People see one of the "Rosone" works in Kobe's Chuo Ward on Dec. 3, 2021. This particular work was displayed at the former Kobe foreign settlement, which was established after the Kobe port opened itself to foreign trade in 1868, during the first edition of the Kobe Luminarie illumination event in 1995, the year the deadly Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the region. (Mainichi/Naohiro Yamada) =Click/tap photo for more images.

       KOBE -- A scaled-back substitute illumination event for the annual Kobe Luminarie, which has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic, is being held at seven locations in this west Japan city's Chuo Ward.

       In the substitute event, which started on Dec. 3, a number of past illumination works are being displayed at the venues.

       The Kobe Luminarie is an annual winter event that was started by the organizing committee including the municipal government in 1995 to pray for the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the region on Jan. 17 in the same year and for the region's recovery. Some 3.47 million people visited the event in 2019, but it was canceled last year for the first time because of the spread of coronavirus infections.

       This year, nine illumination works collectively titled "Rosone," the Italian word for a circular rose window made of stained glass -- each measuring about 3 meters in diameter -- are lit up at seven locations including Kobe East Park and the Sannomiya Center Gai Shopping Street between sunset and around 9 p.m. until Dec. 12.

       The Rosone works could be seen at the end of a 300-meter-long illuminated archway until the 2019 edition.

       (Japanese original by Shinya Yamamoto, Kobe Bureau)

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