I often wondered why I got asked like 20 times in a year by Japanese people if we had fireworks in Western countries. Everytime I answered: "yes, of course ! It's usual for big events like the New Year or a country's national day (e.g. 4 of July in the States, 14 of July in France, 21 of July in Belgium...) or on Guy Fawkes' night in the UK". To that, they replied "Oh really ! I thought fireworks were only in Japan !" I wondered how it was possible for them not to remember seeing fireworks from all around the world for the New Year each year. We see them on numerous channels on TV, in the newspapers, on the Internet...

But Japan does not do like most other countries. There are no fireworks at midnight on 1 January (or no big ones at least - as I haven't seen any, even in the news). It is by seeing Sydney kicks off New Year revels in the headlines of BBC News or Asia sets off world's New Year party on CNN, and similar fireworks pictures on every European news channel I have here, that I realised that Japan had a very peculiar way of celebrating the New Year. There were fireworks in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, etc. and will be in a few hours in Europe and the whole American continent. Even small towns here in Belgium have their fireworks. But nothing special in Japan, a country normally obssessed with fireworks in summer. I don't think the cold is a good excuse - Tokyo being much warmer than most of Europe and North America in this season.

So the Japanese just go ring the temple bell, or a few thousands couragous ones are climbing Mount Fuji. Some youth go to nightclubs like everywhere else. But where are the fireworks ? And more than that, why do they hardly show fireworks around the world on TV ? I haven't seen any mention of the Asia-Pacific fireworks so far (I checked the NHK, Asahi and Yomiuri sites). No wonder that the people stays ignorant of these things, then every single time I talk about fireworks with a Japanese, they ask me if there are also fireworks in other countries.

Does somebody have the answer ? Why do the Japanese media "hide" that fact from the public ? Why do the fireworks-crazy Japanese not have fireworks for the New Year, their longest public holiday of the year ?