Living with Tokyo Disney Resort in their midst, residents of Urayasu in Chiba Prefecture can enjoy its fireworks displays every night in summer. Even for them, though, the annual Noryo Fireworks Festival is something else altogether.
From early afternoon on July 27, streams of people in party mood began trickling into the city's Takasu Kaihin Park, both locals and others from further afield -- many of whom had waited in winding lines under the scorching sun for one of the free shuttle buses running from JR Shin Urayasu Station.
Though they looked tired when they got off the buses, with many fanatically fanning their yukata-clad bodies, the atmosphere in the crowd changed instantly and dramatically the moment the first of the night's 8,500 fireworks rocketed skyward over Tokyo Bay.