Yokosuka Kaikoku Fireworks Festival

The Yokosuka Kaikoku Fireworks Festival is a fireworks display held in the area around Umikaze Park in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. A relatively new fireworks display begun in 2003, it is beloved as an event representative of summer on the Miura Peninsula, in which powerful fireworks color the night sky over the sea of Yokosuka facing Tokyo Bay.

The name "Kaikoku" (opening of the country) derives from Yokosuka's important role in Japan's modern history. In 1853, at the end of the Edo period, the Black Ships led by Perry arrived off Uraga in Yokosuka. In reference to this historic event becoming the catalyst for Japan's opening to the world, the fireworks display bears the name "Kaikoku"—a locally rooted naming imbued with Yokosuka's history and pride in the sea.

A distinctive feature of this fireworks display is the beauty of the fireworks launched from the sea, set against the backdrop of ships passing through Tokyo Bay and the scenery of the opposite shore. Large shells and star mines are launched one after another, offering a double brilliance together with the light reflected on the sea's surface. With a composition that launches fireworks intensively in a relatively short time, its dense and powerful staging draws popularity. Splendidly coloring the summer night sky of Yokosuka, a town of sea and history, this fireworks display has become a summer tradition cherished by locals and tourists alike.