Stroll in Kobe (3) – Ijinkan Residence (Former Foreign Residence)

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This time, I’ll introduce Western-style residences in Kobe to you. The Western-style residence is a residence for foreign settlers came to Japan during the end of the Shogunate thru the Meiji Era. After Japan opened the ports of Kobe, foreigners lived in the current Former Foreign Settlement, but many foreigners moved to uptown areas, Kitano, for reasons including that the population increased, the settlement could not be expanded, and others. In the Kitano area, there were more than 200 foreigner’s residences (Western-style residences) in the peak period, but many Western-style residences were damaged during World War II and reconstructions to new buildings during the era of high economic growth, from 1960 to 1970. However, local residents and merchants have pushed for the preservation and practical use of Western-style residences since 1970. Now, there are more than 30 Western-style residences in the Kitano area, and 16 residences open to everybody. Most of the Western-style residences stand in the Kitano area, but some residences stand in other areas in Kobe.

You can reach the Kitano area, where many Western-style residences stand, on foot from Sannomiya in only about 15 minutes, but I recommend you to use a Kobe city bus (City Loop bus) because the slope of roads leading there is steep. You see many Western-style residences here and there when you get off the bus.

(1) Kobe Kitano Museum
This is Kobe Kitano Museum. It was built in 1898, and was used as the American consulate official residence from 1978. In the museum, original picture, paintings and lithographs of painters associated with Montmartre, like Lautrec, are exhibited, and private exhibitions of a painter or artist associated with Kobe are sometimes held. A museum shop and café are combined with the museum.

(2) Ben’s House
This building was originally built in 1902 as a trading house in the Former Foreign Settlement, and was relocated and reconstructed at the current place. Afterwards, an English adventurer and hunter, Mr. Ben Allison got the building as his residence in Japan. In the building, many stuffed animals and birds that he shot dead, for example a huge polar bear and a moose, are displayed close together. Endangered species are included among the stuffed animals and birds. I personally felt uncomfortable with the exhibitions.

(3) Yokan Nagaya (European Style Terrace Houses or France House)
The building has a form in which two houses, which face the street and have left-right symmetry to each, are connected to each other at the center. It was originally built in 1908 as an apartment building for foreigners in the Former Foreign Settlement, and was moved to the current place years afterward. The inner decor is unified with French style, in which glass works by Emile Galle, paintings by Tsuguharu Fujita and Vuitton trunks made in the initial stages are exhibited.

(4) English House
The building was a colonial style Western building built in 1909. William Morris fabrics and wallpapers are used and British furniture made in the 17th to 19th centuries are set inside the building. Further a Sherlock Homes room reappears on the second floor. It is said that the counter in the bar was made using mahogany wood in the manner house of a British peer in Victorian Era. The house has a great English garden where Alice stands.

(5) Weathercock House (Former Thomas House)
This building was a residence of a German trader, Gottfried Thomas, built in 1904. The building is based on the Neo-Baroque style, and has characteristics of a profound brickwork appearance and the weathercock on the roof top. In Japan, the name of this house has been known nationwide through a television drama series (morning soap opera), Kazamidori (Weathercock), and now it is symbolic of this area, the Kitano Ijingai.

(6) Light Green House (Former Sharp House)
This building was a residence of the Consul General of the United States Hunter Sharp, built in 1903. It is a typical colonial style and the external walls and the sunroom are painted with a beautiful light green paint.

There is a small park between Weathercock House and Light Green House, where figures of jazz players sit down on benches. If you get tired of your field trip, you can take a rest on the bench.

(7) Former Hassam Home
This building was a residence of Indian British J. K. Hassam, built in 1902. It was originally in Kitano Ijingai, but it was moved to this area, in Sorakuen (Japanese Garden) in the uptown of Motomachi in 1963. The gas lamp in the front yard was used in the Former Foreign Settlement around 1874, and it is the oldest gas lamp in Japan. A part of the chimney on the yard is one that fell on during the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, and is exhibited as a memory of the disaster.

(8) Former Hunter House
This building stands in Oji Zoo. It has the characteristic design of window frames with the colonnade style. The construction date is not clearly known, but it seems to be 1889. It was originally in Kitano Ijingai and was moved to its current location in 1963.

All of the Ijinkan residences in Kobe received heavy damage caused by the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in 1995. All of the Ijinkan residences, however, have been revived by the efforts of many people. I think that many people’s thoughts and actions to revive historical buildings and to connect it to the future are very precious.