Wakasa Takahama Isaribi So
若狭たかはま漁火想
Wakasa Takahama Isaribi So is a fireworks festival held in Chubu. Date: A Saturday in the last week of July (the finale was 2022-07-30; the prefecture event card for 2018 lists 2018-07-21). Total shells: about 水中花火100発、ドラゴン花火等50,000. Attendance: Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass). No. 20回（2022年7月30日・終回。以降は開催なし）
Event essentials
Headline stats
- Total Shells
- 水中花火100発、ドラゴン花火等50,000
- Duration
- 30 min
- Nights
- 1 night(s)
- Attendance
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Largest Shell
- Not published - no source gives a shell size
- Founding Year
- 2003年
Signature Sequences
- 01Underwater fireworks blooming on the sea surface right in front of the sand
- 02The dragon fireworks 'Yagura Dragon', fired with commercially sold toy fireworks only
- 03About 11,000 candle lights on the beach and in the town
- 04Over 300,000 creative-fireworks shells including toy fireworks
- 05The Isaribi So food-stall village and the sunset live music
Venue & Access
- Time Window
- The 2022 finale opened at 18:00. In 2018 the food stalls ran from 16:00, the sunset live from 16:30 and the fireworks from 20:00 for about 30 minutes
- Venue
- Wakamiya Beach, Takahama, Oi-gun, Fukui (若宮海水浴場)
- Address
- Wakamiya, Takahama, Oi-gun, Fukui (Wakamiya Beach). A Google Maps search for Wakamiya Beach sends you the wrong way, so use the Wakasa Takahama marine fishing park as the reference point
- Venue Size
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Venue Floor Type
- Open sand beach (a swimming beach); the shells are launched from the water just off the sand
- Gates Open
- 2022 opened at 18:00. In 2018 the stalls ran from 16:00, the sunset live from 16:30 and the fireworks from 20:00
- Paid-Seat Holder Entry
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Spectator Capacity
- Not published - no source carries a spectator capacity
- Launch Company
- Not published (the Yagura Dragon is a creative-fireworks group of local young volunteers founded in 2003 that fires nothing but commercially sold toy fireworks)
- Production Company
- Not published (the Yagura Dragon is a volunteer group, not a licensed pyrotechnics firm)
- Sponsor
- Wakasa Takahama Isaribi So executive committee (office in the tourism-association building, 73-5-2 Miyazaki, Takahama; contact 070-2646-9864; the 2018 press contact was 0770-72-0338)
Access
From major cities
- From Tokyo
- Shinkansen and limited express to Obama Station, then the Wakasa Railway Obama Line to Wakasa-Takahama Station, 15 minutes on foot. By car, use the temporary lots and search the Wakasa Takahama marine fishing park rather than the beach
- From Osaka
- JR to Tsuruga Station via Kyoto, then the Wakasa Railway Obama Line to Wakasa-Takahama Station, 15 minutes on foot; by car use the Wada district lot when coming from Tsuruga
- From Sendai
- Shinkansen to Tokyo, then down to Obama Station and the Wakasa Railway Obama Line to Wakasa-Takahama Station, a 15-minute walk from there
- Nearest Station
- Wakasa-Takahama Station (Wakasa Railway Obama Line), about a 15-minute walk from the venue
- Nearest Shinkansen
- Obama Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen and the Hakubi Line; Wakasa-Takahama Station is a conventional-line station
- Local Transit
- About 15 minutes on foot from Wakasa-Takahama Station on the Wakasa Railway Obama Line; free shuttle buses run from the temporary car parks
- Parking
- Temporary car parks at Takahama, Wada and Aigo; no capacity figure is published
- Parking Reservation
- Not published - no reservation system is described; the temporary lots are used on the day
- Lodging Strategy
- Stay on the Obama or Tsuruga side and take the Wakasa Railway Obama Line to Wakasa-Takahama Station. The sources carry no dedicated lodging guidance
- English Access
- The venue is about 15 minutes on foot from Wakasa-Takahama Station on the Wakasa Railway Obama line, or from Obama Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen) by local train to Wakasa-Takahama. Every property on the association's stay index carries online booking, cashless payment and pick-up attributes, so a visitor from further afield can book the inn Taimatsu, which runs three private buses to collect guests. There is, however, no multilingual guidance page.
- Cash Required
- Cash for food and goods at the stall village (the 2018 report lists a 600-yen burger)
- Best Arrival
- The late afternoon: you can eat at the stalls and enjoy the candles before the 20:00 firing
- Peak Crowd
- Just before the 20:00 firing and after sunset when the candles are lit; the stalls from 16:00 are the relaxed part
Tickets
- Seat Type
- Not applicable (no paid seats)
- Price Range
- Not published (free entry; no paid seats are listed)
- Seat Count
- Not applicable (no paid seats) seats
- Sellout History
- Not applicable (free entry, no paid seats)
- Reservation
- Not applicable (free entry, no reservation system)
- Day-Of Ticket
- Not applicable (free entry, no day tickets)
Weather Policy
- Rain
- Held in light rain; cancelled in stormy weather (2022 final-edition notice)
- Decision Time
- The 2022 edition opened at 18:00 with no separate firing-time decision point; in 2018 the firing began at 20:00
- Postponement
- Cancelled in stormy weather - the 2022-07-30 notice lists no reserve date
- Wind Threshold
- No wind-speed limit appears in any source; the 2022 notice only separates light rain (go ahead) from stormy weather (cancel)
- Typical Risks
- The Japan Sea coast in late July and August is exposed to the rainy season and typhoons, but bad weather means cancellation rather than postponement; no wind threshold is published
- Weather Cancellation History
- The 2020 cancellation was caused by COVID-19, not by weather; no weather cancellation appears in the sources