Kobe in the Kansai region of Japan is not just famous for its wagyu Kobe beef but also is popular during December when the streets will be so bright because of the illumination.
Kobe Luminarie is the name of this amazing illumination and I've been here last December 2018. This festival is usually held for at least 2 weekends in early December. I heard it got stopped during the pandemic but I heard it was back last Dec 2022.
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. The lights were donated by the Italian Government and the installation itself is produced by Valerio Festi and Hirokazu Imaoka. Over 200,000 individually hand painted lights are lit each year with electricity generated from biomass in order to stay environmentally friendly.
source: Wikipedia
I couldn't remember if we started walking from Sannomiya station or Motomachi station because we were just walking and walking, following where the crowd was going (we're sure they're going to the same place as us so we're just following them) but either way, you can get to the venue from either of these major train stations.
I came here with my co-workers aka friends and we're also meeting other co-workers aka friends that arrived first at the venue. Imagine me guiding the group looking for 3 people in a crowd of hundreds of people (or maybe a thousand!?). But thank goodness, we found them in a short span of time! Thanks to my navigational skills.
It's like a festival so there were also stalls selling food, especially the famous festival-food takoyaki and yakisoba. Mind you, takoyaki in Osaka and its neighbor Kobe is so different from other parts of Japan, definitely a must-try.
I still happened to have my camera, Sony NEX-F3 at this time so I was using it to take these photos. I miss my camera. I'm still not skillful in taking photos using it but this camera was my travel buddy ever since I got it around 2011 or 2012 and I could still remember the struggle I went through buying it. Yep, it was that old already. Right now, I don't have it with me because of a very long story. I want to get a new camera but my phone works for now.
I think there were still areas left to be explored especially the shopping district area but I'll leave you to your imagination or better yet, enjoy these vibrant bright lights yourself.
If you happen to come to Japan in December, make sure to pay Kobe Luminarie a visit. I tell you, it's so magical being surrounded by all these bright lights. Just don't mind the crowd feeling the same thing. 😉
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken using my camera unless stated otherwise.