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In Kobe, there is a place called the Former Foreign Settlement where only foreigners lived and worked. It is an area enclosed by Ikutagawa River, now Flower Road, at the east, Koikawasuji at the west, Kyu-Saigokukaido at the north and the shoreline. The area is the center of the business quarters of Kobe now, but it was set at a place about 3.5 kilometers east far from the business quarters at that time. After the land was prepared, plots were sold to foreigners one after another from 1868, and it was completely sold several years later. The area was first managed by extraterritorial rights, that is, by the self-governing organization consisting of only the foreigners living the settlement. In 1894, the settlement was restored to Kobe City, and after that many Japanese people moved there to turn it into the center of the business area.
About 70% of buildings in the Former Foreign Settlement were destroyed during World War II. The Japanese economy, however, was stimulated by the Korean War, which broke out in 1950, whereby the reconstruction of the settlement was advanced. The modern Western architecture and the historical townscape came to be reconsidered from about 1980 and commercial facilities, such as boutiques, cafes and restaurants, utilizing buildings built by foreigners in the Meiji Era, started to be built. In 1995, many buildings were damaged during the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, but about 90% of the buildings have been reconstructed by 2002, 8 years after the earthquake. Now, in the area, urban improvements with the emphasis on pedestrian protection, including widening of sidewalks and setting of benches on roads, are continuing even now.
Now, let’s stroll the Former Foreign Settlement.
(A) Department Store Daimaru Kobe
(B) The Old Settlement Hall No. 38
(C) Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Kobe Building
(D) Kaigan Building
(E) Shosen Mitsui Building
(F) Shinko Building
(G) Chartered Building
(H) The Old Settlement Hall No. 15
(I) Kobe City Museum
1 Department Store Daimaru Kobe and the Old Settlement Hall No. 38
The building of the department store Daimaru Kobe was completed in 1927 having 7 stories above ground and one below, and the department opened in the same year. The building survived the Bombing of Kobe in World War II, and extensions were added to the main building many times over. In 1995, however, the building had serious damages during the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. Now, the reconstruction of the building was completed, but the building designed by Togo Murano was unfortunately demolished because the damage caused by the earthquake was too severe.
The Old Settlement Hall No. 38 was a concrete steel building with 3 stories above ground and one below, designed by William Merrell Vories as City Bank Kobe, and built in 1929. Now it is a part of the department store Daimaru Kobe, and it has high brand stores such as Hermes. Among the old settlement halls in the Former Foreign Settlement, there are some buildings called number, for example, Old Settlement Hall No. 38, and the number is a block number (a lot number or a house number) in the settlement. The number is not lined up in order as the lot number but is lined up in order of the preparation and the successful bid.
2. Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Kobe Building
When going south on Akashimachi Street, you will see a retro building having white walls and characteristic longitudinal arch windows. It is Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Kobe Building. The building was originally completed in 1935 as the headquarter building of the former Kobe Marine and Fire Insurance Company. It could escape from collapse during the former earthquake, and it regained the figure at the completion time back by the renewal of outside walls and seismic repair. The house number of the place is No. 19.
3. Kaigan Building, Shosen Mitsui Building, and Meriken Building
Kaigan Building and Shosen Mitsui Building stand at the intersection at which Akashimachi Street intersects Kaigandori Street (National Route No. 2) on the west side and the east side respectively. Further Kobe Meriken Building stands across Meriken Road from Kaigan Building on the west side.
Kaigan Building was completed in 1918 as the Kobe branch of the former Mitsui and Co. The complete collapse of the building, caused by the earthquake, was certified and the outside walls having characteristic geometrical decorations were removed and stored. The lower part of the reconstructed building was built using the old outside walls.
Shosen Mitsui Building is a Renaissance style stonework building completed in 1922 as the Kobe branch of the former Osaka Shosen Kaisha. The building has a plate on which Old Settlement Hall No. 5 is written. The two buildings of Kaigan Building and Shosen Mitsui Building were completed around the same time, but the outside wall shapes and the decorations of the two buildings are, interestingly, quite different from each other when comparing the two buildings, because the trend of the building appearance changed at that time.
Kobe Meriken Building was built in 1918 as the Kobe branch of Nippon Yusen K.K. (the former Kobe Shosen Building). Originally, in the place where the building stands, the building of the first Consulate of the United States stood. The building had only minor damages during the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake.
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Front Face of Shosen Mitsui Building
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Southeast Face of Kaigan Bldg.
Southeast Face of Kaigan Bldg.
West Face of Shosen Mitsui Bldg.
4. Shinko Building and Chartered Building
When going toward the east on Kaigandori Street from Shosen Mitsui Building for a few minutes, you will see a big building with 8 stories above ground and one below, which is Shinko Building. On the east side of Shinko Building, Chartered Building stands across Naniwamachisuji Street.
Shinko Building was completed in 1939 as the headquarter building of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. The building has a style located at a boundary between modern architecture and contemporary architecture, and has a characteristic glass penthouse on the roof. It has a plate on which Old Settlement Hall No. 8 is written.
Chartered Building was completed in 1938 as Kobe Branch of Chartered Bank. Ionic Order colonnades are arranged on the front outside walls. Wooden revolving doors remain as they were at that time on the southwest and southeast corners.
5. The Old Settlement Hall No. 15
I think this building is the most famous one in the Former Foreign Settlement. It is a colonial-style building built in around 1880, as Consulate of the United States. After that, the building was used as a trading house and now as a restaurant. It was razed to the ground during the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, but it was restored to the original state using the original building materials and building technique of the Meiji Era, and is now designated as a national important culture property. Just like the building, sewage pipes made in the Former Foreign Settlement Era remain and you can see them here. The sewage line system is the oldest among the modern sewage line systems, and a part of the system is used even now.
6. Kobe City Museum
The building was completed in 1935 as the Kobe branch of Yokohama Shoken Bank, and was used as a bank after the World War II. After the transfer of the building to Kobe City, it has been used as a museum.
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