The popular annual Sumida River fireworks in Tokyo will be postponed by one month until Aug. 26 because police will be too busy in July providing security for the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa Prefecture, fireworks organizers said Monday.
The organizers said they decided to postpone the show, which was originally scheduled for July 29, after police said they would not be able to deploy about 5,000 riot and other officers for the event that month.
"We cannot stage the fireworks without cooperation from police," one of the organizers said.
The fireworks have been held on the last Saturday of July since 1978. About 800,000 to 900,000 people usually turn out to watch 20,000 fireworks exploding over the Sumida River.
About 20,000 police officers from Okinawa, Tokyo and other prefectural forces will be mobilized for the July 21-23 summit in Nago.
The G8 consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia.