3 days in Hyogo, Japan visiting Kobe, Himeji and Tamba-Sasayama

Discover Kobe and Himeji, the main cities in Hyogo, Japan. They are 15 minutes away from each other, and also very close to Osaka. Himeji is famous for the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and Kobe for the port area, the beef and pearls.

In this trip, we also took the chance to have some unique experiences in Hyogo discovering somen noodles and the 850-year-old pottery tradition in Tamba-Sasayama.

Thanks to Hyogo Prefecture for inviting us to discover 3 amazing cities and for sponsoring this video, which supports our work.

► Previous video: 2 days in Takamatsu, Kagawa – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avz2ZMzZdkg
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Things to do in Hyogo, Japan, feat. Himeji, Kobe and Tamba-Sasayama:
00:00 What’s in Hyogo, Japan?
00:47 Not ramen, not soba, not udon… discover SOMEN!
04:34 One of the most renowned sake-producing regions in Japan
07:39 Japan’s largest and most visited castle
10:23 The most amazing view of Kobe: from our hotel room!
12:05 70% of the world’s pearl circulation happens in Kobe
13:58 Cruise lunch in Kobe
15:20 My own pearls 😍
16:48 Kobe’s Western-style mansions
20:53 1 hour away, everything changes
22:31 The 850-year-old pottery tradition
26:00 Tamba-Sasayama’s city center, with Sasayama beef
28:18 How about staying at a traditional Japanese village?

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► WHO AM I?

I am a Brazilian-American journalist living in Florida. After traveling the world working with sports, news, and events for over 15 years, I realized that what I really love is the travel part of it all. So I exchanged life in the newsrooms and stadiums for the daily challenge of being an independent content producer. I created this channel to share the beauties of the world… stuff that, for so long, I only kept to myself. Also to help people planning similar trips and to inspire more people to venture out and enjoy life!

P.S.: The funny guy who appears in the vlogs is my husband, Gordon. He is Canadian-American, and he’s actually camera-shy. That’s why he’s behind the camera most of the time 😉

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NEW VIDEO ►►► https://goo.gl/rhM6Pw

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We’re in the region where you can find Japan’s largest castle, the world’s leading center for pearls the 800-year-old pottery making tradition, the most famous beef… Their main cities are connected by the Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train. It’s a 15-minute ride between Himeji and Kobe. We’re visiting both of them

With the intention of also discovering some off-the-beaten path experiences nearby. Whoa! Welcome to Hyogo Prefecture. Hyogo is located in the Kansai region of Japan’s main island, and we’re spending three days here. Oh! [laughs] The adventure starts in Himeji, famous for Japan’s first registered World Heritage Site. And there it is,

Right in the city center surrounded by modern buildings. We’ll be back. We’re first heading out of town for a Japanese food culture experience. There are so many types of noodles in Japan. In Western countries, we hear about ramen, soba, yaksoba, maybe udon, but here you discover that that’s just the beginning.

We’re coming from Takamatsu, located in Kagawa Prefecture, which is considered the Udon capital of Japan. And a few years ago, we dove into the ramen culture in Yokohama, where the dish was first imported from China and exploded in popularity. Now, here in Hyogo Prefecture,

We discovered that this is the birthplace of one of the most popular types of noodles in Japan that we had never even heard of before. Somen. Somen is this very thin noodle. Only three ingredients here to make the noodle. Wheat, flour, and salt. Production and consumption have evolved

Over the centuries, with this story beginning 1200 years ago. Today, somen comes at a standard size, but not in the past. You know why these noodles are so long? Remember, it’s a traditional dish for a wedding. – So the party lasts all day. [Laughing] – So that the marriage can last forever.

– See how long they are? Look at how many stages here traditionally to prepare somen. 19 stages. Today, they use machines in some of these steps here. But here’s something very unique about somen. It is aged. Just like wine, somen you can consume either fresh or aged, and they have different tastes.

This is unique compared to any other type of noodle. So it stays there in the storage for months. – Maybe, half a year. – Half a year? Wow. Now, here’s the modern production. Still 22 stages. Including the storage. We’re at the Somen Museum in the city of Tatsuno, just west of Himeji.

This is also the home of Ibonoito, Japan’s best-selling hand-stretched somen. We can also see the factory, the real production of Ibonoito noodles. Very famous brand here in Japan. – The red one is the most popular one. – Different thickness, is that right? – Yeah. Wow! It’s like so perfect. It’s unbelievable.

You look impressed. Mm-hmm. Very impressed. More? More? – More, more, more. – More. Oh. It’s a lot of responsibility here. Oh, my goodness. I didn’t break anything. I appreciate (the meal) [in Japanese] Traditionally, somen is eaten cold, so I asked for the cold version. This is delicious. There’s nothing else here,

Just the somen and the sauce. Wow. I think I never had noodles this thin. Love it. The black is even thinner than the red. Top quality. – Very good. – Isn’t it? – It’s amazing. Wow. I never thought I’d enjoy cold noodles, but I love it. Love it. This is amazing.

Can you tell the difference between the two? Mm-hmm. It’s delicious. Yeah, but can you tell the difference? Yeah. Tell me then. No. I love it so much that I’m bringing this one. Look at how beautiful. Thank you very much! [in Japanese] Now you may wonder why this area became so famous,

You know, for somen production. Because it had everything here. High quality ingredients, easy transport, and also easy labor. The rest is history. – Thank you very much! [in Japanese] It’s a beautiful area here, right? Different. The mountains, it’s beautiful. You know what Hyogo is also very famous for? Sake.

So, with alcohol, non alcohol. Which one do you want, Gordon? I know you. Wow. Cheers! [in Japanese] Good job. [in Japanese] – Very sweet. Almost got a little bit of apple taste. – Wow, yes. It is so sweet, so smooth. Now, this one here, this is the non-alcohol version.

You can taste a little bit of the rice here inside also. Thank you very much! [in Japanese] We’re at Oimatsu Sake Brewery in the city of Shiso, 45 minutes from Himeji. Lunch is a feast here. Wow, we came to a brewery for lunch. Look at this. Mmmmm. I keep getting impressed

How we never eat something twice in Japan. Everywhere we go, it’s always something different. The only common thing is the rice. – This house is 200 years old. Can you ask if I can take a picture of her? Thank you very much. [in Japanese] This soup here has sake sediments.

I can’t believe I’m eating sake in a way. – The order of drinking is from the first, second, third. – Slightly less sweet. That’s good, thats’s good. – Next. – Slow down. – Oh, come on! – Least sweet. And this one was… – Like a white one. – Light, very light.

– Like a white wine? – Even lighter. – Very light. So which one is her favorite? – I don’t have a favorite. You don’t? – Nope. – I think I like the first one. The very first one that you tried. I thought that that one was very sweet. – Because it was sweet.

Exactly. And smooth. We’ll close with yogurt and ginger tea. So good. I love it. Delicious, delicious! [in Japanese] – How old is the brewery? – 257 years old. – 257? Same family? Wife of the 11th generation Wow. So why this region is good for sake production?

Because of the water, they have pure mountain water and also the temperatures. It is three to five degrees colder here than in the surroundings. – And the quality of the rice is very good. – Thank you. – Thank you very much. [in Japanese] The drive back to Himeji was so beautiful.

And soon we discovered why this castle is the most visited in Japan. Much larger than I expected. – We often see this castle in the movie or maybe the TV dramas. – Uh-huh. It’s still authentic, right? – Yeah. Welcome to Himeji Castle. The original walls here from the 16th century.

– In 1609, it was built. – Uh-huh. – It took eight years to complete the castle. You see the different pillars here? – Yeah. – If you remove one of the stones, all the stone walls will fall down here… – Wow. – …and then they can close the door.

– Wow. That’s so smart. Short, huh? We are so lucky to be here exactly when the main keep is open for the first time. Very steep stairs over here. In Japan it is very difficult to find original authentic structures due to many reasons like disasters, wars,… But in Himeji Castle,

You still find a lot of authentic parts. This area is an example, this entire area here, 400 years old. Just look how big these timbers are This is one piece of wood that came all the way from the first floor until the fifth. Also original.

– From the outside it looks like a five-story building, but inside it’s seven, including the basement. – Including the basement. That’s Himeji train station. The castle town used to go all the way there. – Here is the place that important persons such as top of the samurai warriors stayed. For defense, huh?

To throw rocks and hot oil on the enemies. I love that you have a place right here to put your phone and take the perfect picture. – Can I join? – Of course everyone can join. Yeah, come here. [laughs] No wonder this is the most visited castle in Japan.

From Himeji we headed to Kobe, the capital and largest city of Hyogo Prefecture. Kobe is located between the sea and the mountains and I loved to discover that they are all decorated. It recognizes my floor just with the key. 28th floor Look at the view from here. Wow. 28th floor.

We can see the whole Kobe from here. – The other half is on the other side. – This hotel is exactly on top of the train station. So convenient. And look at the bathroom with a view. Not a view to you. A view to the city. – Breakfast with a view.

– Kobe, oh wow. – Do you think the basketball player was named after the city? – Kobe Bryant? Well, who knows? Maybe. Look at this. Woo, woo, foot is ready. Go. I appreciate (the meal) [in Japanese] Good morning. [in Japanese] We’re now in Kobe, the largest city in Hyogo Prefecture.

Actually very close to Himeji. – And to Osaka. And to Osaka, to Kyoto, to Nara. It’s in between everything. Kobe is associated with what, Gordon? – Japan. – And? When you say Kobe, what do people normally think about? – Basketball. – That too. – Plus… [in Portuguese] …beef. – Yes. – Kobe beef.

But you know what? To the Japanese people, Kobe is also associated with something else. Pearls. There are no two pearls that are the same. Same size or that look the same. They’re all unique. Cultivation of pearls were discovered in Japan. The world’s leading producer of marine pearls.

Pearl processing is big business in Kobe. They source various pearls from all over the world. – Actually, three of these usage patterns are American. Shells from the Mississippi river. – Mississippi, wow. – They are all natural pearls. – Everything here? – It’s like a secondary product of the Akoya pearl.

Inside are like bacteria or sand or some little tiny insects. – Wow. – So they happen to go into the same shell by accident and then form the tiniest pearl in the world. – So this is the tiniest pearl in the world!? Wow. All this here is worth about 40 million yen.

Enough to buy a house. So creative. It’s so beautiful. So I’m choosing my own pearl here? – Yes. – Oh. Surprising work for someone who’s not very delicate with things. I love it. You know what? 70% of the world’s pearl circulation take place right here in Kobe.

That’s why this is known as the city of pearls. 70% of fresh water or seawater… everything? Wow. – Actually there are more than 300 companies in the Kitano, the northern part of Kobe. We have the processing… skills in Kobe. These skills will now be used to finalize my jewels

While we go to a place that also plays a significant role in the pearl business: The port. The main gateway to the world. Cruise lunch for today Delicious. So good. Excited, huh? – Delicious so far. The cruise takes two hours and goes for a tour around the harbor,

While you enjoy a gourmet French meal on board. Chocolate. This might be orange or tangerine. It’s an orange mousse, huh? So delicious. So delicious. What an unforgettable lunch. Such a great view from up here. That, by the way, is the second longest suspension bridge in the world.

It used to be the first until a couple of years ago. Still very impressive. Well, my pearls should be ready by now. Here are my masterpieces. Unique in the world. You will never find another pearl similar to this. How does it look, Gordon? You tell me. Do you like? Beautiful, huh? – Yes

– Oh, I love it. I love it. Her father makes this. It’s so beautiful. Can I see it? Wow. Wow. I love it. It’s so beautiful. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. [in Japanese] – The company is already 50 years old. And her father used to study chemistry.

– So you basically grew up within pearls. Yeah? He grew up with pearls. Maybe eating pearls? Lucky girl. Lucky girl. We can also eat pearls. Not really. This is just simulating pearls. But in the future, they’re going to have pearl powder – right? – inside. And they’re a good source of calcium.

Mmm. Delicious. White chocolate with macadamia. How do you like the pearl? – Very good. – See this? – Uh, hmm. – The advantage of being a girl. From the port area, we came to Kitano which is a must-visit neighborhood here in Kobe. Now, it is very hilly. It’s on top of the hill.

So the best way to get here is by public transport. They have a bus that does a city loop, or just get a taxi. This area has a very European feel, you know, western-style mansions. Because who settled here were the diplomats and the merchants

Who moved to Kobe when the port of Kobe opened to foreign trade. One thing very cool you can do here is check if there were any representatives from your country so that you can check their houses. We’re checking the house built by the U.S. Consul. – Wow.

This was the American Consulate called Hunter Sharp’s house. Colonial style. One thing unique about this house here, look at the fireplace. It has tiles. The piano has a candle holder. – Is this sinking? This corner. – Be careful, Gordon. Don’t destroy the house. – The wife had an entire room for herself here.

The makeup room. – This one has some incline to release water. From here, they could see the port over there. The ships would arrive and they’d go to work. Today, forget it. Look at the amount of buildings in front. But we can see our hotel from here. Look at that.

We’re all the way up there. The house also had a maid’s room. But look at this. It was in the back of the house. Right here. – Is this area very expensive to live in? It’s so charming. It’s a little inconvenient to go up. – And down.

– So, it’s not so expensive. – Ah, okay. – But to visit is a must. – Yeah you must come here. Today, most consuls don’t live in Kobe anymore as the consulates moved to Osaka. What are your impressions of Kitano? – It’s old. Probably weathy – Charming. – Charming.

Yeah, popular. Lots of people. – Let’s go inside this one now. Oh, the old and the new. Wow. There are about a dozen houses here that you can go visit. And in addition, there are so many cute shops, cafes. Have you seen the cutest Starbucks yet? – Nope, I suspect I’m going to.

– It’s even an attraction, you know. A lot of people taking pictures here of the Starbucks house. – Remember Tokyo-Banana? Then you can try. Yes, thank you. Thank you very much. [in Japanese] I mentioned in the Takamatsu video that we had a wonderful guide there.

And let me introduce you our wonderful guide here as well. Midori-san She saw that I tried a lot of KitKats in my second trip to Japan during the Olympics, and she brought new KitKats to try. Tokyo-banana, right? Wasabi. Wow. And milk tea. Woooaa, these are so different. Gordon, this is for you, huh?

Good job [in Japanese] – It’s a hint of wasabi, but it’s very sweet. – So not spicy at all? – No. – It tastes like banana. It does, yeah, yeah. Very, very good. I love it. Now, this chocolate here, milk tea, the sweetest chocolate I’ve ever had.

What do you know about me, Gordon? How much I like sweets? – You like sweets, yes. – I love sweets. [laughs] Kobe seems to be always booming, especially at night. From Kitano, it’s a pleasant 15-minute walk downhill to the entertainment district around Kobe-Sannomiya Station, where our hotel is located. [music]

Today, we’re visiting a small town that preserves the original Japanese lifestyle. This is Tamba-Sasayama. And the Japanese lifestyle involves a bicycle, of course. Whoa! – Oh-oh. – What? – Up the hill. – It’s electric. – Is electricity not on? – Did you turn on the bike? – There we go. – Whoo!

I love this. Tamba-Sasayama is well-known in Japan for the traditional pottery style that originated in this area in the 12th century. It’s really interesting. And to this date, the city lives and breathes art. There’s a small museum here where you can see some historical pieces, like this one,

From the Momoyama Era in Japan. And in this other room, samples of work from the local artists today. Here, they even preserve the old kiln that is extremely long. That’s from 1895. It is so long, like this, so that a lot of pottery can be prepared at once. It starts here.

– Yeah, combustion chamber. – And it goes up. Yeah, 1300 – Degrees? – Yes, degrees. – Yes. Today, the artists have their own at home or at the studio. – Tamba pottery has history, 850 years. – 850 years. You may think we’re in the middle of nowhere,

But we’re just a little over an hour’s drive from Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka. We’ve been having delicious meals here in Japan, and you know what’s equally impressive? The pottery they’re served in. Most of them are handmade in places like this, Stuff that you’ll never find at a conventional shop.

There are 60 potteries in town, and you can visit the artists. Masafumi Onishi-san has been creating ceramics for 23 years. He’s the fourth generation in his family. I have a son too, but he doesn’t know what to do. Oh, he has a son, but he doesn’t know if he’s in pottery yet.

He’s saying “it’s difficult” or “I hate it” This is a representative piece, a traditional piece. About 500 years old – This was made 500 years ago? – Yeah. – Wow. – In Tamba I want to get this color, and what you see here is the color I’m aiming for.

Hey, it’s a little bit – So much creativity, huh? – Very impressive how he got the perfect size here for the lid. Yeah, well, for orders, they ask for the exact centimeter. – That’s what I’ll try to make. Let’s see. There are so many techniques here for everything to work.

When he’s doing, you just think, “Ooh, everything magically works,” but no. You need to pay attention to the lines, make sure that everything is smooth and beautiful so that it doesn’t just fall apart. Also, you need to prepare it bigger than the end product, so you can see that this

Is much bigger than this because when you go to the kiln, it’s going to shrink. It’s going to shrink about 10%. You know, it’s so interesting because I’ve always seen people doing this on TV, on the internet, and now I’m here preparing this with one of the masters of the craft in Japan.

Oh, my God. I’d have never imagined that to prepare a cup like this, you go by layers. He said it’s good size Here it is! Ah, thank you very much! [in Japanese] – In March, he will use this kiln the traditional one. – Uh huh.

– Maybe your pottery will be in this old one. – Masafumi-san will organize to mail my piece back to the United States. He then took us to see his own kiln. Oooohhh. Wow. – That is the combustion. As for the electric oven, it’s just push the button, but here, he has to watch…

…for 3 days So he enters and then… The advantage of using this one is because of the natural color that comes out? – And the ashes! Wood has special ashes. So that goes to the pottery and it makes different patterns. – And with the electric, you’d know exactly what you’re getting?

Just s bit, no patterns. – Uh-huh. But here, we don’t know what kind of things you can get. – Uh-huh. Tamba- Sasayama developed as a castle town, and you can still visit the castle ruins. It has a lovely city center full of small shops and restaurants. So what did you get again?

– Wild boar. – Oh, your first time? – Yeah. – Thank you very much. [in Japanese] You know what I got? Sasayama beef. Kobe beef has the fame, but Sasayama beef is raised just like Kobe beef, but it’s from Sasayama. Being in Tamba-Sasayama, eating with this pottery from Tamba Sasayama,

And now we know how it was made, where it came from. We can appreciate not only the food, but also the pottery. This is an 850-year-old tradition here in this town. – Wild boar. – It’s supposed to have a strong taste. – No, I did’t think so.

That has a different taste, but it’s not. I didn’t think it was really strong. I think it’s good. Mmmmm. This is unbelievably tasty. One of the best beefs I’ve ever had. This beef is really special. Now we’re closing off with probably the most different ice cream we’ve ever had.

Black soys beans ice cream. Mine and for Gordon it’s the same version, but with some Japanese pepper on top. I wonder if they’re sweet, you know? Is it spicy? – No. Is it sweet? – It’s sweet, but then you taste the pepper. – Uh-huh. – And then there’s something else here.

Some sort of pickled. There’s so much craft in everything, even this little ice cream. – Ummmm What does it remind me of? I don’t know, maybe mochi? I have no idea. But it is sweet It is worth it. Now, how about staying in a traditional Japanese village?

You can overnight here too, in comfort. Hello! [in Japanese] Here’s a success story in Japan. A lot of small villages are disappearing because people are moving out. It was the case of this one here. Just 20 years ago, out of the 12 houses, 7 were abandoned. The community got together,

They started turning things around, created rentals like this one. Today, only one house is empty because the owner just passed away. But there’s a totally new life in this community. – A traditional Japanese house. – In 1950, depopulation began to rise. And by 2008, there were only 5 households. 19 villagers left.

So this facility opened in 2009. – So, how many people can stay here? – There are many rooms, But 6 is the maximum because they have 6 beds. But maybe one more person can stay maybe around here. – Okay. The local mothers bring the breakfast. Four mothers. – Four mothers.

– Including her mother – Ah! – Her mother is 74 years old. – Woooowwww. – Her mother is one of them. So how much does it cost to stay at a place like this? 44,000 yen for one house. And then each person pays 5,500 yen per person. – Per person.

– Per night? – Per night, service fee. In this included breakfast. – Okay. – That price is decided by the occupancy rate. 30% occupancy rate. – Okay. – So that they can return the money to the bank. – Uk-huh. – They already finished. I mean, they returned the money to the bank.

– Traditional house, but with modern toilet. And in case you’re wondering, yes, there is free Wi-Fi. One of the residents of the village is a chef. So there’s also a very cozy French restaurant here. Thank you very much! [in Japanese] For foreigners, it is so easy to visit Hyogo,

Even the countryside, as you can go by train. And also you can use the main airport in Osaka for international flights. And then all the main cities are interconnected by Shinkansen, the bullet train. So close and so easy that you could even go for day trips. But as our experience here showed,

It’s better to stay a little longer because there’s so much to do. We only really scratched the surface. Thanks so much to Hyogo Prefecture for inviting us for a small taste of the region. It is definitely worth coming back for more.