Japanese who lit up Accession Day fete return home with memories

As many as 18 Japanese pyrotechnicians, who flew in to add colour to the 5th Anniversary of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik's Accession, bade adieu to the Sultanate of Oman, carrying sweet memories of Oman and its people on Sunday. They praised the government and the people for their great hospitality, which made them feel at home. The team conducted a 12-minute-long fireworks display that drew praise from viewers for being spectacular, breathtaking, and innovative, according to the Hanabi (fireworks) artistes. “We have been here for the last ten days preparing for the celebrations, and we are glad to have done our level best to make the day even more colourful, depicting the achievements of the government and the love of the people, besides portraying the unique culture of the country,” said Harunobu Yonenaga, the group leader. The team included Harunobu Yonenaga, Katsushi Saiki, Keisuke Saiki, Kentaro Saito, Kohei Ogatsu, Tomohiro Yamazaki, Hiroshi Sasaki, Jumpe Kawaguchi, Takuma Minai, Yuya Misono, Yunoshin Saito, Fiord Santos, Takumi Ogasawara, Kohei Iwatsu, Yoshiki Takezawa, Kei Sasaki, Kazuhiro Teraq, and Riiko Aratake from six Japanese pyrotechnics companies. They formed a single group for the purpose, called Hanabi Japan, at the request of Dr Mohammed bin Said al Busaidy, Ambassador of Oman to Japan, who was impressed by their show in Tokyo. However, carrying the materials and equipment required for the show posed challenges. “We approached many shipping companies but weren’t able to strike a deal with them. Finally, the government sent a special ship to transport the equipment and materials by sea, which helped us conduct the show as we wanted,” Yonenaga said. In Japan, Hanabi or fireworks, are traditional events held almost every weekend.