Kobe’s Spectacular Light Festival Returns for First Time in 4 Years with New Venues
![](https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/11018572.jpg)
The light corridor in Chuo Ward, Kobe, on Friday
12:53 JST, January 20, 2024
The Kobe Luminarie festival, which commemorates the victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, opened Friday in Chuo Ward, Kobe. The festival returned for the first time in four years after a hiatus due to the pandemic. To alleviate congestion, there is now an admission fee for the popular light corridor, venues are dispersed, and the event period has been changed from December to January. The festival will continue until Jan. 28.
Approximately 340,000 light bulbs were lit across ten venues in Chuo Ward at 6 p.m. A 70-meter-long light corridor at the main venue in Meriken Park elicited loud cheers from the crowd.
A 66-year-old resident from Kobe’s Kita Ward, whose home was damaged in the Great Hanshin Earthquake, has visited the festival every year and found courage in it, saying, “These lights seem to convey that, like Kobe, the earthquake-affected areas of the Noto Peninsula can definitely be rebuilt.”
The light corridor, previously set up at Higashi Yuenchi Park and free to enter, was relocated and now costs ¥500 with a pre-sale ticket and ¥1,000 on the day. This change was made to improve the financial difficulties of the organizing committee.
"Society" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Typhoon Shanshan Forms, Slowly Moves Toward Japan; Govt Says Typhoon No. 10 Likely to Approach Japan Next Week
-
Typhoon Ampil Approaching Japan
-
Shizuoka Pref. City Offers Foreigners Free Japanese Language Classes; Aims to Raise Non-Natives to Daily Conversation Level
-
Typhoon No. 10 Forecast to Develop; Move into Pacific Ocean South of Japan on Aug. 26
-
Tokyo Companies Prepare for Ashfall From Mt. Fuji Eruption; Disposal Of Ash, Possibly at Sea, A Major Challenge
JN ACCESS RANKING