Test project:
Fireworks created in a collaborative workshop between renowned pyrotechnicians and persons with disabilities

• Test project overview
• Workshop report
• Selected fireworks designs

Fireworks created by renowned pyrotechnicians and persons with disabilities

This past June, Japan’s most renowned fireworks experts teamed up with a group of persons with disabilities who typically do flower arrangements for a special collaborative workshop. The fireworks that came out of that workshop will now be actually launched on August 19, 2017, at both the 39th Setagaya-Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Setagaya City’s 85th anniversary and at the 76th Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Kawasaki becoming a city of 1.5 million!

Thirteen people participated in the workshop. Normally, they work at an activity space called Applause Minami-Aoyama, which is operated by the Applause Association as a way to support persons with disabilities in joining the workforce through flower arranging. Some of the members have trouble with crowds and crowded places, so they find it difficult to attend fireworks festivals. Some have never even seen professional fireworks up close. There were some questions about how a fireworks workshop involving people who hadn’t had a lot of firsthand experience with fireworks would actually play out, but everyone listened eagerly to the talks given by the pyrotechnicians and asked a lot of questions. The workshop was held over four sessions and ended up being quite powerful—to the point that it sometimes ran overtime.

Using the knowledge they gained from the sessions, each of the thirteen participants came up with their own personal fireworks design, inspired by the Olympic victory bouquet. Just as you’d expect from a group used to flower arranging, the designs were heavily flower-based and tapped into a profound knowledge of flowers. Among them were ideas that were so wonderful that even the fireworks experts were genuinely impressed. Six designs were ultimately chosen from the thirteen after repeated discussions between the designers and the pyrotechnicians. The fireworks experts from the workshop were then charged with crafting them into real fireworks.
We hope you’ll make it out to one of the festivals so that you can see for yourself how these special fireworks turned out!

At the Japan HANABI Association, it is our fervent hope that this fireworks project, inspired by the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games, takes us one step further in becoming a society that is both physically and mentally barrier-free.

Fireworks festivals that welcome persons with physical disabilities

Able-bodied people can hardly imagine the difficulties that those with physical disabilities face in actually getting to a nighttime fireworks festival packed with crowds in order to see the show. The reality is that they have very few chances to enjoy professional fireworks in person. Those who produce fireworks festivals also face a multitude of problems in terms of both facilities and logistics if they want to set aside a place for people with disabilities to safely enjoy the fireworks—making this a difficult goal to achieve as well.

The purpose of the trial projects under the Olympic-Paralympic Basic Policy Promotion Survey being carried out by the Cabinet Secretariat’s Office is to test out strategies that might eliminate a variety of barriers that people with disabilities face in preparation for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. The overall theme is finding ways to bring obstacles like these to light and overcome them.

The Japan HANABI Association is wholeheartedly committed to giving people with physical disabilities an opportunity to watch fireworks at an actual festival, which is why we have set aside special areas for these guests at the upcoming 39th Setagaya-Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Setagaya City’s 85th anniversary and at the 76th Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Kawasaki becoming a city of 1.5 million.

The location is relatively easy for people using canes or in wheelchairs to enter, and allows them to see the fireworks up close. Our hope is that this trial will lead to the removal of barriers that prevent people with physical disabilities from attending not only the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games, but other fireworks festivals and events as well.

Creating a barrier-free world through fireworks

Setting off fireworks designed by people with disabilities and preparing a location that allows those designers (as well as others who typically find it difficult to go to events like these) to actually attend the festival showcases to the many people who gather at the event the possibilities that barrier-free strategies open up—not only for the world of fireworks, but for unlocking the potential that people with disabilities have as well. The Japan HANABI Association wants to share with as many people as possible the way a fireworks festival can look from the perspectives of people with disabilities, who are too often overlooked.

We also want to use this traditional Japanese art form to allow these designers with physical challenges to express themselves. In the process, we hope to add even more beauty to Japan’s traditional cultural practices while fostering the creation of a society that truly understands diversity and promotes harmonious coexistence for all.

Fireworks festival overview

The 39th Setagaya-Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Setagaya City’s 85th anniversary and at the 76th Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Kawasaki becoming a city of 1.5 million will be held at the same time. Fireworks created in the collaborative workshop between renowned pyrotechnicians and persons with disabilities will be launched at both festivals.

The 39th Setagaya-Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Setagaya City’s 85th anniversary
Reverberations: Rings of light and sound dissolving into the Tama River

Organized by	The Setagaya-Tamagawa Fireworks Festival Executive Committee and Setagaya City
Supported by	The Keihin-Kasen Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; the Second Construction Office, Tokyo Bureau of Construction; Kawasaki City, the Shibuya City Board of Education; and the Koyama Driving School
Additional support by	Private corporations, organizations, town and neighborhood councils, shopping district associations, individual donors, and others
Administrative office	Officer in charge of Regional Promotion and Disaster Prevention, Regional Promotion Section, Kinuta General Branch Office, Setagaya City
Date and times	Saturday, August 19, 2017 Cancelled in inclement weather/will not be rescheduled Stage events start at 5:45 PM Fireworks show 7:00–8:00 PM ※Programming by the Japan HANABI Association is the “Fireworks Arrangement” beginning at 7:10 PM
Launch location	Futako-Tamagawa Ryokuchi Park, Setagaya City
Contact	Setagaya Call TEL: 03-5432-3333 FAX: 03-5432-3100

For more information, visit the official event website at
http://www.tamagawa-hanabi.com/

The 76th Tamagawa Fireworks Festival commemorating Kawasaki becoming a city of 1.5 million

Organized by	Kawasaki City, the Kawasaki City Tourist Association, and the Takatsu Tourist Association
Additional support by	Private corporations, organizations, town and neighborhood councils, shopping district associations, individual donors, and others
Date and times	Saturday, August 19, 2017 Stage events start at 6:30 PM Fireworks show 7:00–8:00 PM
Launch location	The Tama riverbed at 2 Suwa and 2 Kitamikata, Seta, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City
Contact	Thank You Call Kawasaki TEL: 044-200-3939　 FAX: 044-200-3920

For more information, visit the official event website at
http://www.k-kankou.jp/fireworks/

This project is commissioned by the Cabinet Secretariat’s Office for the Promotion of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and is being implemented as part of a 2017 survey on basic policy promotion for the event.