Kounosu Fireworks

Saitama · Fireworks festival

About 20,000 shells over the Arakawa in October, run by the town's chamber of commerce youth division.

Dates

Expected October 2027

Held on a Saturday in early October.

The next edition has not been announced yet. Confirm before you travel.

Kounosu started its display in 2002 with three thousand shells and now fires around twenty thousand, which makes it one of the larger autumn events within an hour of Tokyo. The ground is the Arakawa floodplain at Nukata, wide and empty enough that the launch site can sit a long way from the crowd and still fill the view. In 2014 the town fired a shell four shaku across and had it certified as the heaviest firework in the world. That record has since moved on, but the ambition has not: the signature sequence, Hoo Ranbu, runs three hundred large shells in a single block, and the 2026 programme was built around another record attempt for the most large shells fired in three minutes. The show starts at 17:30, earlier than a summer festival, because October nights come on quickly.

Getting a good spot

Both Kounosu and Kita-Kounosu on the Takasaki Line are about 40 minutes on foot from the riverbank, and the walk back is single file in places. Paid seating holds about 23,000 between sponsor and ticketed seats, a small share of a crowd that has reached 600,000, and goes on sale in late May; the free areas along the bank fill from the afternoon.

Where it happens

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Access

Common questions

When are the Kounosu fireworks?

On a Saturday in early October. In 2026 it was 10 October, starting at 17:30. There is no rain date, so the show either runs or is cancelled.

Is it free to watch?

Partly. The organisers list admission as paid with some free viewing areas, and the free stretches along the riverbank fill from the afternoon. Paid seats go on sale in late May.