"Kobe Luminarie"

The Kobe Luminarie is held every winter from early December for 12 days and is located in the Old Foreign Settlement and Higashi-yuenchi Park in Chuo-ku, Kobe, south of Hanshin Railway (between Motomachi and Sannomiya stations). "Luminarie" is the plural form of Italian word "luminaria" that stands for Illumination with miniature bulbs. It began eleven months after the Kobe Earthquake in 1995 with the hope to give courage and greatly inspire the people of Kobe. Because there was a strong desire for continuation, it became an annual event. Every year, more than four million visitors come to see the "Luminarie."