Stroll in Kobe (1) – Port Town Kobe

One of the famous sightseeing cities is Kobe in Japan. However, Kobe is very popular for Japanese people but it may not be so interesting for foreigners, particularly Westerners. That is, in Kobe, there are hardly any Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to be seen and old Japanese-style townhouses and streets, which are often the destinations when a tourist visits Japan from a foreign country. When speaking of Kobe, modern architectures and streets having the exotic Western mood after the Meiji Period come to our mind before anything else. But wait a minute! Kobe is a very attractive town. I promise that even you, a Westerner, will find interesting and attractive areas and scenes here and there when you walk around in Kobe. I’ll introduce such points in Kobe from here. Please check them out!

Kobe City is located in the southeast part of Hyogo Prefecture, and has urban areas in a long and narrow area sandwiched between mountains and sea. Kobe has an atmosphere of being able to go to the mountains and sea by bus or even on foot from the urban area, and so you can enjoy both scenes in one day if you want. Kobe has exotic streets such as the Former Foreign Settlement and China Town, and Western style residences. They make us, Japanese, have a curious feeling and may make you, foreigners, have a nostalgic feeling. Recently, mainly young people have successively opened their own fashionable shops, cafes, and restaurants utilizing old buildings around Sannomiya (one of the busy streets in Kobe).

At this time, I’d like to invite you to see the side of Kobe as a port town. I think that this is a very Kobe area. A place where you can see the sea stimulates our imagination, and a port scenery tickles our adventurous spirit, doesn’t it? At this time, please particularly compare the day scene and the night scene.

(1) From JR Kobe Station to MOSAIC
JR Kobe Station is the terminal station of the Tokaido Line continuing from Tokyo Station and the starting station of the Sanyo Line continuing to Mojiko Station in Kyushu. The station building was built in 1930.

Let’s head for the sea from the station. You’ll reach the sea on foot in about 10 minutes. You see a drawbridge exclusively for pedestrians right against a backdrop of the sea. The bridge is called “Hanekko.” Hanekko was made in 1992, having a length of 21 meters and width of 4.3 meters. At night, it is illuminated.

A port is located at a manmade inlet extending south from the bridge. When I went there, a big white ship named “Yokosuka” of JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), and a black vehicle moored at the port. The big white ship, Yokosuka, is a support vessel of a deep submergence research vehicle, and the black vehicle could be considered as a submarine. White steam was ejected many times over from the black vehicle while making a big loud noise. In the port, big cranes, which can be seen only in a port, worked actively.

There are warehouses (Kobe Warehouse), which is a multipurpose facility, at the east side of Hanekko. The warehouses were made using British red bricks for the outer walls in 1898, and they lost their role as a warehouse in 1987. There were originally 5 warehouses but now only 2 warehouses are left. In 1990, the buildings were remodeled remaking the roofs and interiors while keeping the outer walls as they were. Now, the buildings have come to life again as restaurants and various shops.

A building looking like a lighthouse stands at the south end of Takahama wharf. It is a signal station built in 1921 (now, Former Kobe Port Signal Station). The signal station is a facility in which signals are exchanged with a ship using flags rather than lights. The signal operation ended in 1990. Near there, a watchtower, built in 1914, stands to watch cargo boats entering Kobe Port, also remains.

There is a big multipurpose facility named “umie MOSAIC.” The facility has a big Ferris wheel which can be seen from far way.

In the Christmas season, trees and gas lamps on streets from JR Kobe Station to the port are gorgeously decorated with illumination. The streets are beautiful! You can see the illuminated Ferris wheel from anywhere in this area.

You can reach a pier going east along the road while looking at MOSAIC. Meriken Park is a very big park and is always full of people. In this area, you can see famous buildings such as Kobe Port Tower, Kobe Marine Museum, famous hotels, and sea or port-related facility buildings.