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Kobe, International Port of Japan
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So on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 29 and March 1, a friend and I went to Kobe to check out the famous port city of Japan. Kobe is famous both for the Hanshin Earthquake of the mid-90s, which hit Kobe and the surrounding area and killed thousands of people, and for being a main port of Japan which served as an ambassodorial city in the Meiji (late 19th c.) era. Today many of its houses with foreign inspired architecture, including the foreign district near Chinatown, form a tourist attraction. Especially because they are so near Kobe's famed Chinatown. We left Friday afternoon and arrived around dinner time. Getting lost from the Kobe station was an interesting feat, considering we walked farther in the wrong direction than the right one to get to the hotel, but we finally got there.
First thing we did was hop around the corner to the 7Eleven (the only place in Japan that takes foreign atm cards) and on the way we saw this really cool Shinto temple. So, we looked around, then took the subway from there to the Motomatchi subway station, which was where we had to get off in order to go to Chinatown.
The motomachi station was really swanky! There were stained glass windows and sculptures, and a shopping arcade that we walked down that was apparently adjacent to Chinatown, so we ducked into a back alley and arrived at the Chinatown pavillion and an open courtyard that was lined by animals representing the different Chinese years. Then, we wandered the street (one street! Tiny...) and all the food was ridiculously expensive.. like, 15-20 bucks for a meal! Who knew Chinese could be expensive? Not me.. So, we stopped for some dim sum and waited out the rain. He had a Chinese beer for the first time, and it was as terrible as I'd warned him it would be. But it's all good! (Daijobu!) So, then we headed out into the night for the entertainment district, Sannomiya station was our drop-off point. From there, we walked a few streets then walked into streets of neon and excitement. The first sign we saw was for a British pub, so excited, we stopped to get a look at their menu. Then, a group of Americans and Brits walked in, warning us that the place smelled like sewage (?) so intrigued, down we went.. and it didn't. They were messing with us. So, we got some snacks and a couple beers and relaxed. The atmosphere was totally charged! There were soo many people.. the place was packed, with foreigners and japanese alike! We really hit the jackpot. We talked to a lot of different people, including a guy from Egypt, a guy who said he was from "Mau Mau", and a Japanese guy that went to Tulane for 3 years. cool, right? so we hit it off, and all of us just sat around and shared good conversation and food and it was just generally a good time. We eventually managed to stumble back, and crashed, because the next day was a packed day...
...so we woke up and headed out for the shrine that we had seen the night before. It was open, and because it was a Saturday, there was a little sidewalk market going on. It reminded me of the markets in Journal Square, Jersey City, or that one I ran across once at Van Vorst park... actually, the Van Vorst park is a better comparison. Except that, you know, it was just outside of an amazing Shinto shrine. So, yeah, this one wins. Heehee. The shrine's ceiling was covered with beautiful pictures of nature: the cranes for longevity, and a lot of natural landscapes. There was a central shrine/altar type thing, but no Buddha, which is how I knew it was a Shinto shrine, no real images. So I threw in a couple coins, formed a wish in my head, then clapped twice and pulled the rope. The lady that had gone right before me saw me being a tourist and smiled at me. Then, we headed out to Mt. Rokko, or Rokko-san as they call it in Japan (here they don't call their mountains "mountains", they give them the honorific "-san", which means "Mr.", like Mr. Rokko. So, we took the subway out to the mountain, took one look at the map, and felt completely lost. So, we did what anyone in our situation would do: stopped at the nearest restaurant and had lunch. Then, we asked someone who said we could hop on a bus, so we did, and it took us right there! Then, we took a cable car up the face of the mountain. It was really cool! it was like a 70* angle the whole time. It was nifty! And the view was amazing.. it was the entire Osaka Bay area, surrounding mountains, and you could even make out the hills of Shikoku in the distance. It was the kind of view that took your breath away.
Well, that was it for Kobe! I definitely can't wait to go back again. Best place in Japan overall so far! Like Sapporo, it just seems to have everything! More thumbnails ...
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| 7. | Kobe, International Port of Japan - Kobe, Japan Mar 01, 2008 (  42 ) |
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