From Signal Fires to a Tradition That Illuminates the Midsummer Night
Fireworks blooming across the summer night skies are one of Japan’s most iconic seasonal sights. Yet they did not originate as a source of entertainment. The earliest form of fireworks can be traced back to the frequent use of noroshi – a signal fire used to communicate danger from afar. Over time, what was used as signal fires became an entertainment for samurai lords, a recreation enjoyed by ordinary townspeople, and eventually the highlight of local summer festivals radiating across the night sky.
Using Signal Fire (Noroshi) to Warn People of Danger
Noroshi was an ancient form of communication, using smoke to warn of potential danger during the day and flames at night. In ancient China, around 247 B.C. to 210 B.C., signal towers were built along the Great Wall to alert citizens of approaching enemy forces. Japan later adopted a similar system around the 7th century. According to the Nihon Shoki – one of Japan’s oldest historical records – signal fire was already being used in border regions such as Iki and Tsushima as a source of communication. In Japan, these signals later became known as noroshi. At the time, fire was not something people gathered to admire, but rather, it was a practical tool used to protect lives and carry urgent information.
First Encounter of Fire as a Form of Entertainment: When Gunpowder Became Recreation Over Military Utility
By 1543, gunpowder technology is believed to have reached Japan together with firearms through the island of Tanegashima. Since the rise of civil war during the late 1460s and onwards, the technology of gunpowder and firearms developed rapidly. By the second half of the 16th century, fire and explosives began to appear beyond battlefields. There are several theories about how fire was used as a source of entertainment in Japan by the late 1500s.
Around 1560, handheld bamboo fireworks are said to have been used at shrine festivals in the Mikawa region – present-day Aichi Prefecture. There are some references that imply that powerful warlords like Date Masamune enjoyed fireworks as a form of entertainment display in 1589. While the exact reason for the use of gunpowder is unclear, some resources suggest that by this period, gunpowder was utilised not only for warfare, but may have also been used to entertain the warlords in Japan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Official Viewing of the Tatebi in the 16th Century
Tokugawa Ieyasu was a famous Japanese feudal lord who unified and founded the military government from 1590 to 1616 – until the Meiji Restoration. The powerful daimyo was widely known as the first person in Japan to have officially viewed fireworks, although earlier accounts also exist. Historical records state that a merchant from Ming China brought an English merchant named John Saris to Japan and presented a firework display to Ieyasu in Sunpu in 1613. Upon Saris’ first arrival in Japan, Ieyasu authorised and permitted the export, import, and trade between Japan and the United Kingdom.
The fireworks that Ieyasu saw were not aerial fireworks that opened high above the ground, as we know of today. They were known as tatebi – simple ground-based fireworks made by filling bamboo tubes with black powder and releasing a fountain of sparks. Mikawa was Ieyasu’s birthplace and a musketeer base to create and develop firearms. Since the use of gunpowder was permitted in limited areas, firearm techniques could only be developed in specified regions. The rising use of tatebi showcases inspired members of the Tokugawa military base to begin making fireworks. Ultimately, the region became one of the foundations of Japanese firework culture.
Fireworks Reaching the Townspeople of Japan for Entertainment
After Ieyasu’s viewing, fireworks first became popular among feudal lords. Along the Sumida River in Edo, feudal lords enjoyed viewing fireworks as part of summer gatherings to escape the heat. When the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, permitted local firework technicians to create and sell fireworks, fireworks became more accessible and gained popularity among ordinary townspeople. Firework sellers appeared in the streets, and fireworks became a familiar form of entertainment. However, since Edo was a city densely packed with wooden buildings, the Tokugawa shogunate warned the townspeople about using fireworks for causing potential fire hazards. By 1648, the use of fireworks was prohibited outside the Sumida River area. Until the 1680s, similar restrictions were issued repeatedly, yet people continued to enjoy them.
Fireworks that We Now Know Today: A Light That Brings People Together on a Hot, Summery Night
The first official firework festival was held in Edo to mourn famine in 1733. By the post-war period, firework festivals became a prominent event to commemorate the loss of family and loved ones during the World Wars. Eventually, in the modern day, firework culture spread beyond Edo and became the highlight showcase of summer festivals across Japan. While Japanese fireworks are said to have existed since the 16th century when Japan adopted the signal fires system, other sources indicate that gunpowder creation was the start of modern-day fireworks. A fire once used to warn people of danger has become a light that brings people together, looking up at the sky and sharing the same fleeting moment.