It's been a fun but exhausting weekend. Friday I headed out to this small town near Osaka for the largest fireworks show in the world, put on by the Church of Perfect Liberty. Exactly what kind of church can afford to shoot off 120,000 fireworks I don't know, but it was spectacular. ("Showering like Niagara Falls," according to one Website.) I was planning to meet up with Jonathan, Tim, and Other Mike, but about a quarter-million Japanese people had other plans. So when I arrived at this tiny station (after transferring thrice to increasingly crowded trains, finally having a conductor turn me away from one that was too packed with people), clearly not built to handle a crowd, I started trying to call people but found a quarter million people trying to use the same cell tower. The only time my keitai ever let me down. That, and the other mob event I went to, Gion Matsuri.

But the fireworks were freaking awesome, easily topping any measly national celebrations in America. These girls behind me seemed to think so too; after nearly each of the 120,000 bursts, they cooed, "Ahh! Kirei! (Beautiful!)". They weren't ready for the finale though--they started screeching as if the fireworks were raining down on them...

But imagine the odds, I ended up finding them all after the crowd began to disperse. Getting out of there was like waiting for a ride at Cedar Point (or Disneyland for anyone not from the Midwest).

There were too many people crowded around for me to get decent shots with my camera, so I resolved to take video instead. The results are up for your viewing pleasure, and although at times it looks more like CNN footage of Baghdad, it looks pretty impressive. And that's only from the first 15 minutes--before I ran out of space on my card...