The Yamanakako Fireworks Festival Hokosai is the very first of the fireworks shows that are held around the Five Fuji Lakes each year. Fireworks are set off from Yamanaka, Asahioka, and two more sites, so they can be enjoyed from any point along the lakeshore. Viewing the fireworks elegantly from a sightseeing boat on the lake is also popular. This fireworks festival traces its roots back to the Taisho period, when students would set off fireworks at the lake, and the firework event was later given the name "hokosai" by the distinguished writer Tokutomi Soho. Today, one purpose of the festival is to propitiate the souls of those who died in the line of duty and to offer up thanks to the lake.