The Suigo Fireworks Festival historical display festival in Kuwana, riverside district town located in Mie Prefecture, Japan and has been displayed annually since 1934. The fireworks display is held every year in July.

These Japanese-style fireworks is just unbelievable. The lines are elegant; shapes so varied; colors subtle; composition of the "canvas" is perfection, and the overall look is spectacular. What's most impressive to me is how they use the black of the sky as a component of the fireworks. It's not a painting on top of the sky; the sky itself is part of the painting, drawing forms in negative space.

These shells are usually about 12 inches in diameter (or even more!) and are hand crafted by expert pyrotechnicians who keep their chemistry and techniques a very closely guarded secret. In Japan each shell is a work of art and they rarely shoot more than one of these at the same time so that you can focus on the moment and the detail in it. Sometimes they will fire pairs or triples but all the same shell and builder.

The skill involved in creating one of these shells is almost a life's work. The knowledge has taken years to accumulate. The result is extraordinary.