Ninth annual luminaire to light up Kobe streets: The ninth annual Kobe Luminarie will light up the Kyu-gaikokujin Kyoryuchi (Old Foreign Settlement) district and Higashi Yuenchi park in Kobe's Chuo Ward, near JR Motomachi Station, between 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. until Dec. 25.

The exhibition of illuminated sculptures, which has its origins in Renaissance Europe, is a memorial to the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 and attracts millions of visitors every year.

For more information, call the organizer at (078) 303-0038.

Herb park extends hours to celebrate Christmas: Nunobiki Herb Park, in Kobe's Chuo Ward, has extended its opening hours to celebrate Christmas.

The park, which grows 200 kinds of herbs on a mountain slope, will be open between 10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. every day until Dec. 25. A Christmas tree will be lit up at 4:30 p.m. and free concerts will be held on Dec. 20, 21 and 23.

In addition, the park is inviting visitors to observe the first sunrise of the New Year from 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 1. Free herbal wine and Japanese sake will be served.

The entrance fee is 100 yen for elementary and junior high school students and 200 yen for adults.

To get to the park, take the Shin-Kobe Ropeway to Nunobiki Herb-en Station from Kitano 1-chome Station, which is a five-minute walk from the Shin-Kobe subway station.

For more information, call the park at (078) 271-1131.

Amnesty to campaign for rights with letters: Amnesty International is inviting people to take part in a letter-writing marathon to defend human rights. The event will take place between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. today at its Osaka offices, on the fifth floor of the pia NPO building in the city's Minato Ward.

Participants will write postcards to political leaders in various countries to demand that they halt torture, abuse and other violations of human rights.

Postcards and stamps will be sold at the venue. The venue is a five-minute walk from Osaka-ko Station on the Chuo subway line.

For more information, call the office at (06) 4395-1313.

Flanders Center offers clarinet concert tickets: The Flanders Center, a liaison office of the Flanders region of Belgium, is offering 20 Japan Times readers the chance to win a ticket to a bass clarinet concert led by renown soloist Jan Guns from 7 p.m. on Dec. 26 at its facility in Tennoji Ward, Osaka.

Guns will perform modern compositions with five other players who have attended his one-week bass clarinet class in the Kansai region.

Readers who wish to enter the draw for a ticket should send a postcard stating their name, address, age, profession, phone number and the name of the medium (The Japan Times) to the center. The address is 8-2-6, Uehonmachi, Tennoji-ku, Osaka-shi, 543-0001. The postcard must arrive by Dec. 21.

For more information, call the organizer at (06) 6773-8850 or fax (06) 6773-8855.