There is not really a summer festival in Japan without fireworks. Near Kyoto, many cities organize their own summer festival with fireworks. Only 20 minutes by train from Kyoto station, takes place every year on August 7th a fireworks display (about 5000) near the station of Kameoka. This fireworks is called Heiwasai Hozugawa Hanabi, literally Peace fireworks on the Hozu River. It is celebrated on this date for the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. This commemoration began in 1955.
This summer festival is a little less frequented than the one in the Biwa Lake but there are still nearly 75,000 people who come every year. Like all Natsu Masturi, you will find about twenty food and games (for adults and children) stands. You will also have the possibility to reserve a place in a reserved area to better see the fireworks but for this, you have to pay 1,000 yen per person and do it on the site in Japanese (or in a kombini). Alternatively you can do like the majority, go to Kameoka a little bit in advance (4:00-5:00 pm) and set up on the slope next to the bridge. The fireworks will not start until 8:30 pm, so you will have plenty of time to enjoy the atmosphere and specialties of the Matsuri in the stands below. At nightfall, you will see that all stands lit up. Each booth has a different color, colors that recall the summer and with the children playing with their light sticks and all the smells that surround the place, it is a magnificent visual and olfactory spectacle. My mouth is watering when I think about it...
Less crowded than the 10,000 fireworks at the Biwa Lake, but not less spectacular and friendly, this summer festival and fireworks on the Hogu River in memory of the bombing of Hiroshima is a very nice alternative in the Kyoto area. Everything is nearby: the station, the food and games stands and the fireworks. What else? ;p