Fireworks Move to September, Pool Closes After 48 Years, and Memorial Service Shifts to Morning—Extreme Heat Quietly Rewrites the ‘Summer Event Calendar’

Three events that have shaped summer in Hiroshima have changed their forms almost simultaneously. The Hiroshima Minato Dream Fireworks Festival will move its event month from August to September starting in 2025. The Central Park Family Pool will close its doors after 48 years of operation. The memorial service for the atomic bomb victims, associated with the Peace Memorial Ceremony, has shifted its start time to earlier in the day and will now include live streaming.

Each event is organized by different entities, and the reasons for their decisions vary. However, when viewed together, a common dynamic emerges—the “heat” is gradually pushing the dates, times, and locations of these events. This is not merely a matter of rescheduling. The very “summer calendar” that the community has woven over the years is now being rewritten.

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Fireworks—The Decision to Let Go of August’s Night Sky

The Hiroshima Minato Dream Fireworks Festival is one of the leading fireworks festivals in the Setouchi region, launching about 10,000 fireworks each year at Hiroshima Port. While the event has traditionally been held in August, it was announced that it will transition to September starting in 2025. The start time will also be moved up by one hour.

The reasoning behind this change is the safety of both spectators and staff. According to data from the Hiroshima Local Meteorological Observatory, the average maximum temperature in Hiroshima City during August has risen by about 1.5°C in recent years compared to the early 2000s. It has become increasingly rare for temperatures to drop below 35°C even in the evening. At fireworks festivals, spectators typically reserve their spots before sunset, meaning they often have to wait in the blazing sun for 2 to 3 hours. The number of emergency transports due to heatstroke in Hiroshima Prefecture has been on the rise, with statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showing that the number of transports from July to September 2024 exceeded 90,000 nationwide. In Hiroshima Prefecture alone, the number of transports has increased approximately 2.9 times over the past 15 years.

The move to September also involves considerations regarding sunset times. In mid-September, sunset in Hiroshima occurs around 6:15 PM, which is more than 30 minutes earlier than in early August. This means that the start of the fireworks can be moved up, resulting in an earlier conclusion and reducing both congestion during the return home and the risk of heatstroke. It is a rational decision. However, the significance of letting go of the image of “fireworks in the August night sky” cannot be measured by numbers alone.

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Pool—The Disappearance of a “Summer Haven” After 48 Years

The Central Park Family Pool in Naka Ward, Hiroshima City, has been a summer staple for families since its opening in 1976. With an admission fee of just a few hundred yen for adults, it has been a convenient place for water play in the city center, enjoyed across generations.

However, in recent years, the increase in extremely hot days has fundamentally changed the environment for pool use. On days when the temperature exceeds body temperature, the concrete by the pool can heat up to nearly 60°C, making it impossible to walk barefoot. The water temperature also rises, rendering the original purpose of “cooling off” ineffective. Additionally, the number of days deemed dangerous for prolonged outdoor stays has increased, leading to a decline in the number of users. Considering the costs of renovating the aging facility and managing safety, the conclusion to close the pool was reached.

It is important not to overlook the role the pool played as a “system.” The family pool was not just a place to swim. It was a haven for children during summer vacation, a draw for nearby restaurants and shops, and a community hub for parents in the area to meet. The network woven over 48 years will unravel all at once with the closure. How the site will be repurposed and what alternative facilities will be established will significantly influence the summer landscape of the community.

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Memorial Service—Heat Pressures the Time for Prayer

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, held annually on August 6, is known for the moment of silence observed at 8:15 AM, the time of the atomic bomb’s detonation. While the time of the ceremony itself remains unchanged, some related memorial services and commemorative events have begun to implement earlier start times and live streaming in recent years.

The average age of atomic bomb survivors attending the ceremony has surpassed 85. Prolonged attendance in the heat poses life-threatening risks for older participants. The organizers have been increasingly enhancing physical measures such as adding sunshade tents, installing misting machines, and expanding water stations, yet attendees continue to be transported to first aid stations. The earlier start time and online streaming are attempts to create a system where attendees can pray without being physically present, lowering the barriers to participation.

However, this change comes with delicate questions. The memorial service holds significance in “being present in that place, at that time.” Can a prayer offered through a screen carry the same weight as one bowed on the scorching asphalt? There are no simple answers to that question. Nonetheless, this change should be recorded as an effort to balance the safety of attendees with the desire to preserve the space for prayer for future generations.

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The Structure Reflected in Three Changes—The Underlying Assumptions Supporting the ‘Calendar’ are Crumbling

Fireworks have shifted their “date.” The pool has lost its “place.” The memorial service has moved its “time” earlier. Each response is unique, but what they share is that all these events were based on the assumption of “people gathering outdoors for extended periods in August.”

Japan’s summer event calendar has been condensed into about six weeks from the end of the rainy season to Obon. Festivals, fireworks, Bon dances, pools, cemetery visits, and memorials overlap to create the tactile experience of the “summer” season. The assumption supporting that calendar has been “it’s hot, but we can somehow stay outside.” With daily maximum temperatures exceeding 35°C and tropical nights where temperatures do not drop below 25°C becoming the norm, that assumption is quietly, yet surely, crumbling.

According to observational data from the Japan Meteorological Agency, the annual number of extremely hot days (days with maximum temperatures of 35°C or higher) in Hiroshima City has increased from an average of about 8 days in the 1990s to around 20 days in the 2020s. The perceived “harshness of summer” is accelerating beyond the numbers.

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Where is the Sense of Season in Setouchi Heading?

The relocation of events will also ripple through the local economy’s timetable. If the fireworks festival moves to September, the peak busy periods for accommodations and restaurants will shift. The design of travel agency package tours will also change. Whether the concentrated tourist demand in August will be dispersed or whether a new peak will emerge in September remains uncertain.

The closure of the family pool will have a more direct impact on the surrounding commercial area. For restaurants and retail stores that families used to visit after the pool, the disappearance of that flow will directly translate to a decrease in sales. Depending on what is developed on the site, the flow of people in the community will change significantly.

Looking at it from a broader perspective, the very image of “gentle summers” that the Setouchi region has held is also in flux. The mild and comfortable climate has been an asset supporting both life and tourism in Setouchi. When the assumptions supporting that asset change, it will affect not only the calendar of events but also the context of the region’s brand and migration promotion.

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Whose Comfort is This Change For?

The three changes to events can be categorized as “adaptations to climate change.” However, I want to delve deeper and ask, “Who benefits from these changes?”

The shift of the fireworks festival to September protects the safety of spectators and staff. The closure of the pool relieves the municipality of the burden of maintenance. The change in the memorial service time safeguards the well-being of older attendees. All these are decisions made to “protect,” and there is little room for dissent.

However, simultaneously, the time of “children who were looking forward to the August fireworks,” “the neighboring family they met every year at the pool,” and “the bereaved who wish to bow their heads on-site even in the scorching sun” quietly loses its place. Changes in systems may ease the burden for some, but they can also erase the memories and spaces for others.

What is important is to acknowledge the rationality of the changes while also recording the contours of what is being lost. When the calendar is rewritten, whether there are people who remember what was written there will change the quality of the next calendar.

Summer in Hiroshima is now being quietly rewoven. I want to see whose hands are touching each strand of that weave.