Kobe City Memorial Luminaries

This past Thursday and Friday I went two times to see a light show in Sannomiya, the downtown center of Kobe City. There are two blocks allocated for overhead lights, and huge arches are constructed with thousands of tiny, colored light bulbs that are lit up in beautiful patterns. Then, at the end of the two blocks, there is a park, and in the park there is another area set aside with one giant light display composed of more colorful designs. There is no special holiday theme for these lights, so it took a while for me to figure out why this brilliant light display occurs in Kobe each December.

The luminaries are set up in remembrance of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck Kobe in January, 1995. I do not know why the light display is held in December as opposed to January, but it is an annual event that started maybe ten years ago to mark the passing of each year since the deadly earthquake. I believe that Okaasan recently told me that the light show is second only to the Snow Festival held in Hokkaido each year in terms of popularity of seasonal events, and many people from all over Japan come to see the light show each year.

The light show uses a lot of electricity, so according to my Japanese friends, each year the show becomes smaller and smaller. In the past, the Kobe municipality has thought about discontinuing the light display, but protests from citizens across the country have stopped the municipality from ending the tradition and have kept the light show going. It's also free for the public, so it's hard on the city to fund all the electricity needed to display the lights. Therefore, the local government asks for a one hundred yen donation from each person who comes to see the lights.