.