Jigsaw puzzles from Japan

Fireworks

Feature page for August 2008

Fireworks in Japan have a history of nearly five hundred years, and the summer without them would now be unthinkable. There are large displays across the country, some of them famous - the Sumida-gawa fireworks in Tokyo, or the Nagaoka firework festival near Niigata on the west coast. At the same time, sparklers and other hand-held fireworks continue to delight children of all ages...

This page celebrates the issue by Epoch in summer 2007 of a new series of fireworks photo puzzles (all in small pieces) – and more issued for summer 2008. A slightly unusual subject for a puzzle, this offers some new challenges. I did the 450-piece Nagaoka fireworks puzzle, and it's not the easiest, the colourful streaks of light tending to turn into an abstract mass. But the are extra clues, too: since each line is the path of a body in free fall, it's generally possible to see at a glance which way up a piece goes. (If you want to get technical, each line is a parabola, curving downwards.)

Since fireworks are actually just moving points of light, it's also interesting to see how closely Yamashita's paper-cut version resembles the effect of a slow shutter speed in the photographs.

Then since fireworks puzzles are not common, there's one from outside Japan, in the Epoch "World Heritage" series...

On this page: Photo puzzles - Fireworks in art - Fireworks worldwide

Photo puzzles

1014: Miyajima fireworks

The great torii, or Shinto ceremonial gateway of Itsukushima shrine stands vividly silhouetted against a firework display. Completed in 1875, this torii is somewhat unusually sited in the tidal part of the bay, and is famous as one of the traditional "Three sights of Japan."

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1014 pieces; 38 x 53 cm (15" x 21")
Code: E56503 (56-503 on box)
Retail price ¥1600 (approx. US$18.60 €15.24 £12.40)
Shipping from ¥800 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$9.30 €7.62 £6.20)
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1014: Mt. Fuji fireworks - across Lake Kawaguchi

Water is the best foreground for fireworks, and here there is the added attraction of Mount Fuji sitting serenely in the background, as though an old man who has seen fireworks before...

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1014 pieces; 53 x 38 cm (21" x 15")
Code: E56511 (56-511 on box)
Retail price ¥1600 (approx. US$18.60 €15.24 £12.40)
Shipping from ¥700 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$8.14 €6.67 £5.43)
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1014: Matsushima fireworks

A spectacular firework display reflected in the bay at Matsushima. This coincides with the summer O-bon festival, when lanterns representing the souls of the departed are floated out into the water.

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1014 pieces; 38 x 53 cm (15" x 21")
Code: E56504 (56-504 on box)
Retail price ¥1600 (approx. US$18.60 €15.24 £12.40)
Shipping from ¥800 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$9.30 €7.62 £6.20)
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450: Nara fire festival

The firework display accompanies a older tradition - burning off the previous year's dead grass, here covering the slopes of Wakakusa-yama (342 m high), and making a spectacular sea of fire.

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 450 pieces; 38 x 26 cm (15" x 10")
Code: E08514 (08-514 on box)
Retail price ¥1200 (approx. US$13.95 €11.43 £9.30)
Shipping from ¥500 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$5.81 €4.76 £3.88)
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450: Nagaoka fireworks

The famous Nagaoka firework festival fills the sky with rosettes, while the bridge across the Shinano River is brilliantly lit with a "Niagara" display.

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 450 pieces; 38 x 26 cm (15" x 10")
Code: E08513 (08-513 on box)
Retail price ¥1200 (approx. US$13.95 €11.43 £9.30)
Shipping from ¥500 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$5.81 €4.76 £3.88)
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450: Kobe port firework display

Dazzling display of fireworks over Kobe port. This is a modern development out into the bay, including a pleasure park–the big wheel is prominent, though reduced to a solid blur by the long exposure needed to capture the fireworks.

A natural harbour and important port from ancient times, when Japan opened its doors to the world in 1868, Kobe became one of the principal points of foreign influence, together with Yokohama and Nagasaki, and it retains this cosmopolitan feel to this day.

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 450 pieces; 38 x 26 cm (15" x 10")
Code: E08525 (08-525 on box)
Retail price ¥1200 (approx. US$13.95 €11.43 £9.30)
Shipping from ¥500 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$5.81 €4.76 £3.88)
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450: Sumidagawa firework display (Tokyo)

Sumidagawa is the great river through Tokyo that is the site of the annual summer fireworks display.

This puzzle has smaller pieces than the standard size.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 450 pieces; 38 x 26 cm (15" x 10")
Code: E08526 (08-526 on box)
Retail price ¥1200 (approx. US$13.95 €11.43 £9.30)
Shipping from ¥500 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$5.81 €4.76 £3.88)
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All about ordering (please read first)

Fireworks in art

1000: Nagaoka fireworks (Yamashita)

Fireworks across the river in Nagaoka, near Niigata on the west coast. Yamashita's family moved here from Tokyo when he was two, after the Great Kanto Earthquake.

The composition of this picture is very simple: the fireworks, reflected in the river, and the huge watching crowd. Full of interesting textures, this is a real "puzzler's" puzzle.

Born in 1922 in Tokyo, Yamashita had a troubled childhood: - after a bullying incident at school involving a knife, he was classified as mentally handicapped, and placed in an institution. His genius for creating harie (pasted paper pictures) was soon realised, though, and eventually he featured in many exhibitions across Japan. He remained an eccentric, though, and from 1940 to 1954 he wandered the country wearing only an undershirt (it is said), earning himself the moniker of "The naked artist wanderer". Although he travelled widely seeking material, including an extended tour of Europe in 1961, it seems he did not work in the field, but would return to his studio and create images entirely from memory. He died in 1971 at the early age of 49.

His story has been dramatised a number of times, in the 1956 film known as "The naked general" and later television series.

In stock
An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: E11058 (11-058 on box)
Retail price ¥3000 (approx. US$34.88 €28.57 £23.26)
Shipping from ¥1200 (N. America, Europe, Australasia: approx. US$13.95 €11.43 £9.30)
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Fireworks outside Japan

1000: Venice - Ponte Rialto fireworks

A dazzling firework display over the Grand Canal lights up the Rialto, the bridge at the heart of Venice.

This puzzle is cut to make pieces harder to find.

Permanently unavailable
An Epoch puzzle: 1000 pieces; 75 x 50 cm (30" x 20")
Code: E11305 (11-305 on box)
Retail price ¥3000

Aside (particularly) to UK readers

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November..."

In my childhood, in England, fireworks were associated with one particular dark cold winter night, Guy Fawkes night, and at first summer fireworks seemed incongruous, like spending Christmas Day on the beach. But of course, even if summer evenings in England were warm enough, they would still be too light! In most of Japan, July evenings are dark by half past seven.