The awe-inspiring Lake Ashi Summer Festival Week in the mountain onsen town of Hakone is happening this year from July 31 to August 5. As it’s held in conjunction with Hakone Shrine’s annual Reitaisai festival, you can expect a series of events as well as some jaw-dropping fireworks. This year's fireworks will be bigger than those in 2024, so be sure to mark these dates in your calendar.
Kosui Matsuri Fireworks Festival, July 31
About 5,000 shells of fireworks will be launched at 8pm from Moto-Hakone Bay. The festival is held to worship Kuzuryu Myojin, the guardian deity of the lake.
1268 Taisai Hoshuku Fireworks Festival, August 1
This fireworks display is held to commemorate the 1,268th anniversary of Hakone Shrine. Around 2,300 shells of fireworks will be set off from Moto-Hakone Bay at 8pm.
Hakone-en Summer Night Festival, August 2 & 3
The Hakone-en Resort Complex – a 30-minute walk from Moto-Hakone area – is celebrating summer with fireworks from 8pm daily. About 2,500 shells will be launched from Hakone-en Bay, with star mines and Niagara sparklers synchronised to music. Visitors can submit well-wishes and messages, which will be read out during the fireworks show. You’ll also find food stalls selling street eats.
Kojiri Ryujin Festival Fireworks, August 4
About 2,200 shells of fireworks will be launched at 8pm from Kojiri Bay on the northern shore of Lake Ashi.
Torii-yaki Festival Fireworks, August 5
This is arguably the best fireworks show of the season in Hakone. Two six-metre-tall torii gates will be erected in the lake and set on fire – an old tradition dedicated to the dragon god – with colourful explosions of fireworks happening above. You can expect about 3,500 shells, all shooting off from Hakone Bay at 8pm. You’ll also find food stalls selling festival treats.
For the best close-up view of the fireworks, you might want to hop on Lake Ashi’s iconic pirate ship for a mesmerising cruise under the sparkling sky. For the festival week, the pirate ship sightseeing cruise is offering half-priced tickets (¥780, ¥880 on July 31) for primary school children throughout the Lake Ashi Summer Festival Week. Adult tickets are priced at ¥3,100 (¥3,500 on July 31). We recommend booking your tickets in advance to secure a seat, as it’s bound to be popular. Three types of tickets are available on Asoview, each corresponding to a different port of departure.
Wait, there’s more. On August 16 there’s another summer event taking place around Hakone’s Gora Station. Marking the end of Hakone's summer festivities, you can enjoy fireworks and daimonji-yaki fire ceremony at 7.30pm.
Daimonji-yaki is a ceremonial bonfire used to comfort and send off the spirits on the final night of O-Bon, an annual Buddhist event in August that commemorates one's ancestors. The Japanese kanji character ‘大’ will be set on fire on a mountainside.
Preparations for this momentous event start two months in advance, where 250 bundles of dried bamboo will be used to create the character ‘大’. And it’s a huge one, with a width of 108 metres, just so the character can be seen clearly from the foot of the mountain.
For more information, see the event website (in Japanese only).
This article was originally published on July 14 2022, and updated on July 25 2025.
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