Kobe

Downtown at night

Kobe (神戸市, Kōbe-shi?) is the sixth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately 30 km (19 mi) west of Osaka. With a population of about 1.5 million, the city is part of the Keihanshin (Keihanshin) metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto.

Sannomiya (Downtown)

The earliest written records regarding the region come from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201. For most of its history the area was never a single political entity, even during the Tokugawa Period, when the port was controlled directly by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from "kanbe" (神戸?), an archaic title for supporters of the city's Ikuta Shrine. Kobe became one of Japan's 17 designated cities in 1956.

 Kobe Night View from Nunobiki Herb Garden

Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth busiest container port. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, as well as over 100 international corporations with Asia or Japan headquarters in the city such as Procter & Gamble, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Nestlé. The city is the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef as well as the site of one of Japan's most famous hot spring resorts, Arima Onsen.

Near Shin-Kobe Station.

Transportation

Rail

Sannomiya Station is the main commuter hub in Kobe, serving as the transfer point for the three major intercity rail lines (see external map). The JR Kobe Line connects Kobe to Osaka and Himeji while both the Hankyu Kobe Line and the Hanshin Main Line run from Kobe to Umeda Station in Osaka. In addition, Kobe Municipal Subway provides access to the Sanyō Shinkansen at Shin-Kobe Station. Sanyō Electric Railway trains from Himeji reach Sannomiya via the Kobe Rapid Railway.

Other rail lines in Kobe include Kobe Electric Railway which runs north to Sanda and Arima Onsen. Hokushin Kyuko Railway connects Shin-Kobe Station to Tanigami Station on the Kobe Electric Railway. Kobe New Transit runs two lines, the Port Island Line from Sannomiya to Kobe Airport and the Rokko Island Line from JR Sumiyoshi Station to Rokko Island.

Over Mount Rokkō, the city has two funicular lines and three aerial lifts as well, namely Maya Cablecar, Rokkō Cable Line, Rokkō Arima Ropeway, Maya Ropeway, and Shin-Kobe Ropeway

 The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge extends from Kobe to Awaji Island

Road and air

Kobe is a hub in a number of expressways, including the Meishin Expressway (Nagoya - Kobe) and the Hanshin Expressway (Osaka - Kobe).[34] Other expressways include the Sanyō Expressway (Kobe - Yamaguchi) and the Chūgoku Expressway (Osaka - Yamaguchi). The Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway runs from Kobe to Naruto via Awaji Island and includes the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Osaka International Airport in nearby Itami and Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed island south of Port Island, offer mainly domestic flights, while Kansai International Airport in Osaka is the main international hub in the area.

 Downtown Kobe from a harbour cruise boat

Culture

Kobe is most famous for its Kobe beef and Arima Onsen (or "hot springs"). Notable buildings include the Ikuta Shrine as well as the Kobe Port Tower. It is well known for the night view of the city, from mountains such as Mount Rokkō, and Mount Maya as well as the coast. Kobe is also known for having a somewhat exotic atmosphere by Japanese standards, which is mainly as a result of its history as a port city.

 Kobe from an airplane

The city is also widely associated with cosmopolitanism and fashion, encapsulated in the Japanese phrase, "If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe." The biannual fashion event Kobe Fashion Week, centered around the Kobe Collection is held in Kobe. The jazz festival "Kobe Jazz Street" has been held every October at jazz clubs and hotels since 1981.

Kobe is the site of Japan's first golf course, Kobe Golf Club, established by Arthur Hasketh Groom in 1903, and Japan's first mosque, Kobe Mosque, built in 1935. The city also hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded in 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim, a prominent foreign cemetery, and a number of Western-style residences from the 19th century, in the Kitano area. Museums include Kobe City Museum and Kobe City Museum of Literature.

Most of the 1957 romantic drama Sayonara takes place in Kobe. The city is also the setting of the Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies.

 

An'yō-in. It's Karesansui is Japan's Places of Scenic Beauty.

 Weathercock House, one of the many foreign residences of the Kitano area of Kobe

 Kobe University main building.

UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. headquarters on Port Island.

Nestle Japan Ltd. headquarters on Sannomiya.

 Procter & Gamble Asia headquarters on Rokko Island

Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co. headquarters on Kobe Harbor.

The Giant Panda Koukou at Oji Zoo

Kobe Chinatown, Motomachi

Taisan-ji. The main hall is a National Treasure of Japan.

Kobe Port Tower

Harborland

 

Kitano area, built in the 1880s - 1910s

 Kobe is the busiest port in the Kansai region.

 The Bund, built in the 1860s - 1930s

Hyōgo Port in the 19th century



This Nishiki-e (Colored woodcut) shows a foreign steamboat entering Hyōgo Port shortly after its opening to the West in the late 19th century.

Posted in: JAPAN