Omagari Fireworks

大曲花火

Historical background

The Suwa Shrine in Omagari started to add fireworks in their festival in 1910, over 100 years ago. The Omagari Hanabi fireworks festival is one of the top three in Japan, with different themes for each season. It is part of the National Fireworks Competition in the summer. The Spring Chapter shows a display of international fireworks with traditional Japanese techniques. The Autumn Chapter, however, is when young firework artists compete on their skills.

Characteristics

While each firework is different, the Warimono fireworks, which appear as an exploding chrysanthemum, are made by hand with tweezers to pack the granules into the firework.

The process of making fireworks

配合(Haigo) Combining
1. Mixing different kinds of chemicals by using a sieve (A-1) to create the gunpowder, which generates many colors, sounds, and different types of explosions.
2. The compounding ratio of chemicals differs from company to company and is a trade secret.

造粒(Zoryu) Granulation
1. Using a 1mm ceramic ball as the core, particles are made by sprinkling liquid and powder gunpowder. (A-2) Ceramic balls are environmentally friendly and safe to be thrown away in nature.
2. Dry up the particles in the sun or in a drying room repeat the step and make the particles bigger.
3. This process is often performed by men since it requires physical strength.

A-1

A-2

While repeating the step, balls are carefully measured by screening the tools in picture A-3 to make the size of the particles uniform.
It takes more than a month to create 尺玉 (Syaku-dama) = 10号玉(=30 cm diameter) (A-4)

仕込み（玉込め）(Tama-kome)
1. Filling the ball into a mold
2. The filling inside the balls is a mixture of rice husk＋charcoal (もみ殻＋炭). The rice husks are from local farmers.

仕上げ Finalizatioin: 玉貼り (Tama-hari)
1. Attach the craft paper to the ball using glue.
  1. The glue is made from Rice(Akita Komachi)
2. Dry up after Wrapping 6 layers of craft paper and repeat many times.

A-3

A-4

Women are more seen in steps that require fine manual skills

Skilled techniques by trained professionals, careful quality-checking, and delicate management throughout the entire process result in the creation of extremely beautiful and delicate fireworks.

Interview with three female employees in Hibikiya Omagari Enka Kabushiki Gaisha (響屋大曲煙火株式会社)

Name　　　　　響屋大曲煙火株式会社(Hibikiya Omagari Enka Kabushiki Gaisha)

Establishment　 1894（Meiji 27）

CEO　　　　　 Kentaro SAITO

Address　　　　〒014-0206 秋田県大仙市長戸呂ハサバ長根1-5

TEL　　 0187-63-2848

(From the left, Ms. Saito, Ms. Suzuki, Ms. Aratake)

Working environment

There are several things that are in common with the fireworks industry, which is very traditional and has a long history. Mr. Saito, the CEO of Hibikiya, explained that the fireworks industry has three main features in general.

Clear hierarchy

Since making fireworks requires specific skills and it takes many years to be admitted as a professional, there is a strict hierarchy of experiences and ages.

Male dominance

Many tasks require physical power which naturally made the industry male-dominant. Until recent years, few women were allowed to engage in the production.

Closed community

All the firework companies in Akita are family-run. Due to the serious aging society and the low birth rate in Akita, they face a succession crisis.

Compared to these conservative situations of the fireworks companies, Hibikiya and the CEO, who is in his forties, made a lot of changes in order to survive in the industry.

Recruiting young people from all over Japan and the world (Osaka, Chiba, and the Philippines).
Creating an atmosphere where all workers can frankly talk regardless of their positions and share their ideas and opinions.
Arranging working hours flexibly for those who have children. Not only women but also men workers arrange their working hours for their childcare.

By doing these, the CEO is trying to make a sustainable company that has strong power even decades later.

Future Goals

Hibikiya is one of the companies in Japan that is actively expanding overseas. They are the only company participating in fireworks displays among private companies overseas in Japan and participated in the International Symposium on Fireworks 2023 in Malta. The Japanese government sometimes requests fireworks companies in Japan to participate in fireworks shows overseas where the government is involved, but this is the first time that a Japanese private company has participated in a fireworks display held by an overseas private company. This is because fireworks use gunpowder, which is dangerous and difficult to handle to export abroad.

Therefore, since this project had no precedent, it was difficult to obtain a license and go through the procedures for exporting fireworks in Japan. Aratake-san (the girl on the right), has been working hard to expand Japanese fireworks overseas based on her passion to stop the loss of Japanese high-quality fireworks manufacturing.

Fireworks of Hibikiya in competition

Current activities

Museum of Traditional Omagari Hanabi

The Hanabi-AM is a museum for the inheritance of traditional fireworks culture. It houses the materials that are related to fireworks and the history of their displays, and allows visitors to enjoy the process of making fireworks such as by mixing gunpowder, settings, and attaching the balls.

How to get there

Omono Riverside Ryokuchi Athletic Park (大曲の花火公園)

Google Map

30-minute walk from JR Omagari Station.
Ou Main Line and Tazawako Line
Drive - Omagari interchange on Akita Expressway. On-site parking is available but limited (Public transportation is recommended) (Japan Travel).

How to purchase

Details are going to be shown when the festival dates are decided (Omagari-hanabi Ticket)

To know more!