3 Days Exploring Kobe Japan | Foreign Quarters, Kobe Bay Area, Waterfalls, Shrines & local food

3 Days Exploring Kobe Japan | Foreign Quarters, Kobe Bay Area, Waterfalls, Shrines & local food

This time we were back in Japan for travel, starting from Kobe. Kobe had a lovely waterfront, charming Western-style houses and Nunobiki falls, one of Japan’s top 100 waterfalls. We would also be trying some local food and enjoying the evening scenery of Kobe. We took a flight by Cathay Pacific from Singapore Changi Airport. This was a red eye flight, first transiting at Hong Kong, before taking another flight and arriving in Osaka Kansai Airport the next afternoon. Journey was a little long but was also a less expensive option. Our first stop was Kobe. The fastest and most direct route from Osaka Kansai Airport to Kobe was the Airport Limousine Bus. Not many passengers so bus was quite empty. Bus stopped at the bus stop near JR Sannomiya Station. Journey time was about 1 hour. Sannomiya was also considered downtown and heart of Kobe. Our hotel, KOKO Hotel Sannomiya, was about 15 mins walk from the bus stop. Superior Twin Room, 24 sqm. Layout of the room was a little narrow. Furniture were also a little bulky, so that reduced the amount of free space. We were already hungry after the journey to Kobe. There were plenty of food options near JR Sannomiya Station, but we decided to have a simple dinner at Osaka Ohsho. We tried the Vegetable Miso Ramen and Ohsho Set, which came with Shoyu Ramen, half portion fried rice and plate of gyoza. There was a free observation deck on the 24th floor of the Kobe city hall. City view towards Meriken Park and Kobe Haborland, habour view and view of Osaka Bay, mountain side view and Port Island view. There was a park below too. Monument commemorating the Great Hanshin Earthquake that occurred at 5:46am in 1995. It had been a tiring travel day, so we headed back to hotel to rest for the day. Good morning, I seemed to have adjusted to the morning time here quite quickly. It was only 4:50am but it was already getting bright. Many luxury brand stores and Daimaru department store near the hotel. Walking towards Meriken Park. Old western style buildings around the area. Kobe’s Meriken Park was a scenic waterfront area with some cultural landmarks. Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park, with a small section of the park’s damaged waterfront as reminder of the destruction of the earthquake. Sun slowly rising at the harbour. Kobe Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum Kobe Port Tower, sightseeing tower that resembled a traditional hourglass-shaped Japanese drum. Red lattice represented the red ropes of the drum. Kobe Maritime Museum, contemporary design with a white steel lattice roof. “Be Kobe” monument installed in 2017 to celebrate 150th anniversary of the opening of the Kobe Port. Made my way towards JR Sannomiya Station. Almost all shops and eateries were still closed since it was only 6:30am. Found Yoshinoya outlet under the Kobe-Sannomiya Station on the Hankyu Line. Beef breakfast set, came with small beef bowl, choice of side and miso soup. Portion of rice was really small for the small beef bowl. For the side, I chose mini-salad. Overall portion was quite small, but was able to keep full for the moment. Headed back to the hotel and rested for about 2 hours. Was hungry again and headed for another round of breakfast. Yayoi outlet, also at the Kobe-Sannomiya Station. Salt-grilled salmon breakfast set, came with rice, small piece of salmon, cold steamed tofu, seaweed and bowl of soup. Free refills of rice at the rice dispensing machine. After that, we headed north of Sannomiya Station, towards Ikuta Shrine. Ikuta Shrine Entrance and Vermilion Gate. Ikuta Shrine water basin to wash hands and purify the body Ikuta Shrine Tower Gate Ikuta Shrine main shrine building, flanked by Komainu (lion-dog) statues Ikuta forest was a tranquil grove behind the main shrine A few sub-shrines including this Inari Shrine with a row of red torii gates The Kitano area was about 10-15 mins walk from Ikuta Shrine. The Kitano area was located near the mountains so many of the streets were built on slopes. Today, the Kitano area was known for its relaxing atmosphere with shops, stores, cafes and restaurants. The Kitano Area was also known for the numerous western style houses called “ijinkan”. Ijinkan were built after the Kobe port was opened for trade in 1868, providing houses for people who came from abroad to live in Japan. Some of these residences had been preserved and remained to this day. Most of the houses charge an admission fee to see the furniture, household items and interior decorations. Weathercock House, a red brick German style home. Moegi House, an American colonial style home, with a beautiful green exterior Kitano Tenma Shrine, shrine built on a hill with a hill top view of the city and the Weathercock house. Various types of fortune slips (Omikuji) were sold here too. Rhine House seemed to be the only house with free entry. Basic furnishing, some exhibits and souvenir shop. Opposite was the Kitano-dori, the main street of the Ijinkan area. English House, built in a colonial style by British architect. It was also known for the Sherlock Holmes themed exhibits inside. French House, apartment house built for foreigners Ben’s House, former home of the British aristocrat and explorer Ben Allison A short walk away was the lower terminal for the ropeway up the hill to the Nunobiki herb garden. But today, we would be walking towards Nunobiki Falls near Shin-Kobe Station. It was around 10-15 mins walk from the Kitano Area. Otherwise accessible by metro or bullet train. Nunobiki Falls was also one of Japan’s 100 best waterfalls. The falls comprised four distinct cascades: Ontaki, Mentaki, Tsutsumigadaki, and Meotodaki. Nunobiki Falls were accessible from a slope behind Shin-Kobe Station. First we took the path on the left, which led us to the Mentaki Falls. It was a beautiful waterfall partially hidden by the lush green leaves. Next, we took the stairs up the hills. The Tsutsumigadaki Falls was almost completely blocked by the leaves. A short walk higher, we reached the Ontaki Falls and Meotodaki Falls. The Ontaki Falls had an impressive cascade of 43m. Further up the hill, there was also an observation deck for a panoramic view of Kobe. We could also see the Nunobiki ropeway up the hill to the Nunobiki herb garden. After that, we made the way down the hill back to Shin-Kobe Station. From Shin-Kobe Station, we walked back to Sannomiya, which was around 30 mins. If you do not wish to walk, it was one stop on the metro. We visited a shop that sold Akashiyaki, a more eggy form of Takoyaki. Akashiyaki originated from the city of Akashi, neighbouring city of Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture. Akashiyaki was to be dipped in a broth before eating. The exterior was made of egg, so it was much softer than Takoyaki. Tiny piece of octopus inside the Akashiyaki. Octopus meat was a little tough though. There was also Takoyaki sauce, if you preferred. After that, we went to another shop to have Yakisoba and Okonomiyaki. Pork and squid yakisoba, taste was average and portion was a bit little. Pork Okonomiyaki was a little bit burnt. We returned to the hotel for a short break after our meals. We returned to Meriken Park for its evening views. Kobe Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum were lighted up. There was even a light and sound show in the evening. Opposite the Meriken Park was the Kobe Haborland area. The Mocaic Ferris wheel had night illuminations too. Kobe Chinatown was only a short walk away from Meriken Park. However, the Kobe Chinatown was quite small and really only one long street. As it was already night time, food options were also quite limited. We walked through the Kobe Chinatown and then, took a slow walk back to the hotel to rest for the day. We got up early again, this time at 6am. Once again, headed over to the JR Sannomiya Station area for breakfast. Shops not opened and garbage had not been cleared yet too. Found a seafood restaurant that was still opened. Maguro bowl came with Akami tuna and Bincho tuna. Stir-fried seafood champon was quite tasty as well. Headed back to the hotel after breakfast and rested for about 3 hours. Sannomiya Shrine, small but ancient shrine. People pray here for safe travel over the sea and success with business and trade. It was already 10am and the Daimaru store was just opened. There were so many patrons standing outside waiting for the store to open. There was a Perfume Fair and many people at the supermarket as well. Just across Daimaru was the Kobe Motomachi Shopping Street. Kobe Motomachi literally meant “the original town of Kobe”. Various shops and dining options could be found at Kobe Motomachi. There was even a spot where there was a pocket view of the Kobe Port Tower. The fully sheltered shopping street was rather long, about 1.2km in length. A short walk away from the Western end of the Kobe Motomachi was the Kobe Haborland. Kobe Haborland was the shopping and entertainment district near JR Kobe Station and also offered nice waterfront views of Kobe. Food court in the Umie Mall. Stall that sold Bokkake Yakisoba seemed popular. Bokkake was a regional topping made from beef tendon and yam cake (konnyaku). Preparation process of Bokkake Yakisoba. Bokkake Yakisoba. Sauce was slightly sweet and made the noodles tasty. After lunch, we proceeded to Mosaic and the waterfront. Mosaic was a waterfront mall with dining and a large Ferris wheel. Relaxing boardwalk overlooking the habour, Kobe Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum. We could see the dark clouds forming and it was going to rain. So we walked back to the hotel via Meriken Park. We also passed the Former Foreign Settlement (Kobe foreign concession) with several old Western style buildings. This was where only foreigners lived and worked. Our hotel was just round the corner from the Former Foreign Settlement. We rested until dinner time. However, it started to drizzle so we only had dinner nearby. We had ramen for dinner. Oishi Ramen, which came with Chashu and cabbage. Broth was tasty but the portion was quite small. Rain was quite heavy now, so we returned to the hotel to rest for the day. It seemed that the rain had not stopped yet, even in the next morning. We returned to the JR Sannomiya Station area and ate at a nearby Sukiya outlet. We had the saba set meal and beef plate set meal. This was our last morning in Kobe so we returned to the hotel to pack up. We also rested for about 2 hours. Since we still had some time, we visited the Kobe City Museum which was within 5 mins walk from the hotel. The exhibit about the history of Kobe on the first floor was free admission. After the museum visit, we returned to our hotel to check out. Our next destination was Nara, and we headed to Hanshin Sannomiya Station. There were direct trains from Hanshin Sannomiya Station to Kintetsu Nara Station. However, our next hotel was at JR Nara Station. So we had to change trains at Nishi-Kujo Station in Osaka. We stopped for a short lunch at Nishi-Kujo Station. We tried the Takoyaki Udon. However, as a result of being soaked in the soup, the crispy outer layer of the Takoyaki had become soft. After that, we transferred to the JR Yamatoji Line towards Nara. Travel time was about 1.5 hours excluding break for lunch. We would be spending the next 2 nights in Nara.

This time we were back in Japan for travel, starting from Kobe. Kobe had a lovely waterfront, charming Western-style houses and Nunobiki falls, one of Japan’s top 100 waterfalls. We would also be trying some local food and enjoying the evening scenery of Kobe.

Please enjoy the video.

00:00 Introduction

Day 1: Arrival in Kobe

01:05 Kansai Airport to Kobe
01:35 KOKO Hotel Sannomiya
03:01 Observation Deck at Kobe City Hall

Day 2: Meriken Park/ Kitano Area/ Nunobiki Falls

04:31 Meriken Park (Morning)
06:30 Ikuta Shrine
07:26 Kitano Area / Ijinkan Western Style Houses
10:21 Nunobiki Falls
11:57 Akashiyaki
13:56 Meriken Park Evening Views
14:35 Kobe Chinatown

Day 3: Kobe Haborland

16:27 Sannomiya Shrine
16:47 Kobe Motomachi
17:42 Bokkake Yakisoba
19:06 Mosaic/ Kobe Haborland

Day 4: Last morning in Kobe

21:28 Kobe City Museum
22:15 Getting from Kobe to Nara

* Google Translate was used to translate English subtitles to multiple languages. So there might be some errors in those languages.
* Although I try my best to be accurate, but some information on the video may not be 100% correct or subject to changes over time.

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