On the day marking the 29th anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1995, a solemn memorial ceremony was held in Kobe the day before yesterday. From today until the 28th (Sunday), a festival of light, the Kobe Luminarie, will take place over the course of 10 days, dedicated to the repose and remembrance of the victims, as well as expressing hope for the recovery of Kobe. Over the past three years, starting from 2020, the event has been held on a reduced scale due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, this 29th edition marks a return to full-scale after a four-year hiatus.
Unlike the pre-pandemic years, there is a significant change in the timing of the event, moving from its traditional December schedule to a January timeframe. Additionally, the venue has shifted from a single location to three dispersed locations, and some sections of the event are now paid. The cost of holding Luminarie is approximately 500 million yen, and the largest portion of the cost is production costs, followed by security costs. There are 3 million visitors every year, and the security costs were approximately 140 million yen, accounting for one-quarter of the total. The rationale behind these changes appears to be addressing the rising costs of production materials and implementing measures to reduce security expenses.
Next year will mark the 30th edition, and considering events like the Great East Japan Earthquake and the recent Noto earthquake, the appropriateness of such memorial events is being questioned.

1995年1月17日阪神淡路大震災が起こって29年目の一昨日、神戸ではしめやかに追悼式が行われました。そして今日から28日(日)までの10日間、犠牲者への鎮魂と追悼、神戸復興を願う光の祭典、神戸ルミナリエが開催されます。2020年からの３年間は、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大により、規模を大幅に縮小して継続されてきましたが、今回の第29回は、４年ぶりの本格開催となります。
ただコロナ禍前とは違って、開催時期がこれまでは12月から初めて１月開催に変更されました。また開催場所も、これまでの1か所から3か所に分散され、一部有料になった点も違います。ルミナリエの開催にかかる費用はおよそ5億円ですが、費用の中で最も大きな割合を占める作品制作費に次いで費用がかかのが警備費です。毎年300万人の来場者がありますが、この警備費用がおよそ1億4千万円で、全体の４分の１を占めていました。製作費資材の高騰や、この警備負担を減らための対策が、今回の変更の趣旨のようです。
来年は30回を迎えますが、東北大震災のことや今回の能登地震のことも踏まえ、こうした追悼行事のあり方が問われる時に来ています。