The Art, Science and Technique

PYROTECHNICA Engilsh PDF Size : 1.01 MB A brief history of Japanese fireworksIt is said that the word "Hanabi", the Japanese name for fireworks, was used for the first time in 1585. "Hana" means flowers and "Bi" is a softened sound of "Hi" which means fire, and"Flowers of fire" is the Japanese name which corresponds to the word "Fireworks". In 1613 an English man, a messenger of James I, king of England, came to Sumpu (now Shizuoka) in Japan to see Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Tokugawa government. Under the guidance of a Chinese merchant he brought fireworks and displayed them there. It is uncertain where the fireworks were made, either in England or possibly China. The fireworks might possibly have been fountains or volcanos at present. The commencement of firework production in Japan might possibly have been of the type made about 1620 or later. [Re.N.Sakenobe, Journal of the Industrial Explosives Society, Japan, Vol.28,321(1967)]. In 1659 Kagiya, the famous fireworker, began his work in Edo (now Tokyo). In 1733 the famous firework display at the River Ryogoku (also called Sumida) in Edo took place. The display originated from a Buddist memorial service for many people who died from cholera in 1732. [Re.H.Inagaki,Annual Report of the Japanese Firework Industrial Society, 3, 2 (July 1955)]. On this site the fireworks were fired or exhibited from ships and that display greatly influenced the development of Japanese fireworks. In 1810 another famous fireworker Tamaya branched out from Kagiya, but he had to leave Edo in 1843 by the order of Tokugawa government because of a fire accident. Under the Tokugawa government fireworks were developed also in many districts in Japan under the patronage of the feudal lords. The types of fireworks were probably round shells and set pieces. For a long period the colour of fireworks was dark red or amber which came from black powder until coloured flame compositions came into use in about 1880; this was caused by the introduction of potassium chlorate from Europe accompanied by safety matches. In 1926 Gisaku Aoki completed the double petalled chrysanthemum and in October 1928 at Inariyama in Nagano he displayed a double petalled chrysanthemum with pistil at the memorial firework display for the enthronement ceremony of the Emperor. The colour arrangement was very simple, i.e. the centre of the flower was red, the middle part was blue and the outer petals were amber. Afterwards this kind of multipetalled chrysanthemum was widely developed in Japan to become the most representative firework in Japan. The River Ryogoku display was discontinued in 1961 but it was recovered in small scale in 1979. This firework festival which has such a long history (about two hundred years) may seem rather unusual in the rest of world.

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