Revisiting some favourite areas
Meriken Park with the Kobe Tower and the Maritime Museum (building with interesting shiplike roof. View from the Mosaic building)
Kobe was my old hometown and this year I based myself in Kobe for my whole trip. I used a rail pass to visit the other cities I liked and then also revisited my favourite areas in Kobe.
I had been to Kobe 3 years ago and posted then about its history as a port city and how in contrast to the rest of Japan, it was quite a multicultural city.
Kobe
This time it was less history and more places I liked and had fond memories of.
Harborland, an area with numerous shops, so numerous in fact with lots of new construction since I lived in Kobe that I got lost! Managed to get to the Mosaic building which has a variety of restaurants, outdoor seating as it looks out onto the water.
The Children's Museum, a new addition for me, it makes the area very popular with young families on the weekend.
Suma Beach
Kobe is a port city but it also manages to have a stretch of beach at Suma. I worked nearby so was very familiar with Suma Beach, it seems that in recent years it's had a major redevelopment. The area looks great now with real sand! Being the beach snob that I am (courtesy of growing up with Australian sandy beaches!) Suma beach previously didn't measure up, the sand was shell grit and there was a lot of rubbish. Much of that rubbish was cigarette butts, so it did amuse me to see a designated smoking area.
With Japanese generally being rule followers, the smoking area was used by smokers and they weren't smoking on the beach. When I first walked past a man was smoking inside the area so thought it was a bit intrusive to take a photo! Took a walk down the beach and when I passed by again the area was empty so I quickly took a photo!
Three local train stops down the coast is Maiko Park. I love the area for its proximity to the Akashi bridge and the great views across to Awaji Island.
Maiko Park has a few remaining buildings of when this area was a sought after residential area for wealthy residents. This tall octagonal building is now the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, it hosts various exhibitions to do with Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese in Kobe. It was built as an annex to the house of a wealthy Chinese merchant from Kobe named Wu Jintang. In the spring of 1913 Sun Yat-sen was travelling in Japan and stopped in Kobe to meet with prominent Chinese business men. He met with them in the original house, and this octagonal house was added 2 years later. Eventually the house was gifted to the prefecture and it was restored, but before restoration could begin the house had to be moved 200m due to the construction of the bridge behind it. I was fascinated to find out that the house was dismantled, and then reconstructed 200m away. It was finally opened in 2000 to hold exhibitions on Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese in Kobe or the Wu family who originally owned the house.
Another restored western style house at Maiko Park. It was the Muto Sanji residence.
The other side of the bridge, has the museum as to how the bridge was built. I'd been before and found it fascinating, a helicopter was used to bring a guide rope to the two pillars and then gradually larger cables were pulled across. This was an example of the size of the final cables, once the overhead cables were in place, the down cables were attached and the road hung from the down cables. The Akashi Bridge is a suspension bridge and when it first opened it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Not long after the bridge between Denmark and Sweden was constructed and that's the longest one now. A suspension bridge was built as it would best handle movement in an earthquake, it handles movement too well and is normally closed during a typhoon! It's possible to go up into an observation deck on the bridge and walk the glass covered walkway and see the sea below!
The Akashi Bridge linking the islands of Honshu and Awaji, cross Awaji Island and then take the bridge over to Shikoku. No need for ferries anymore!
When the area was reopened after the construction of the bridge there was an artificial beach, with real sand that was transported in, called Maiko beach where I took this photo. But years after I left there was a bad accident, the sand collapsed into the sea and a child was trapped so the beach was closed. Since then I see that the whole beach area has been dug out and a fishing area/promenade created instead.
One stop back towards the Kobe city centre is Tarumi. It's an outlets shopping area with restaurants that look over the water and now there's a marina there as well. I would avoid the area on a weekend! There's a multi-storey carpark so the area is very crowded on a weekend, I went on a Monday and it was lovely and quiet. Has lunch in one of the restaurants that looked out over the water and to the bridge.
Tarumi marina
Kobe isn't a major tourist city so the sights that can be experienced rely more on local knowledge. It's got a great location between the mountains and the sea, the city itself isn't overwhelming in size and very walkable. Nostalgia aside I loved using it as a base. Depending on what trains you take Hiroshima, Okayama, Osaka and Kyoto are all 30 to 90 minutes away.
Kobe was my old hometown and this year I based myself in Kobe for my whole trip. I used a rail pass to visit the other cities I liked and then also revisited my favourite areas in Kobe.
I had been to Kobe 3 years ago and posted then about its history as a port city and how in contrast to the rest of Japan, it was quite a multicultural city.
Kobe
This time it was less history and more places I liked and had fond memories of.
Harborland, an area with numerous shops, so numerous in fact with lots of new construction since I lived in Kobe that I got lost! Managed to get to the Mosaic building which has a variety of restaurants, outdoor seating as it looks out onto the water.
The Children's Museum, a new addition for me, it makes the area very popular with young families on the weekend.
Kobe is a port city but it also manages to have a stretch of beach at Suma. I worked nearby so was very familiar with Suma Beach, it seems that in recent years it's had a major redevelopment. The area looks great now with real sand! Being the beach snob that I am (courtesy of growing up with Australian sandy beaches!) Suma beach previously didn't measure up, the sand was shell grit and there was a lot of rubbish. Much of that rubbish was cigarette butts, so it did amuse me to see a designated smoking area.
With Japanese generally being rule followers, the smoking area was used by smokers and they weren't smoking on the beach. When I first walked past a man was smoking inside the area so thought it was a bit intrusive to take a photo! Took a walk down the beach and when I passed by again the area was empty so I quickly took a photo!
Three local train stops down the coast is Maiko Park. I love the area for its proximity to the Akashi bridge and the great views across to Awaji Island.
Maiko Park has a few remaining buildings of when this area was a sought after residential area for wealthy residents. This tall octagonal building is now the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, it hosts various exhibitions to do with Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese in Kobe. It was built as an annex to the house of a wealthy Chinese merchant from Kobe named Wu Jintang. In the spring of 1913 Sun Yat-sen was travelling in Japan and stopped in Kobe to meet with prominent Chinese business men. He met with them in the original house, and this octagonal house was added 2 years later. Eventually the house was gifted to the prefecture and it was restored, but before restoration could begin the house had to be moved 200m due to the construction of the bridge behind it. I was fascinated to find out that the house was dismantled, and then reconstructed 200m away. It was finally opened in 2000 to hold exhibitions on Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese in Kobe or the Wu family who originally owned the house.
Another restored western style house at Maiko Park. It was the Muto Sanji residence.
The other side of the bridge, has the museum as to how the bridge was built. I'd been before and found it fascinating, a helicopter was used to bring a guide rope to the two pillars and then gradually larger cables were pulled across. This was an example of the size of the final cables, once the overhead cables were in place, the down cables were attached and the road hung from the down cables. The Akashi Bridge is a suspension bridge and when it first opened it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Not long after the bridge between Denmark and Sweden was constructed and that's the longest one now. A suspension bridge was built as it would best handle movement in an earthquake, it handles movement too well and is normally closed during a typhoon! It's possible to go up into an observation deck on the bridge and walk the glass covered walkway and see the sea below!
When the area was reopened after the construction of the bridge there was an artificial beach, with real sand that was transported in, called Maiko beach where I took this photo. But years after I left there was a bad accident, the sand collapsed into the sea and a child was trapped so the beach was closed. Since then I see that the whole beach area has been dug out and a fishing area/promenade created instead.
One stop back towards the Kobe city centre is Tarumi. It's an outlets shopping area with restaurants that look over the water and now there's a marina there as well. I would avoid the area on a weekend! There's a multi-storey carpark so the area is very crowded on a weekend, I went on a Monday and it was lovely and quiet. Has lunch in one of the restaurants that looked out over the water and to the bridge.
Kobe isn't a major tourist city so the sights that can be experienced rely more on local knowledge. It's got a great location between the mountains and the sea, the city itself isn't overwhelming in size and very walkable. Nostalgia aside I loved using it as a base. Depending on what trains you take Hiroshima, Okayama, Osaka and Kyoto are all 30 to 90 minutes away.
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