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History of Fireworks
The history of “Noroi,” the original form of fireworks, is said to date back to BC, such as ancient India, Greece, and Rome. Gunpowder was accidentally invented by a Chinese medicine-making alchemist, and later gunpowder passed into the hands of military engineers to be used in weapons. It is said that firecrackers and other fireworks were on the market during the Southern Song dynasty.
In the case of the Genko invasion described in “Kaido yuku Karatsu, Hirado, Sasebo, Nagasaki” and “Kaido yuku Iki, Tsushima no Michi“, the following is a brief description of the history of the Genko invasion. During the invasion of Japan by the Yuan Dynasty, which overthrew the Song Dynasty and unified China, records show that rocket fireworks using gunpowder and explosive firearms called “tetsuho,” which exploded in midair and scattered fragments, were used mainly for intimidation purposes, and that Japanese samurai were terrified by these weapons.
In the thirteenth century, gunpowder was introduced to Muslim countries through merchants, and although it was used as a weapon, it was also used as a firework. Fireworks as we know them today began in Florence, Italy, in the late 14th century, and soon fireworks spread among the royalty and nobility, and were set off at weddings and coronations.
In Japan, as described in “Kaido yuku Tanegashima, Yakushima, and Amami Islands,” fireworks began to be used as weapons in the 16th century with the introduction of guns from Europe, and were first appreciated in the Edo period. It was during the Edo period (1603-1867) that fireworks became popular among shoguns and feudal lords after Tokugawa Ieyasu saw fireworks set off by the Chinese.
The fireworks Ieyasu saw were simply gunpowder filled in a bamboo cylinder and set on fire, and it is said that the “Tezutsu Hanabi” that remains in the Mikawa region is a remnant of this style of fireworks.
Fireworks in Edo
The “Sumida River Fireworks” is one of the most famous fireworks displays in Tokyo. This is derived from a fireworks display held in the Edo period (1603-1867), and has been preserved in various ukiyoe woodblock prints.
Hiroshige Utagawa “Meisho Edo hyakkei Ryogoku hanabi
As described in “Kaido Yuku: Honjo and Fukagawa Area,” in the early Edo period, only the Senju Bridge was permitted to cross the Sumida River for security reasons, and as a result, residents were only located in the area west of the Sumida River. In 1657, during the Great Meireki Fire, many Edo citizens who had no bridges and no place to escape were engulfed by the fire, which reportedly killed or injured as many as 100,000 people. After the bridge was built, the urban area was expanded, and the Honjo and Fukagawa areas developed greatly. The name “Ryogoku” is said to have come from the fact that the area straddled two countries, Musashi on the west side and Shimofusa on the east side.
One of the most famous pyrotechnicians of the Edo period was Yahei Kagiya. Yahei was a pyrotechnician from Nara Prefecture during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu in the early Edo period. He learned how to handle gunpowder at a gunpowder factory in Nara and invented handheld fireworks using gunpowder and gunpowder balls packed in the stems of reeds growing along the Yoshino River, famous for its cherry blossoms, which he called “fire flowers,” “flower fire,” and “fireworks. The fireworks were so well received that they sold like hotcakes, and he is said to have opened a fireworks shop, Kagiya, in Yokoyama-cho, Nihonbashi described in “Nihonbashi and Edo Shijuku“, in Edo (present-day Tokyo).
According to a historical document, “Fireworks master Yahei Kagiya became an official of the shogunate,” suggesting that he was an official of the shogunate and that his skills were superior to those of other pyrotechnicians.
In Edo during this period, fires and fights were the flower of Edo, and perhaps due to the increase in fires caused by fireworks, a ban on fireworks in the city was issued in 1648, stating “Fireworks other than the shooting of rats and shooting of shooting stars are prohibited in the town.
In 1732, a cholera epidemic occurred in Edo, probably as a result of the great famine (Kyouho 17), and many people died. The following year, Kyoho 18, the Ryogoku River Festival was held on May 28, and for three months until August 28, various fireworks were set off every night by Yahei Kagiya VI.
This was the era of Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was born in Kishu (Wakayama), as described in “Negoroji Temple and Zoga Shu in the Kino River Basin on the Highway,” when the culture of the common people flourished and many ukiyo-e prints were produced, as described in “Ukiyo-e and New Prints – Old and Good in the Art World.
At that time, the total number of fireworks set off and launched in one night was about 20, but the scale of fireworks gradually increased, as people in Edo loved fireworks from the beginning. In those days, it was a symbol of the extravagance of wealthy merchants to send out a pleasure boat and have a “key shop” display fireworks, and as in the Netherlands, as described in “Realism in the Dutch Golden Age: Rembrandt and Vermeer,” citizens became the bearers of culture.
Tamaya, Kagiya and Inari Shrine
In the course of these times, Shizushichi, the “Kagiya” banncho, split his business and took the name Tamaya Ichibei in the Ryogoku Yoshikawa-cho area. Eventually, “Tamaya” came to be in charge of the upstream area of the river and “Kagiya” the downstream area, and the two major firecrackers competed with each other, and the call to support them became “Tamaya~” and “Kagiya~” often heard at fireworks displays.
The trade names “Kagiya” and “Tamaya” are said to be related to Inari, a type of shrine to which Kagiya originally worshipped, as in an old willow poem, “Hanaya-ya are all Ujiko of Inari.
As mentioned in the article “Strolling along the Highway in Akasaka” there are many Inari shrines in Tokyo. As is the case at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, which is the originator of Inari shrines, the foxes placed in front of the shrine gates to protect Inari are in the shape of a fox on the left holding a key and a fox on the right holding a ball.
The shop names of “key shop” and “tama-ya” are derived from the keys and beads (jewelry) held in the fox’s mouth.
The fox is said to be either an incarnation of the god Inari or a guardian deity, but some foxes carry scrolls or ears of rice, and the reason for these different appendages is not well established.
The Inari god was originally a deity to pray for a good harvest of rice, but it is also related to beliefs as a mountain god and a guardian deity of the land. It is said that Yahei, a fireworks master, may have believed in Inari to pray for safety, or that it was related to the folk customs and beliefs of the village in Nara Prefecture, where he was born.
the fall of Tamaya and the favoritism of the courtier
This competition between tamaya and key shops lasted only 35 years.
As the phrase “Ichiryo ga hanabi ma naki hikaranaki hikaranika” (Kikaku) says, the competition between Kagiya and Tamaya caused the samurai families and wealthy merchants who enjoyed the river entertainment of summer boats and water teahouses to spend a lot of money on fireworks. In 1842, the Shogunate banned the manufacture of fireworks by Kagiya and Tamaya, and in 1843, Tamaya was involved in a fire that burned down half a town block due to a fire that broke out during the manufacturing process. Tamaya as a fireworks store was cut off.
After this, only Kagiya was left to hold fireworks shows, but the people of Edo missed Tamaya and continued to call out “Tamaya” to him. There is a song from this period, “On the bridge, Tamaya, all I hear is Tamaya’s voice, why don’t they call him “Kagiya”? This song is said to have been sung during this period, “There are no locks on the bridge. It is said that this poem expresses the disposition of Edo people who favor the shogunate.
Since then, Kagiya has developed a variety of fireworks and led the Japanese fireworks industry, and is currently headed by the 15th generation. The 15th head of the family is an athlete who won a bronze medal in the 48-kilogram category of the Fukuoka International Women’s Judo Championships and was a judo referee at the Tokyo Olympics.
Many of today’s fireworks displays are held not simply to enjoy fireworks, but also as entertainment synchronized with music. For example, Chigasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture, the hometown of Keisuke Kuwata of the Southern All Stars, holds the “Chigasaki Southern Art Fireworks Festival” synchronized with Southern music, where visitors can enjoy fireworks displays accompanied by hit songs from the past, such as “Ellie Itoshi,” “Jiyaku Sinbad,” “TSUNAMI,” and “Kibo no Rutto.
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