Kobe Luminarie

[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.

[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] However, in 2020, due to the effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019, even if the scale was reduced, it was expected to cause congestion, and it was extremely difficult to implement infection control measures.