Tsuchiura Fireworks Competition

On October 1st, a Fireworks Competition will take place in Tsuchiura.
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/

This is the biggest annual event in Tsuchiura, and the site is only 7km from Tsukuba-station so you can go there by bicycle.

This is a leaflet about the fireworks in English.
↓
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/cgi/news/data/doc/1316170349_1.pdf


And this is the program list of fireworks in English.
↓
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/cgi/news/data/doc/1316170349_2.pdf
This is a map around the fireworks .

http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/cgi/news/data/doc/1314873002_2.pdf
http://tsuchiura-hanabi.jp/access/pdf/kisei2011.pdf

Unfortunately the map is written all in Japanese.


←Tsukuba　　　　　　　↓　Arakawaoki

The river on this map is the Sakuragawa River.
The site is almost where the Tsuchiura-Aeon-shopping-center is.

The marks A,B and C are recommended ways to go to Tsuchiura-station after the fireworks because every road will be very crowded during and after the event.

How to get to the site?
There are many ways to get to the site but let me suggest a few different ways:
1. By bicycle
Going there by bike is easy. All you need is energy. You can get there and come back home faster than any other way but don't forget your warm clothes. It will be chilly after sunset.

2. By car
Depending on when you drive to the site, the business of the road is different.
During the morning is not so crowded yet and you still might be able to find your parking space somewhere around the site but you need to kill time until 6:30p.m.
Early afternoon, the road is not busy either but you can hardly find a parking space.

3. By car and train and shuttle bus
Park your car near Arakawaoki station or Kandatsu station or Ushiku maybe.
Then use a train to Tsuchiura. From Tsuchiura Station, there are shuttle buses but you need to get in the LONG line for a LONG time, maybe one hour or two. But the bus takes you to the site. In this case, while watcing the fireworks you might need something to sit on. Foldaway chairs or a plastic sheet would be good.
You can walk there from Tsuchiura station though.

I often go there by car. I leave home around half past 5 in the evening. From Arakawaoki we get on the Route 6 bypass. Cars only move very slowly or can't move. So in this way we are just driving under the fireworks, never get out of the car and around 8 o'clock we can pass near the site, then come back home before the fireworks finish so that we can avoid another traffic jam going back home!
We can enjoy at least 30 to 60 minutes under the big fireworks from the car window.

These are not the best ways and there might be better ways to get there. If you have some ideas please let us know.

Thank you for reading.

We hope you have a nice weekend!