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Kobe Attractions
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Kobe City Museum
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The Kobe City Museum was opened in 1982, merging the collections of the Kobe Archaeological Museum and Namban Art Museum under the same roof. The museum's permanent exhibition features an interesting collection of maps from different regions and eras of Japan, as well as artifacts representing Japan's exchange with foreign countries, from its earliest cultural imports from China and Korea to traded goods that entered Kobe after its port was opened to international trade in the 19th century. The museum also has one of the world's largest collections of Namban Art ("Southern Barbarian Art"), a Japanese art style that developed out of the first contacts with Western trade ships (which approached Japan from the South) in the 1500s. The rotating exhibits include colorful paintings and folding screens which depict scenes of early Japanese contacts with foreign traders and missionaries. The museum also periodically hosts temporary special exhibitions. |
Mount Roko
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Mount Rokko (931 meters) is the highest peak in the Rokko mountain range, which provides the pleasant green backdrop to the city of Kobe. Panoramic views of the heavily urbanized Hanshin region (Kobe and Osaka) can be enjoyed from the mountain and are particularly spectacular around sunset. Various small tourist attractions can be found on Mount Rokko, including a botanical garden, a music box museum, a pasture with flowers and sheep, Japan's first golf course and Rokko Garden Terrace, a tourist complex with a few restaurants, shops and an observation deck. |
Kobe Harborland
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Kobe Harborland is a shopping and entertainment district along the waterfront of Kobe's port area, offering many cafes, restaurants, shops and other amusements. It is also a popular dating spot. The two largest shopping complexes in the area are Mosaic and Canal Garden. Mosaic is a pleasant shopping complex along the waterfront with a variety of small fashion boutiques and a wide selection of restaurants, many of which overlook the harbor. A small amusement park with ferris wheel is found at one end of Mosaic. Canal Garden, on the other hand, is a shopping mall with a Hankyu department store, Sofmap electronics store, a sports store and various family fashion outlets. |
Nankinmachi 
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Nankinmachi is a compact chinatown in central Kobe and a center of the Chinese community in the Kansai Region. The area was developed by Chinese merchants who settled near Kobe Port after the port was opened to foreign trade in 1868. As the chinatown developed, it became known as Nankinmachi after Nanjing, the former Chinese capital. |
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