A Winter Date～Kobe’s Luminarie

Recently I had an especially nice winter date with my boyfriend that I’d like to share. As I have written before, winter illuminations are a big thing in Japan and make for a really romantic date with a loved one or a fun time with a friend or family member. One of the most famous illuminations in Kansai is Kobe’s Luminarie. For three years now, I’ve wanted to go, but compared with other illuminations, it’s time frame is very short. It’s only two weeks long, and ends before Christmas. Every year, I missed it by accident. FINALLY, I got to go. I made a point to check the dates far in advance and clear my schedule.

Let me say, I’m so glad I did! Luminarie was gorgeous!! Apparently it can get very crowded and lines can take a long time, but we went on a Friday evening fairly early (around 6:30) on the last weekend, so it wasn’t so bad. I’ve found that illuminations themselves are quite short, and if you go expecting to walk under canopies of lights for an hour, you’ll be disappointed, but if you go expecting to enjoy the lights for about 30 minutes, you’ll be happy.

On the guided route to Luminarie.

Luminarie was very impressive, more so than Osaka’s Renaissance. When Shinya saw the display, he said that it was the first time in while that he felt moved. His comment brought a smile to my face. I felt the same way. We started off by grabbing some warm drinks at a nearby café to bring with us on our walk. I bought cocoa to get me in the winter spirit. Walking hand in hand with our drinks under the lights really did feel magical. For that moment, I was in bliss.

Luminarie.

Luminarie.

Luminarie.

Luminarie.

After taking our fill of pictures and enjoying the lights, we hit up Chinatown nearby. I had walked through it once before, but it was my first time to actually make it a point to eat there. It far exceeded my expectations in terms of fun. The streets are lined with red lanterns, food stands, and Chinese people calling out to you to buy their goods. For a second, I felt like I was back in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Shinya and I made the mistake of going in to a restaurant at first. Compared with the food stands, the restaurants are really expensive. We were kind of shocked. So, we ordered a drink each and just got some shrimp shumai before we left. We would have felt bad for leaving without ordering anything.

Kobe Chinatown.

Shrimp shumai.

Once we got back on to the streets, the fun began. We went to several random food stands and ordered anything that looked good. Most places had some makeshift tables to eat at, so we basically ordered something, sat and ate for 5 minutes, went to a different place, ordered something and sat again, and repeat. We got all sorts of little things like mini bowls of fried rice and ramen, fried spring rolls, drinks, dumplings, and so on. We ate until we were full, and the best part was that it was very cheap!! Maybe we spent about $15 each and enjoyed so many different things.

Ramen, beer, and bubble tea.

If you get a chance, check out Luminarie. It’s beautiful and free and a great way to enjoy Japanese winter.