[On-the-Scene Report] A Summer Tradition Turned into a Money-Making Scheme… The Laughing Chinese “Spot-Reserving Scalpers” Who Operated Behind the Scenes at the Sumida River Fireworks Festival

Introduction of an Admission Fee

On that day in late July—from early morning onward, countless people were gathered along the banks of the Sumida River in Tokyo. They quickly spread the few plastic sheets they were carrying on the riverbank and hurriedly left the area.About 10 hours later, 920,000 people had gathered in the area for the Sumida River Fireworks Festival.

At the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, where approximately 20,000 fireworks are launched, some locations used signboards to announce the time when securing spots was officially permitted. However, as mentioned at the beginning, the best spots had already been staked out by mysterious plastic sheets long before that time.It’s understandable that people get enthusiastic about securing a spot for this once-a-year fireworks festival. However, rules must be followed. And when it comes to illegal spot-saving for the purpose of resale, there can be no leniency.

The nature of fireworks festivals has changed significantly in recent years. While viewing fireworks has traditionally been free, the introduction of paid seating is becoming increasingly widespread.

“According to Teikoku Databank, 84 of the 106 fireworks displays held nationwide—about 80 percent—offer paid seating. The average price for the cheapest seats is 5,517 yen, while the most expensive seats average 40,611 yen, which is quite high.It is said that the nationwide trend toward charging for fireworks displays is driven by soaring prices for imported gunpowder—due to the weak yen and rising inflation—as well as a decline in the number of companies contributing sponsorship funds to these events,” said a reporter from the culture section of a national newspaper.

It is precisely this trend that the people mentioned at the beginning of this article have set their sights on. On the Chinese social media platform “Xiaohongshu (Red),” resales of tickets for paid seating at fireworks displays held across the country are rampant. Even at venues that are open to the public for free, the best viewing spots are being traded for a fee.

“We’ll secure prime seats for you at fireworks displays”

Since June, more than 100 posts in Chinese regarding “resale of viewing seats” have been posted on “Xiaohongshu.”I contacted one such operator reselling viewing seats for the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, and received a reply stating, “150 yuan (approx. 3,500 yen) per seat.”The location was said to be Shioiri Park in Arakawa Ward, along the Sumida River. The opening scene shows our team staking out the area to observe the scalpers securing spots, but since numerous spots had already been claimed, we were unable to identify the specific poster.

At the Katsushika Ward Fireworks Festival—which is just as famous as the Sumida River festival—free viewing spots were being resold for 200 yuan (about 4,600 yen) per seat. These “reasonable” prices in the range of a few thousand yen are likely one of the reasons why the resale of viewing seats is so rampant.

Even the security guards were at a loss

Shortly after noon on the day of the fireworks festival, I received a photo from a scalper showing reserved viewing spots. When I headed to the scene around evening, I found plastic sheets laid out exactly as shown in the photo, completely unoccupied. There were easily enough spots for 20 people.Stickers warning, “Reserving seats is prohibited until 10:00 a.m. Please remove these immediately,” were affixed to the sheets (second photo). A security guard at the scene sighed.

“We’re putting these stickers on the plastic sheets that were laid out before the designated time, but we can’t do anything beyond issuing a warning. Even though they’re just plastic sheets, they’re still people’s property…”

All around, many people were holding up parasols to endure the heat, dutifully guarding the spots they had secured.

6:00 p.m. As the sun began to set and a cool evening breeze started to blow, people began trickling in, peering at their smartphone screens as they searched for their seats. When they sat down on the plastic sheets in question, a man who appeared to be a scalper approached and began exchanging messages on his phone.It appeared they were collecting payment for the spots via a Chinese payment app. When I spoke with a Chinese woman who had purchased a viewing spot from one of these scalpers, she seemed satisfied, saying, “I didn’t want to have to stake out a spot in this heat, and it’s cheaper than the paid seats.”

Meanwhile, even after the large fireworks began lighting up the night sky at 7:00 p.m., several empty plastic sheets were still scattered about. Perhaps they were unsold? Around them, crowds who had secured their spots according to the rules huddled together, gazing up at the fireworks.After the fireworks display ended, I asked a male reseller who was collecting the plastic sheets, “If no one was coming, wouldn’t it have been better to give the spots to someone else?” but he did not reply.

Even now, midway through fireworks season, numerous posts on “Xiaohongshu” can be found offering “resale of viewing seats” for fireworks festivals across the country. There were also posts regarding the resale of paid seat tickets and unlicensed taxi services to viewing locations. Chinese journalist Zhou Laiyou explains:

“In China, there are few large-scale fireworks displays like those in Japan. Furthermore, influenced by Japanese dramas and anime, the younger generation’s interest in fireworks is growing, which is the backdrop to this business. As long as there are Chinese people willing to pay to attend these events, the resale of fireworks-related tickets will not disappear.”

Even this Japanese summer tradition, long beloved by the general public, has become prime prey for scalpers.

From the August 21 & 28, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*