Every life is like a single shining light in a world of darkness. Celebrating the wonderful gift of life as we remember those lost during the tragic 1995 earthquake at Kobe’s splendid Luminarie display.

Kobe Luminarie is an annual winter light-up held in memory of the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Now running for over 20 years, the event takes place in the vicinity of Motomachi Station on the JR Kobe Line starting at the Former Foreign Settlement and extending to Higashi Yuenchi Park. The lights were donated by the Italian Government. Over 200,000 individually hand painted lights are lit each year with electricity generated from biomass in order to stay environmentally friendly.

December 15th is the last day to see the magical lights!