is a light festival held in Kobe, Japan, every December since 1995 to commemorate the Great Hanshin earthquake of that year.Official Site (Japanese) The lights were donated by the Italian Government and the installation itself is produced by Valerio Festi and Hirokazu Imaoka.http://www.kicc.jp/ajisai/ajisai118.pdf Over 200,000"Going Global", The Gold Coast Bulletin, 2012, December 22. Retrieved on 22 February 2013. individually hand painted "Japan's Most Famous Festival of Lights" , My Modern Met, 2012, November 7. Retrieved on 22 February 2013. lights are lit each year with electricity generated from biomass in order to stay environmentally friendly.
Lights are kept up for about two weeks and turned on for a few hours each evening. Major streets in the vicinity are closed to auto traffic during these hours to allow pedestrians to fill the streets and enjoy the lights. It is viewed by about three to five million people each year.Kobe Luminarie 2012
Symbolization When the Great Hanshin earthquake struck Kobe on January 17, 1995, it left more than 6,000 dead and caused $100 billion in damages.Gates, C. "Leading lights", The Press, 2011, April 29. Retrieved on 22 February 2013. Since many had to live in darkness due to supply cuts in electricity, gas, and water, the idea of putting up lights acted as a symbol of hope, recovery, and renovation. Though it was only supposed to take place once, strong popularity and demand from citizens encouraged the continuation of luminarie to become an annual event.
Silent prayers to victims of the earthquake takes place in the opening ceremony, and a memorial naming those who were killed is posted during the night.
However, in 2020, due to the effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019, even if the scale was reduced, it was expected to cause congestion, and it was extremely difficult to implement infection control measures. Also, because the Italian craftsman has no prospect of entering Japan, the Kobe Luminarie event was canceled. The event was resumed in January 2024, in a change to its usual December schedule. Rather than its previous centralised displays, the 2024 festival's displays were dispersed over multiple sites in Kobe, with the large "Galleria" and "Frontone" displays forming a paid-entry area in Merikan Park.
Tohoku Initiative In the 2011 Luminarie, the same year as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, a special exhibition was held to raise money for its victims. In the 2012 luminarie, drawings by children from that region were used to make lanterns displayed at the event.
Tourist attraction
The Hanshin earthquake left Kobe at a slump with tourist attractions. One of the factors that brought tourism back to Kobe was the sincerity of the Luminarie event in honoring the victims of the earthquake.“Recovery of japan tourism”, McClatchy - Tribune Business News, 2012, July 02. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
The event attracts around 4 million people to Kobe every year and raises $1.3 million in donations and $6.1 million in sponsorship and merchandise sales.
The table below indicates the number of people attending the Luminarie event each year since 2004.
Year Attendance 1995 2,542,678 1996 3,855,665 1997 4,732,346 1998 5,163,716 1999 5,157,573 2000 4,737,907 2001 5,190,000 2002 4,640,000 2003 5,066,000 2004 5,383,000 2005 4,358,000 2006 4,650,000 2007 4,043,000 2008 3,755,000 2009 3,650,000 2010 3,434,000 2011 3,421,000 2012 3,401,000 2013 3,541,000 2014 3,444,000 2015 3,256,000 2016 3,253,000 2017 3,396,000 2018 3,426,000 2019 3,469,000 2020 CancelledIn 2020, due to the effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019, even if the scale was reduced, it was expected to cause congestion, and it was extremely difficult to implement infection control measures. Also, because the Italian craftsman has no prospect of entering Japan, the Kobe Luminarie event was canceled.Announced Kobe Tourism Bureau, July 17, 2020 2024 2,298,000
The luminarie also has numerous sponsors. The following are just a few of the tens of dozens of sponsors for 2012;
JR West Hankyu Corporation Nestle Group Japan Hanshin Electric Railway Co TOA (shares) Kadokawa Magazine Ltd. Sysmex Ltd
See also Christmas lights Traditional lighting equipment of Japan Parol Luminaria
References
External links
Osaka Hikari Renaissance (English)—another light festival which takes place in December and January around Nakanoshima in central Osaka