Kobe

Downtown at night

Kobe (神戸市, Kōbe-shi?) is the sixth-largest urban centre inward Nippon as well as is the uppercase urban centre of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the chief isle of Honshū, to a greater extent than or less xxx km (19 mi) due west of Osaka. With a population of virtually 1.5 million, the urban centre is role of the Keihanshin (Keihanshin) metropolitan expanse along alongside Osaka as well as Kyoto.

Sannomiya (Downtown)

The earliest written records regarding the percentage come upward from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine past times Empress Jingū inward AD 201. For most of its history the expanse was never a unmarried political entity, fifty-fifty during the Tokugawa Period, when the port was controlled direct past times the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kobe did non be inward its electrical current shape until its founding inward 1889. Its advert comes from "kanbe" (神戸?), an archaic championship for supporters of the city's Ikuta Shrine. Kobe became i of Japan's 17 designated cities inward 1956.

 Kobe Night View from Nunobiki Herb Garden

Kobe was i of the cities to opened upward for merchandise alongside the West next the terminate of the policy of seclusion as well as has since been known every bit a cosmopolitan port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence every bit a port city, it remains Japan's 4th busiest container port. Companies headquartered inward Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, as well as Kobe Steel, every bit good every bit over 100 international corporations alongside Asia or Nippon headquarters inward the urban centre such every bit Procter & Gamble, Boehringer-Ingelheim as well as Nestlé. The urban centre is the signal of beginning as well as namesake of Kobe beef every bit good every bit the site of i of Japan's most famous hot leap resorts, Arima Onsen.

Near Shin-Kobe Station.

Transportation

Rail

Sannomiya Station is the chief commuter hub inward Kobe, serving every bit the transfer signal for the 3 major intercity runway lines (see external map). The JR Kobe Line connects Kobe to Osaka as well as Himeji piece both the Hankyu Kobe Line as well as the Hanshin Main Line run from Kobe to Umeda Station inward Osaka. In addition, Kobe Municipal Subway provides access to the Sanyō Shinkansen at Shin-Kobe Station. Sanyō Electric Railway trains from Himeji hit Sannomiya via the Kobe Rapid Railway.

Other runway lines inward Kobe include Kobe Electric Railway which runs due north to Sanda as well as Arima Onsen. Hokushin Kyuko Railway connects Shin-Kobe Station to Tanigami Station on the Kobe Electric Railway. Kobe New Transit runs 2 lines, the Port Island Line from Sannomiya to Kobe Airport as well as the Rokko Island Line from JR Sumiyoshi Station to Rokko Island.

Over Mount Rokkō, the urban centre has 2 funicular lines as well as 3 aerial lifts every bit well, namely Maya Cablecar, Rokkō Cable Line, Rokkō Arima Ropeway, Maya Ropeway, as well as Shin-Kobe Ropeway

 The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge extends from Kobe to Awaji Island

Road as well as air

Kobe is a hub inward a number of expressways, including the Meishin Expressway (Nagoya - Kobe) as well as the Hanshin Expressway (Osaka - Kobe).[34] Other expressways include the Sanyō Expressway (Kobe - Yamaguchi) as well as the Chūgoku Expressway (Osaka - Yamaguchi). The Kobe-Awaji-Naruto Expressway runs from Kobe to Naruto via Awaji Island as well as includes the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest pause twain inward the world.

Osaka International Airport inward nearby Itami as well as Kobe Airport, built on a reclaimed isle due south of Port Island, offering mainly domestic flights, piece Kansai International Airport inward Osaka is the chief international hub inward the area.

 Downtown Kobe from a harbour cruise boat

Culture

Kobe is most famous for its Kobe beef as well as Arima Onsen (or "hot springs"). Notable buildings include the Ikuta Shrine every bit good every bit the Kobe Port Tower. It is good known for the dark persuasion of the city, from mountains such every bit Mount Rokkō, as well as Mount Maya every bit good every bit the coast. Kobe is likewise known for having a somewhat exotic atmosphere past times Japanese standards, which is mainly every bit a number of its history every bit a port city.

 Kobe from an airplane

The urban centre is likewise widely associated alongside cosmopolitanism as well as fashion, encapsulated inward the Japanese phrase, "If you lot can't larn to Paris, larn to Kobe." The biannual fashion lawsuit Kobe Fashion Week, centered about the Kobe Collection is held inward Kobe. The jazz festival "Kobe Jazz Street" has been held every Oct at jazz clubs as well as hotels since 1981.

Kobe is the site of Japan's commencement golf game course, Kobe Golf Club, established past times Arthur Hasketh Groom inward 1903, as well as Japan's commencement mosque, Kobe Mosque, built inward 1935. The urban centre likewise hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded inward 1870 past times Alexander Cameron Sim, a prominent unusual cemetery, as well as a number of Western-style residences from the 19th century, inward the Kitano area. Museums include Kobe City Museum as well as Kobe City Museum of Literature.

Most of the 1957 romantic drama Sayonara takes house inward Kobe. The urban centre is likewise the setting of the Studio Ghibli cinema Grave of the Fireflies.

 

An'yō-in. It's Karesansui is Japan's Places of Scenic Beauty.

 Weathercock House, i of the many unusual residences of the Kitano area of Kobe

 Kobe University chief building.

UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. headquarters on Port Island.

Nestle Nippon Ltd. headquarters on Sannomiya.

 Procter & Gamble Asia headquarters on Rokko Island

Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co. headquarters on Kobe Harbor.

The Giant Panda Koukou at Oji Zoo

Kobe Chinatown, Motomachi

Taisan-ji. The chief hall is a National Treasure of Japan.

Kobe Port Tower

Harborland

 

Kitano area, built inward the 1880s - 1910s

 Kobe is the busiest port inward the Kansai region.

 The Bund, built inward the 1860s - 1930s

Hyōgo Port inward the 19th century



This Nishiki-e (Colored woodcut) shows a unusual steamboat entering Hyōgo Port soon later on its opening to the West inward the belatedly 19th century.