Once upon a time this park for famous merely for being thick with foreigners, but after the devastating earthquake of 1995, it's taken on a far more significant and commemorative role. After the Italian government donated hundreds of thousand of lights, artists Valerio Festi and HirokazuImaoka created a splendorous illumination at this park in remembrance of the victims of the quake. This light show has since been repeated annually by the city in what has come to be one of the city's most anticipated events, the Luminarie, every year on January 17. A monument in the park contains the engraved names of the victims, a statue with a clock stopped on the exact instant of the quake. On other days though, the pretty park is just a great place to relax.

• Sannomiya Station(Kobe)

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