KOBE HOTELS & TRAVEL GUIDE
Kobe Japan - Kobe Guide - Getting to Kobe,
Kobe sight seeing, Kobe food and Kobe Hotels.
Kōbe (神戸) is one of
Japan's underappreciated cities. A
cosmopolitan port city with an international flavour, hemmed in by Mt. Rokko, it constantly comes up number one in expatriate rankings of the
best place to live in Japan.
Understanding Kobe
A port in what would become Kōbe was established as a concession to
western powers in 1868, during the time when Japan was opening to the
world. Nagasaki and Yokohama had already begun serving foreign ships
nine years earlier. Today, a synagogue, a Chinatown, and European
architecture mark Kōbe as a place that foreigners and foreign culture
first came to Japan.
On January 17, 1995 an earthquake measured at 7.2 on the Richter Scale
occurred at 05:46am JST near the city killing 6,433, making 300,000
homeless and destroying large parts of the port facilities and other
parts of the city. It was one of the most costly natural disasters in
modern history. The earthquake notably destroyed the Hanshin
Expressway, an elevated freeway which dramatically toppled over:
within Japan, the earthquake is known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake
(or the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake). In the last 10 years, the city has
recovered completely, but it lost some of its ship traffic.
Kōbe's core surrounds Sannomiya (三宮) Station, rather than Kobe
Station. Sannomiya station has a tourist information office,
well-stocked with area maps.
Getting to Kobe
By train
The San'yo Shinkansen stops at Shin-Kōbe station, which is one stop on
the Yamate-Seishin subway line from Sannomiya.
If you are coming from Osaka, there are several ways to arrive in Sannomiya. Trains on the Hankyu and Hanshin private lines both depart
from from Umeda station and take 28 min („310). Trains on the JR Kobe
line, depart from JR Osaka station and take 21 min („390). The
Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka station requires only 15 minutes, but costs
„2,810.
By plane
The nearest international airport is Kansai International Airport. The
fastest, albeit traffic-prone, way to get from there to Kobe is the
Airport Limousine bus, although the JR Rapid Express connecting at
Osaka is not much slower and more dependable. Ferries from the airport
have been discontinued.
The nearest domestic airport is Osaka's Itami Airport, but Kobe's own
airport, built on reclaimed land in front of the harbour, is scheduled
to open in 2005.
Getting Around Kobe
By train
The Hankyu, Hanshin and JR lines cross Kōbe in a west-east direction,
and provide the cheapest and fastest way to travel across town.
By subway
Kōbe has two subway lines. The Kaigan Line runs along along the coast,
and the Yamate-Seishin Line runs toward the mountains. Both are more
expensive than ordinary trains and unlikely to be of use for the
traveller, except when connecting to Shin-Kōbe.
By light rail
The automated Port Liner links Sannomiya to the reclaimed port
district south of the city, and (in 2005) to the new airport as well.
Likewise, the Rokko Liner links the Rokko Island area to JR Sumiyoshi
station.
By bus
Kōbe has a bus system, which may be your best choice when travelling
in the north-south direction.
On foot
Kōbe is thin in the north-south direction, but long in the west-east
direction. Since much of it is built on a hill, a reasonable itinerary
is to take the bus up the hill, and walk down.
Kobe Sight Seeing
Ijinkan (異人館) (walking distance from either Sannomiya or Shin-Kobe
stations) Kōbe's number-one attraction is the Ijinkan or Barbarian
Houses. These are 19th-century residences of Kobe's foreign traders,
clustered in the Kitano area. Europeans who grew up in similar scenery
may find them less fascinating.
Meriken Park (メリケンパーク) near the harborfront has a poignant memorial to
the devastating Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, which killed 6,433 people.
Kobe Tower nearby is the unofficial symbol of the city and offers a
viewing pavilion („600).
Harbour Land (adjacent to Kobe station). This is a modern shopping and
dining area, developed on the edge of the Kobe Bay.
Kōbe is a well-known center of sake production and many sake breweries
are in the Nada (灘) area, and have tours or museums open to the
public. You can pick up a map of the sake breweries at the tourist
information office in Sannomiya.
Sawa-no-Tsuru Museum (沢の鶴資料館) (10-minute walk from Hanshin Ōishi
station 大石駅). 078-882-7788. Open daily 10 AM to 4 PM, closed Weds.
This museum is probably the best of the bunch, with an informative
multi-level exhibit partly labeled in English, and a well-stocked gift
shop. Free entry, but no free sake.
Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum (walking distance from Hankyu Mikage
station 御影駅 or Sumiyoshi station 住吉駅), 078-822-8907. Open daily 9:30
AM to 4:30 PM, closed Mon. This museum is located inside a former
brewery, and features traditional tools, dioramas and English-language
videos to explain the sake-making processes. At the end, you can
sample some sake, which is non-pasteurized, presumably because it
doesn't have to travel far from the factory. Write your name on a
piece of paper provided by the guard and return that at the end. Free
entry, free sake.
Hamafukutsuru-Ginjo Brewery and Shop Open daily 10 AM to 5 PM, closed
Mon. 078-411-0492. Reportedly, Hamafukutsuru offers factory tours,
rather than just a museum.
What to do in Kobe
Rokko (六甲山 Rokko-san) and its Rock Garden, the
first an easy cable car trip for suitable romantic evenings, the
second a light day's hiking with an excellent view. The view over the
glittering expanse of Osaka Bay is canonized as one of the Three Great
Night Views.
Kobe Shopping
Kōbe's shopping is clustered around the Sannomiya train station and
the Center-Gai shopping arcade leading off from it. Many of the
unassuming little cafes and specialty shops in the arcade in fact have
histories tracing back well over a hundred years.
Piazza Kōbe (ピアザ神戸) and Motokō Town (モトコータウン) are the two names of
essentially one long arcade where all manner of second-hand goods are
sold. These stores are underneath the JR lines, running from Sannomiya
station, past Motomachi Station, to Kōbe Station.
Kobe Food
Kobe has a large number of restaurants offering international cuisine.
Kōbe is known worldwide for its Kobe beef, exquisitely marbled, very
fatty and very expensive beef. Recommended for a splurge, but expect
to pay close to „10,000 per head.
Nankinmachi (walking distance from Sannomiya station). Cheap eats can
be found in Kōbe's Chinatown.
Drink
Kōbe's specialty are tachinomiya, literally stand-and-drink bars.
Kōbe has a wide variety of
accommodation, ranging from love hotels
near Shin-Kobe to luxury hotels by the waterfront.
Get out of Kobe
Arima Onsen, a hot-spring town located at the terminus of the Mt. Rokko cable car
Himeji, a small town with Japan's most beautiful castle, is a 20
minute train ride away.
(Article
based on
Wikitravel article
by Wikitravel users Jose Ramos, Namgay Dorji, Bujdosó Attila, Brian
Kurkoski and Mark Jaroski and Wikitravel user(s) Janki, Jpatokal and
Nzpcmad. and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Article used under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.) |
