something.wonderful: Kobe

I made a trip out to Kobe over the weekend and was intrigued with how each prefecture has certain qualities that make it so unique. Before leaving I asked my Kansai Gaidai friends places they would recommend around Kobe. Nankinmachi, also known as Kobe’s Chinatown was one that came up several times. This was followed by Kobe’s port area and Sannomiya for shopping. All of them agreed with the idea that Kobe is very fashionable and modern. When I asked them about their thoughts on Osaka, takoyaki and Osaka-ben where repeatedly mentioned. It was interesting to compare what my Kansai Gaidai friends thought of Kobe and Osaka, because although these two areas are just a 2 hour train ride away, they have such different and unique qualities.

[Kobe Tower]

I continued my Kobe research online and found that it’s actually the capital of Hyogo Prefecture, as well as one of Japan’s ten largest cities. I would not have assumed this because many of my friends that came back from Kobe told me how they thought the city is quite small. Kobe is also a very important port city as it was among the first to be opened to foreign trade in the 19^th century. I realized its importance when I was walking to the port and came across this memorial.

Something I didn’t realize was that I was standing in front of Kobe’s City Museum, one of Kobe’s main attractions.

Nankinmachi is very unique and upon further research I realized it became what it is today only because the area was developed by Chinese merchants who settled near Kobe Port after it opened to foreign trade.

[Nankinmachi]

The port was beautiful, and it’s popularity was evident when I witnessed over 5 weddings that day, with the last one taking place on a yacht that sailed around the harbor. I found the area to be designed in very modernized way that made it very appealing [when compared to Osaka].