An historic port and distinct city
in its own right,
KOBE , the
capital of Hyogo-ken, now seems more
like the fashionable western suburb
of sprawling Osaka, 33km east around
Osaka Bay. You don't visit Kobe for
the sights, which are of limited
interest, but more for its human
scale, dramatic location on a sliver
of land between the sea and Rokko-san,
its cosmopolitan atmosphere and
great range of food.
Although Kobe has almost totally
recovered from the 1995 earthquake
, it has far from forgotten this
horrific event; one of the city's
most interesting new
"attractions" is the Kobe
Phoenix Plaza , which documents
the quake and its aftermath. The
nearby Kobe City Museum ,
covering the port's earlier
illustrious history, is also worth a
look, as is the space-age Fashion
Museum on the man-made Rokko
Island, east of the city harbor.
Heading into hills, you can relax
at Arima Onsen , one of
Japan's oldest spa resorts. West of
the city is the Akashi Kaikyo
Ohashi , the longest suspension
bridge in the world
, linking Kansai directly with
Shikoku via Awaji-shima. Continue
some 55km further west along the
coast and you'll arrive at Himeji
, home of Japan's best original
castle Himeji-jo, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site since 1993.
The City
Kobe's sights are split into three
main areas. South of the band of
rail lines passing through Sannomiya
Station, Kobe's focal point, is the
city's commercial centre covering
the old settlement area and, to the
west, Nankin-machi ,...
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