00.00

Bamboo Forest/sunlight on trees

Son: "How about this one?

Dad:  No, I want a bigger one.

Son:  A bigger one?

Dad:  Yes, let's keep looking."

00.18

Father and son walking thru forest

Fifty year old Akihito Kataoka is preparing his son for a peculiar ritual practiced only here..... nowhere else in the country.

00.30

Stopping at different trees

Dad:  "This one looks good.  How about this one?

Son:   It's pretty big. 

Dad:   Yep, let's take this one."

00.43

Find the tree they want

Dad:  "I've been doing this for such a long time - about 30 years or so.  The elders in the village had to teach me because my own father died very young."

00.56

Thought-track over cutting bamboo

At 18 years of age, Hidetaka is now deemed old enough to perform a ritual that most people would think too crazy for a grown man to do.

01.16

Tree falls and two of them cut into segments about one metre long and 8 inches in diameter

The bamboo they're cutting here will become pipes to be filled with gunpowder.... and young Hidetaka will be expected to hold one as it explodes.

01.36

In workshop.... Father and son working at binding the bamboo pipe

Dried and wrapped in hessian the bamboo is carefully bound with thick rope.

01.43

Dad: "If the rope is not bound tightly togetherand the bamboo cracks with the explosion, the whole pipe will explode.  If the rope is bound without any gaps, it will hold it together. 

Son: So you mean that even if the bamboo cracks inside, it won't blow the whole thing apart?

Dad: That's right, it'll be okay."

01:54

Two of them working over the bamboo, wrapping it in rope ... the father carefully instructing the son

Son: " When I was a child, I didn't really understand my father's strength.... I just thought the practice was dangerous and hot. But I began to recognise my father's strength and thought  "Oh, my father can do this" and I really began to respect him."

02.21

Night-time in forest clearing... men pounding gunpowder into bamboo pipes

The night before the fireworks festival, the village men gather at a wooded area safely away from town to prepare the explosives.

02.30

In a rhythmic pounding more reminiscent of an African beat they settle in for hours of sweaty labour.

02.44

In charge of the big bang is Mr Kobayashi, who's been blowing things up for 30 years. 

I'm lucky to even see this he tells me.... Women are not usually allowed.

03.00

Two of us kneeling down as he mixes the gunpowder with steel filings and sake

The ingredients in this explosive cake-mix have to be evenly spread.

03.08

Mixing on paper

This has been the tradition since the old days.  Fathers become addicted to it and want to teach their sons.  This is one of the few chances to really communicate and it's the best way to keep the tradition of the fireworks alive.

03.36

Father and son trying to mix

Why such a dangerous pursuit?  Simply for the thrill of it.

03.44

Overlay interview grab with Mr Kobayashi pounding at bamboo pipe

In the past, we've had men die when the pipe exploded.  Every year the fireworks holders get burnt.  I have scars on my legs and head.  My body is  full of burn scars.  But they heal......

04.12

Music/quick montage/tight shots of samurai gargoyles, foxes etc at shrine

Call it bravery... call it madness... the gods of the Toyokawa shrine have watched over their people practising this ritual for more than three hundred years.

04.29

Go to house... father and son putting on costume and shoes

Just hours remain before night falls and the fireworks begin - Hidetaka is worried.

04.39

Two of them sitting side by side

Son: "About a week ago I was okay, but since yesterday I've become  really nervous.  I'm scared."

04.49

Grab of son

Father: "It won't be so dangerous if he does as I tell him and I'm sure there'll be no accidents.  I feel my son will finally come of age if he succeeds in doing it. 

05.02

Cut to son listening

Mum: " Try your best Hide-Kun"

Son: " Okay."

05.04

Pair of them get up and leave .... Waved off by grandmother and mum

Boy: " I intend to stay living in this village and everybody in town does the pipe fireworks.  I'm the eldest son and because I'm going to be the head of the family in the future .... I want to show my bravery now, as a man.

05.37

Men take their place on stage holding the baskets

To me it seems a pretty extreme way to prove their manhood... risking life and limb for just thirty seconds of splendour.

05.52

Explosions shoot up into the night

06.12

Finally, it's Hidetaka's turn.

06.28

Son picks up basket out of car and approaches stage

Son:  "I was frightened to see the sparks flying so close.  My legs are still shaking.  It wasn't too hot, but the sparks were painful.  I thought: Finally, my father will admit I'm a man."

06.50

Son walks off carrying burnt out basket

Their manhood intact for another year - the men of Toyokawa will no doubt be blowing themselves up for centuries to come.