Spending winter in Japan is a thing of sublime beauty. Festivals, or matsuris, take on a different aesthetic during winter, when snow, light and magic abound. After visiting the snow festivals of Sapporo and beyond, I dream of returning to Japan to experience their winter matsuris again.

Thanks to Instagram's visual festival hunters, I discovered the Luminaire Festival. This is what the folks at Instagram have to say about it:

"In Japan, Christmas lights, called "illuminations" (イルミネーション in Japanese), go up as early as mid-November and can remain on display as late as March. Businesses, main streets and big parks go all-out with spectacular LED reveries and exquisitely decorated Christmas trees for passersby to experience. The illuminations play an important role in creating the festive and romantic mood of winter in Japan and they are more astounding with each passing year.

The Kobe Luminarie (神戸ルミナリエ) in Kobe, Japan, is one of the most striking displays every year. Kobe hosted its first illumination festival in December of 1995 in memory of the Great Hanshin Earthquake which struck the region in January of the same year. The Italian-designed illuminations were donated by the government of Italy, and the soft, solemn glow of the hand-painted lights became a symbol of remembrance and hope. The Kobe Luminarie was originally meant to be a one-time event but, with the strong request from local citizens, it has become an annual event with now in its 19th year."