Ru-Mi-Na-Ri-E

On Sunday I went to Kobe to see the Luminaire. This is a light display that is a memorial to those who died in the 1995 earthquake that devastated Kobe. When I first saw the posters advertising the event at my local train station I thought it was something similar in spirit to the Christmas lights we have in Australia. However, while I was talking with a student about going he told me it was actually a memorial. He also gave me some advice on how to find it in Kobe.

So, with a somewhat more sombre mood than I had planned on, I caught the train after work to Kobe. I wandered in vaguely the right direction, until I found some signs for the event with maps on, then wandered a bit more to make sure I was heading in the right direction. After a while I found some streets closed to traffic with a throng of people walking along, but there was a fence stopping people from just hopping in. So I followed the fence to the entrance, and started walking.

The route follows an s shape, going up one street, down the next and then up another. The first two streets aren't that impressive. One or two buildings put some lights up, but that was it. The good stuff waited until the third street. The street wasn't that much, but at the end was a covered walkway type area filled with lights.

The walkway went on for quite a while, and then you come to the big round lighty thing, as well as the souvenir stands, lottery stands, and food stands. I picked up a prepaid train ticket and part of a Christmas present for someone (I know who, but don't want to ruin the surprise).

Here are a few photos. More can be found here.






End Post
Writing time: 27 minutes (I got a bit distracted reading other tabs)
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: iTunes shuffle of all the track 5s - currently Ugly Men with Beautiful Women by Tripod