Written by Shyam Bhardwa
Spend a summer evening relaxing by the water as fireworks bloom above. The Nagatoro Funadama Boat Festival brings together boats, lanterns, and lights.
What to expect
The Nagatoro Funadama Boat Festival, also known as the Funatama Festival, is a summer fireworks festival with a twist. While the fireworks display is as gorgeous as ever, the real stars of the show are the lantern boats on the river. These enormous boats are laden with dozens of lanterns, creating a beautiful scene as they’re lit from behind in the glow of the fireworks.
Schedule
People usually start to arrive early before the lantern boats set off at 5:10 p.m., which we’d recommend if you want to get the best view. The fireworks start at around 7:15 p.m., and the festival ends around 8:45 p.m.
If there’s stormy weather, the fireworks will be postponed to August 30.
How to get there
For this event, you’ll want to find a spot to settle down alongside the Arakawa River in the Iwadatami region of Nagatoro. The easiest way to get there is to take either the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line or the JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line out towards Saitama. Once there, you can change onto the Chichibu Main Line at either Kumagaya Station or Seibu-Chichibu Station. Take that line out to Nagatoro Station, and walk 5 minutes to the waterfront. In all, the trip should take around 2 hours from central Tokyo.
