{"id":86912,"date":"2026-10-22T19:44:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T17:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dainichi-europe.de\/magazin-niigata-feste\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T21:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T19:09:44","slug":"magazin-niigata-feste","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dainichi-europe.de\/en\/magazin-niigata-feste\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire, balloons and bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n <\/span>\u796d\u308a<\/span>matsuri<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
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Fire, balloons and bulls<\/h1>\n

A little travel guide for koi lovers: what else there is to experience in Niigata besides koi, told through the year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

Fireworks at the Katakai Matsuri in Ojiya.<\/p>\n

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When Professor Harry Palm asked me what I could show him on our joint trip to Japan in September 2026, the fish naturally came first: the aquaculture, the breeders, the mudponds in the mountains. But anyone coming to Niigata for the first time should also see something of the country. So I looked at the website of the city of Ojiya and at our hotel's page. There I kept coming across the same three events: the balloon festival, the bullfighting and the great fireworks.<\/p>\n

A fourth came along on the way. Everywhere in the mountains there were racks on which rice sheaves were drying, and Harry wanted to know what they were about. The answer took us into the middle of winter, to a fire where children roast squid. These four stories became this little travel guide. It follows the year, because each of these festivals has its own time. Koi lovers travelling to Niigata can plan their trip accordingly.<\/p>\n

ine<\/span>\u7a32<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

Autumn: racks full of rice<\/h2>\n

After the autumn harvest, farmers in Niigata hang their rice sheaves on tall racks made of wooden posts, poles and ropes, often between old cedars at the edge of the terraced fields. There the sheaves dry slowly in the air, grains and all. Only then are they threshed, and what remains is the straw.<\/p>\n

This straw used to be a valuable raw material. Old pictures of field work show farmers in rain capes made of rice straw. And to this day, something very special is built from it in winter.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n \"Long
Rice sheaves drying on the rack. The panicles with the grains hang at the bottom. October 2010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n \"Empty
\n \"Drying
Empty racks, ready for the next harvest. October 2011.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

January: the straw fire<\/h2>\n

For the Little New Year, around the middle of January, villages build huge cones of rice straw, like a giant fir tree made of straw. In Niigata this fire is usually called Sai-no-Kami. New Year decorations are burned in it, and people pray for good health in the new year. For me it also has something of our carnival: you drive out the winter, and the whole village comes together.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n \"Tall
A straw fire for the Little New Year, January 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"The
The flames break through.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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When the cone is lit, dense white smoke rises first, then the flames break through, and finally the whole thing collapses.<\/p>\n

Then comes the moment the children have been waiting for: on long bamboo poles they hold dried squid into the embers and roast it, just as we toast bread on a stick.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"Burning
The whole village watches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"After
At the end, squid is roasted on long poles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

February: balloons in the snow<\/h2>\n

At the end of February, colourful hot-air balloons rise over the snow-covered fields of Ojiya. The balloon festival has been held since 1977. The teams also fly a competition in which the aim is to land as close as possible to a target.<\/p>\n

My pictures of it came about quite by chance. I stopped at a Seven-Eleven to get a coffee, and on the other side of the road the balloons were coming down. I watched for a while, took a few pictures and drove on. That's Japan: next to the power pole with the convenience store sign, a balloon is suddenly floating above the snow.<\/p>\n

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\"Many
Balloons over the fields of Ojiya.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Blue
Right above the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n \"Large
\n \"Rainbow-coloured
\n \"Blue
Ojiya Balloon Festival, March 2014.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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hanabi<\/span>\u82b1\u706b<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

September: Katakai, the biggest fireworks<\/h2>\n

On 9 and 10 September the village of Katakai in Ojiya celebrates its autumn festival at the Asahara Shrine, and with it comes one of the most famous firework displays in Japan. Since the Edo period the fireworks have been dedicated to the shrine as offerings. I was invited there in 2017, and for me it is the world championship of fireworks.<\/p>\n

The whole village builds a huge grandstand on open ground. Each firework costs a small fortune and is therefore usually donated by a company or an association. Before each launch the announcer calls out who donated it. A little fair springs up all around, and festival music with singing and drums hangs over everything. A tremendous atmosphere, quintessentially old Japan.<\/p>\n

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