Sights in Kōbe
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Tezuka Osamu Memorial Museum
While it's a bit of a hike from downtown Kōbe, the Tezuka Osamu Memorial Museum is a must for serious fans of Japanese manga (comic books). Located in the town of Takarazuka (a short train ride from Kōbe's Sannomiya Station), it celebrates the life and work of Tezuka Osamu, the father of Japanese animation and manga, and a man of such legendary output that his last words were rumoured to be 'I'm begging you, let me work!'.
Tezuka's creations include Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy) and Black Jack and Rion Kōtei (Jungle Emperor Leo, which Disney adapted to make the film The Lion King). The museum details Tezuka's life and has several of his childhood drawings and diagrams fro…
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Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum
The Nada-ku area of Kōbe is one of Japan's major sake-brewing centres and the dominant brewer here is the famous Hakutsuru company. The Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum provides a fascinating look into traditional sake-making methods. There is not much in the way of English explanations, but the free English pamphlet should get you started. Free sake tasting is possible after you tour the facilities (ask at the counter).
Take the Hanshin line eight stops east from Sannomiya (¥180, seven minutes if you switch train at Mikage, 15 minutes if you take the Hanshin honsen train; express trains do not stop) and get off at Hanshin Sumiyoshi Station. Exit the station, walk south to …
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Kōbe City Museum
This museum has a collection of so-called namban (literally 'southern barbarian') art and occasional special exhibits. Namban art is a school of painting that developed under the influence of early Jesuit missionaries in Japan, who taught Western painting techniques to Japanese students. The entrance is on the building's east side.
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Kōbe Fashion Museum
An artificial island, the main attraction here is the Kōbe Fashion Museum. The museum's collection of mostly foreign fashion is not quite up to the dramatic building in which it's housed but it's worth a look if you're interested in fashion. To reach the museum, take the Rokkō Liner monorail from JR Sumiyoshi (four stops east of Sannomiya) and get off at the Island Centre stop.
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Nunobiki Hābu-kōen
The Shin-Kōbe cable car leaves from behind the Crowne Plaza Kōbe hotel near Shin-Kōbe Station and ascends to a mountain ridge 400m above the city. The views from the top over Kōbe and the bay are particularly pretty after sunset. The complex of gardens, restaurants and shops below the top station is known as the Nunobiki Hābu-kōen. Note that you can easily walk down to the bottom station from the Herb Garden in about 30 minutes.
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Kōbe Maritime Museum
The Kōbe Maritime Museum has an extensive collection of high-quality model ships and displays with some English explanations.
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Nankinmachi (Chinatown)
Nankinmachi, Kōbe's , is a gaudy, bustling, unabashedly touristy collection of Chinese restaurants and stores that should be familiar to anyone who's visited Chinatowns elsewhere in the world. The restaurants here tend to be overpriced and may disappoint sophisticated palates, but the place is fun for a stroll, particularly in the evening when the lights of the area illuminate the gaudily painted facades of the shops.
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Kōbe Harbor Land & Meriken Park
Five minutes' walk southeast of Kōbe Station, Kōbe Harbor Land is awash with megamall shopping and dining developments. This may not appeal to foreign travellers the way it does to the local youth, but it's still a nice place for a stroll in the afternoon.
A five-minute walk to the east of Harbor Land you'll find Meriken Park, on a spit of reclaimed land jutting out into the bay. The main attraction here is the Kōbe Maritime Museum. The museum has a small collection of ship models and displays, with some English explanations.
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Kitano
Twenty minutes' walk north of Sannomiya is the pleasant hillside neighbourhood of Kitano, where local tourists come to enjoy the feeling of foreign travel without leaving Japanese soil. A European–American atmosphere is created by the winding streets and ijinkan (literally 'foreigners' houses'), which housed some of Kōbe's early Western residents. Admission to some houses is free, for others it costs ¥300 to ¥700, and most are open from 9am to 5pm daily. Although these brick and weatherboard dwellings may not hold the same fascination for Western travellers that they hold for local tourists, the area itself is pleasant to stroll around and is dotted with good cafes and …
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