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Summer in Japan is all about kimonos, fans and fireworks. There really are few better ways to beat the heat than getting outdoors in a light cotton robe, eating and ton of festival grub and settling in to watch pictures being painted on the black night sky. And although fireworks festivals themselves are nothing out of the ordinary here in Japan, the blast that brought Kumano City’s Hanabi Taikai fireworks festival to a close this year was truly spectacular, with the excited crowd’s countdown to the final moment immediately followed by gasps and cheers almost as loud as the explosion itself. Check out the epic firework in all its glory after the jump.

The Mie-Prefecture city’s annual firework festival took place on August 18 this year, with thousands of visitors squeezing onto every inch of Shichiri Mihama beach, which is covered with large, smooth rocks just perfect for lounging around on.

With more than 10,000 fireworks, boats travelling at full speed across the sea in front of the beach drop the miniature explosives in their wake, only narrowly avoiding the explosions themselves, making Kumano’s display one of the most exciting and original there is. The star of the show, however, is the 250kg goliath of a firework that brings the ceremonies to a close, and is detonated on a raft a few hundred metres out to sea. Check it out in the following video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crPlU7KofTA

Let’s see that again, shall we?

▼ The crowd is told to prepare for the big one as a shower of lights zips through the air like a scene from an old-school shoot ’em up. They begin to count down from 10…

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▼ BOOM! The monster firework explodes, sending streaks of white and green light out in 180 degrees.

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▼ The wave of green light explodes from the core.

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▼Until the sky is lit red by the falling lights.

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▼ Which turn into a sea of green stars on a still black canvas. Simply beautiful.

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We know where we’re heading next summer! Let us know if you have any other recommendations for fireworks festivals in Japan in the comments section below.

Images/video via YouTube kappahakase01