{"id":7746,"date":"2026-07-30T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7746"},"modified":"2026-07-30T06:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:00:40","slug":"kumamoto-castle-left-illuminated-all-night-long-as-symbol-of-hope-for-earthquake-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7746","title":{"rendered":"Kumamoto Castle left illuminated all night long as symbol of hope for earthquake victims"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The castle itself is still undergoing repairs from an earthquake from 10 years ago<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kumamoto<\/strong> is still reeling from a massive earthquake<\/strong> that struck the prefecture on Japan\u2019s southwestern island of Kyushu on the afternoon of July 28. Recovering from the magnitude-7.1 quake will not be a quick or easy process, and there are many, many difficult days ahead. In dark times, though, any symbol of hope becomes vital, and Kazufumi Onishi<\/strong>, mayor of Kumamoto Prefecture\u2019s Capital of Kumamoto City<\/strong>, shared one the day following the disaster.<\/p>\n

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\u4eca\u591c\u306f\u718a\u672c\u57ce\u3092\u591c\u901a\u3057\u30e9\u30a4\u30c8\u30a2\u30c3\u30d7\u3057\u307e\u3059\"\ud83c\udfef\"\"\u2728\"
\u82e6\u3057\u3044\u72b6\u6cc1\u304c\u7d9a\u304d\u307e\u3059\u304c\u3001\u718a\u672c\u306e\u30b7\u30f3\u30dc\u30eb\u30fb\u5929\u5b88\u95a3\u3092\u898b\u4e0a\u3052\u3066\u3001\u307e\u305f\u660e\u65e5\u3078\u5411\u304b\u3063\u3066\u9811\u5f35\u308a\u307e\u3057\u3087\u3046\u3002 pic.twitter.com\/yHYwBRu9Xf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u718a\u672c\u5e02\u9577 \u5927\u897f\u4e00\u53f2 (@K_Onishi) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cTonight, Kumamoto Castle will be illuminated throughout the night,\u201d<\/strong> Onishi announced via his official Twitter account. \u201cWe are still dealing with a harsh, difficult situation, but let\u2019s look towards the castle\u2019s tower, the symbol of Kumamoto, and then turn towards doing our best again tomorrow to get through this.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kumamoto Castle itself was severely damaged 10 years ago<\/a> when a previous earthquake struck the region. It took five years for the main keep to be repaired to a state where it could again start welcoming visitors, and restoration work is still ongoing for some parts of the castle. All of that, though, arguably makes it an even more appropriate symbol of resilience, and the decision to keep the castle lit up as a beacon of hope was met with high praise from commenters to Onishi\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn times like this, people really do need a symbol to rally around.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThe beautiful light of hope.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThis is a reminder that aside from just food, clothing, and shelter, things like this can have a huge positive effect by providing psychological support. I believe that seeing the castle shining against the night sky will give people the strength to get through this and keep moving forward.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThings will get better! Hang in there!\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI hope the glow of Kumamoto Castle will provide even a little comfort to everyone who\u2019s suffering.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cNo matter how bad things may seem, having something like this that lights up the town is a source of emotional strength. One step at a time, let\u2019s keep doing what we can.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Usually, on nights when Kumamoto Castle is illuminated, the lights go off sometime between 10 p.m. and midnight. It\u2019s unclear whether the all-night light-up was a one-time only event or whether it\u2019ll be happening periodically as Kumamoto continues to pick up the pieces. Either way, though, it\u2019s nice for people to have a shared symbol of the community to remind them that they\u2019re not alone in these trying times.<\/p>\n

Source: Twitter\/@K_Onishi<\/a> via Jin<\/a><\/em>
\nTop image: Wikipedia\/Suicasmo<\/a><\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The castle itself is still undergoing repairs from an earthquake from 10 years ago. Kumamoto is still reeling from a massive earthquake that struck the prefecture on Japan\u2019s southwestern island…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}