Society

Annual fireworks festival held in Tokyo

Jul 30 (NHK) - A major fireworks festival was held on Sunday evening along one of Tokyo's rivers after being postponed on Saturday due to an approaching typhoon.

The annual Sumida River Fireworks Festival took place with about 20,000 fireworks set off.

Typhoon Jongdari forced the postponement of the annual event scheduled for the last Saturday of July.

Tokyo police stepped up security measures at fireworks shows in the capital since a 2016 terrorist attack on the Bastille Day fireworks in the southern French city of Nice.

This summer, about 3,000 police officers were on duty at the Sumida riverfront event.

Large riot police vehicles were also mobilized at 30 locations around the venue to prevent the entry of suspicious vehicles.

Crowds of people cheered and took pictures when the spectacle started at 7 PM.

One teenager told NHK that she is sorry that a friend of hers couldn't join her for the event because of the postponement. But she said she was glad she could watch beautiful fireworks under the clear sky.

A man said he had been worried whether he and his children would be able to watch this year's event, but that he was glad they were able to enjoy the dynamic show of lights.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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