Nestled between Osaka Bay and Mount Rokko in Japan’s Kansai region, Kobe is Japan’s sixth-largest city and a bustling port. Located less than 30 minutes by train from Osaka, Kobe is the capital of Hyōgo Prefecture.
People have lived in the Kobe area since the Ikuta Shrine was built in 201 AD, and by the 13th century, the area had become known as Hyogo Port. The port fully opened to foreign trade in 1868, and by 1889, the area was designated as Kobe, named after the people who worshipped at Ikuta Shrine.
Today, Kobe remains a major port, and the Ikuta Shrine still stands on its original site. Thanks to the influx of foreign visitors since the port’s opening, the city has developed a distinctly international flavour, featuring one of Japan’s largest Chinatowns and the 19th-century foreign residences of the Kitano area.
Many people associate Kobe with the devastating earthquake that struck the city in 1995. Known as the Great Hanshin Earthquake, it toppled an elevated expressway, severely damaged the port, and impacted Meriken Park, an area undergoing urban renewal at the time. Today, the city has been rebuilt, with the only physical reminder of the disaster being a memorial in Meriken Park, where a section of the boardwalk has been left untouched to showcase the quake’s devastation.
Meriken Park is one of the first spots many tourists visit in Kobe. It is home to the famous Kobe Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum. Nearby is the shopping and entertainment precinct of Kobe Harborland, and between the park and Harborland, several cruise boats are available to take visitors around the bay.
Other popular attractions include the Mount Rokko cable car, which transports visitors to the Arima Onsen hot springs, as well as the renowned sake breweries in Kobe’s Nada district.
