The summer 'must do' list: lighting sparklers

One of my daughters and her friends went to light sparklers last night. The rest of us will do it later in summer. As this is another of our annual 'must do' summer customs. Sparklers are handheld fireworks. They are very popular in Japan and I think you'd be hard pushed to find a Japanese person who has never lit a sparkler in their life! It is one of the most common summer activities. Many kindergartens even have an annual sparkler event in the summer.

However, due to the popularity of this activity, coupled with the potential danger, many parks across Japan have signs up saying "please don't light sparkers in the park". So it is important to find a place where you are permitted to light them. One of the places we most frequently see people lighting sparklers is riverside. It is also our personal choice of the safest place to light them and where you are least likely to be "meiwaku" or 'bothersome' to others.

We are actually lucky though because we have really good neighbors so we are even able to light sparklers in our garden. Moroever, sometimes we light sparklers on the road with our neighbors. One of our neighbors is really into them so he often has some larger type sparklers, such as the one pictured above, much to the kids delight.

You can pick up sparklers in supermarkets, even some convenience stores, around Japan at this time of year. You can often find them on sale at campsites too. When our relatives visit over Obon, they usually bring sparklers with them as a present for the kids. Once you have the sparklers all you need is a lighter, a bucket of water, a  and a rubbish bag! Once you have used a sparkler you need to put it in water to ensure it is completely out. When we go riverside to light the sparklers we bring an empty bucket and large bottles of water and fill the bucket on site. 

Do you light sparklers in the summer? Is it something you did / do in your home country too?