Kobe Luminarie Festival 2012

Every year the city of Kobe hosts a Christmas light-up event called Luminarie, as memorial for the lives lost in the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995.  The lights were donated by the Italian government and each globe has been hand-painted.  I decided to check it out this year, seeing as it would be my last opportunity to do so, and so on Friday night I travelled to Kobe to see my friend Jarryd and the beautiful Luminarie lights.  As we wandered through with our Kahlua-spiked Starbucks coffees keeping us warm, it was truly a spectacular sight to behold!

The start of the festival lights.

Each globe has been individually hand-painted!

This part, at the very end of the display, was like a beautiful Christmas winter wonderland!

The lights juxtaposed against the red autumn leaves of Kobe.

After scoping out the light show we wandered along "festival lane" and tried to find ourselves something delicious to eat from one of the many stalls.  I ended up getting a Turkish kebab (so rare to find here!) and a cup full of karaage chicken (Japan's version of fried chicken) - so good!

Kobe beef shishkebabs.

Strawberry mochi cakes.

Yakisoba (Japanese noodle stir-fry).

BBQ seafood - still in the shells!

Takoyaki (chopped octopus cooked into dumplings).

Toffee strawberries!

Baked potatoes.

Fish-shaped ice-cream waffle cones.

My Turkish kebab!