Kobe Luminarie

Kobe Luminarie (神戸ルミナリエ) is a light festival held in Kobe, Japan, every December since 1995 to commemorate the Great Hanshin earthquake of that year.[1] The lights were donated by the Italian Government and the installation itself is produced by Valerio Festi[2] and Hirokazu Imaoka.[3] Over 200,000 [4] individually hand painted [5] lights are lit each year with electricity generated from biomass in order to stay environmentally friendly.[1]

Manhole cover commemorating the KobeLuminarie

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.[6]

Symbolization

When the Great Hanshin earthquake struck Kobe on January 17, 1995, it left more than 6,000 dead and caused $100 billon in damages.[7] 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.[5][7] 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.[1]

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.[7]

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.[8]


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.[4]

Tourist attraction

The Hanshin earthquake left Kobe at a slump with tourist attractions for obvious reasons. One of the factors that brought tourism back to Kobe was the sincerity of the luminarie event in honoring the victims of the earthquake.[9]

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.[7]

The table below indicates the number of people attending the luminarie event each year since 2004.[1]

YearNumber of People
　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　
20173,396,000
20183,426,000
20193,469,000
2020
Cancellation
[10]

The luminarie also has numerous sponsors. The following are just few of the tens of dozens of sponsors for 2012;[1]

See also

References
  1. Official Site (Japanese)
  2. "Studio Festi Installations". Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
  3. http://www.kicc.jp/ajisai/ajisai118.pdf%5B%5D
  4. "Going Global", The Gold Coast Bulletin, 2012, December 22. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
  5. "Japan's Most Famous Festival of Lights", My Modern Met, 2012, November 7. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
  6. Kobe Luminarie 2012
  7. Gates, C. "Leading lights", The Press, 2011, April 29. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
  8. Announced Kobe Tourism Bureau, July 17, 2020
  9. “Recovery of japan tourism”, McClatchy - Tribune Business News, 2012, July 02. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
  10. 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.Announced Kobe Tourism Bureau, July 17, 2020

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