Kobe Luminarie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pictures of lights at the Kobe luminarie in December 2008.

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] Last year, Kobe held its 18th luminarie festival.

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]

    Tohoku Initiative

    In the 2011 luminaire, 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.[8]

    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]

    Pictures of lights at the Kobe luminarie in December 2010.

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

    Year Number of People
    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

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


    Kobe Luminarie 2013 panorama


    See also

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Official Site (Japanese)
    2. ↑ Studio Festi Installations
    3. ↑ http://www.kicc.jp/ajisai/ajisai118.pdf
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Going Global", The Gold Coast Bulletin, 2012, December 22. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Japan's Most Famous Festival of Lights", My Modern Met, 2012, November 7. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
    6. ↑ Kobe Luminarie 2012
    7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Gates, C. "Leading lights", The Press, 2011, April 29. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.
    8. ↑ “Recovery of japan tourism”, McClatchy - Tribune Business News, 2012, Jully 02. Retrieved on 22 February 2013.

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kobe Luminarie.

    Coordinates: 34°41′17.1″N 135°11′23.8″E / 34.688083°N 135.189944°E / 34.688083; 135.189944

    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.