Kami-Seinaiji, Achi Village, Nagano Prefecture

　Kami-Seinaiji carries on the tradition of handmade fireworks, which are now few and far between. The National Theatre Okinawa has restored five karakuri, but the fireworks were not handmade fireworks. Fireworks in the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Edo period were made of (1) nitreous soda, (2) sulfur, (3) charcoal, and (4) iron powder. The color and intensity were changed by changing the mixture, but the iron powder in particular burns for a long time, and when used for spurting fireworks, the sparks that rise high in the sky fall to the ground without extinguishing, drawing a long trail like a fountain.
　However, iron powder tends to rust easily, so it must be made in the morning and used that night. We could not use fireworks with iron powder because there was no fireworks factory in Okinawa and we could not make our own and gunpowder could not be transported by air. Therefore, in October 2024, we sent a karakuri device to Nagano Prefecture and conducted a combustion experiment by attaching a jet of fireworks from Kami-Seinaiji. Because of the windless conditions, the traps were hidden by smoke, but the fireworks produced a soft, beautiful curve as shown in the diagram in the “Hibanahou Nikki”.