The 18th Kobe Luminarie

I'm very sorry. I made a mistake with the dates of Kobe Luminarie.

The 18th Kobe Luminarie is a light festival which started in December 1995 to mourn for the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. More than 3.4 million visitors enjoyed this festival as an annual illumination event last year.

The festival is being held at Old Foreign Settlement and Higashi-Yuenchi Park (Chuo Ward) in Kobe City from December 6th to the 17th. The theme of this year's Luminarie is "La Luce di KIZUNA, la solidarieta, la fratellanza e il legame (the light of KIZUNA, solidarity, brotherhood and the link)".
It is prohibited to duplicate, reuse, sell or make other secondary use of the Kobe Luminarie's photos now.
You can see the photos at the following sites:
http://kobe-mari.maxs.jp/luminarie/index.html (Japanese version only)




information relative to Kichirei Kaomise Kogyo:

Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII passed away at 2:33 a.m. on December 5th after developing ARDS as a result of pneumonia. He was 57 years old. In most of Japanese traditional performing arts, a performer matures in his 60s and 70s. His early death was a heavy blow to kabuki. May his soul rest in peace.

His sons, Nakamura Kankuro VI and Shichinosuke Ⅱ were present at their father's deathbed in a hospital in Tokyo. After that they left for Kyoto and performed kabuki plays at the theater. They will perform there until the closing day (the 26th.)

Only close members of the family will hold the wake on the 10th and attend his private funeral service on the 11th. Kanzaburo's formal funeral will be held on the 27th. The chief mourners at his funeral are Kankuro and Shichinosuke.