Why You Should Skip Osaka & Kyoto (and Go Here Instead)
Previously, [Music] we are on our way to Kobe and I got myself some new bags. Yep. Osaka to Kobe is 1 hour and 5 minutes and it cost 850 y. But before we jumped on the train, I grabbed some of this rice donuts. And I tell you what, it was absolutely delicious. And he needs some snacks on the train rides between cities. It took us 15 minutes by foot to get from the Kobe station to our hotel. Here we go. This is the room. Hopefully there’s no strangers in here. Excuse me. What you doing in here? Um, I’m here to give you first class. All right. What do you think of the room, Jen? I made it for you. All right. Is it pretty big for Japan? Yes. All right. I like it. This stuff. So, like, let me show you. All right. If you hit your head. Ooh, it’s padded on the side. Nice. This a little bit safer. Uhhuh. But this is perfect. All right. Thank you, Nicola. All right, Nicola. Can you reveal your child’s amenity kit? What do you get? I got some flippies. Ooh, with teddy bears on it. Cute. And then I got this um like face. Small face though. Nice. And I got this tiny toothbrush. Actually big to be exactly. All right. That means you got the bag color. Perfect. So far so good. They’re very accommodating for children. Wait. Lemonade. Oh yeah. Now we have to put it in the for the bathroom. It’s pretty good. After 45 minutes, we were ready to get back out there in Kobe and explore the city. We started off with the main shopping street, which is 0.75 mi, 1.2 km long, and it’s pretty much got everything. Our objective was to simply find something to eat and not get distracted. Let’s see how that goes. [Music] This shopping street has all of your needs covered and entertainment. These puppies and kittens were just so adorable and I spent a lot of time in the store. Totally forgot that I was hungry. Eventually, we decided to move on and stick to the objective of finding a place to eat. Japanese pastries are amazing and they recently beat the French in a pastry making competition. However, pastries is not dinner, so I needed to get my focus back on and go find something healthier for dinner. So, let’s see how far we got. Let’s just say there is a lot of food options in Kobe. Our objective was to find a nice place that was cozy that we could dine in. and we kept looking and it was a good way to just do a little bit more sightseeing to see what else is available in the city. And yes, I accidentally bought something which was born to happen with all the distractions. Kobe has around 1.5 million people in the city, but for some reason it feels a lot easier to navigate than Osaka in Kyoto. We kept checking out all of the underground eating options and even found this beautiful Nest Cafe, but we remained focused to finding the nice dinner option, which we eventually did. 2 hours later, [Music] a Japanese trip will involve sushi, sashimi, ramen, lots of great steaks, but guoza is on the menu as well. And this restaurant delivered. The wait was worth it. M. We got some cool accessories. How’s it out of 10? What was it? 10. Mhm. All right. 10 out of 10. Lady’s busy cooking some more. Things about to get good. Oh, yeah. [Music] Sh. [Music] You want You’re a little bit more tighter. Oh gosh. What? Some local steak to go with the gyoza. And it was a beautiful 10 out of 10 meal. Amazing, amazing food. The post dinner food coma going up that way. So, we only have one night in Kobe and the plan is to go explore as much as possible. Shall we spin on this like some Pokemon? Streets are really cozy. Hello. Yeah, this is central Kobe city and it is so nice to see empty streets as most of Japan the bigger cities have been quite crowded. So this was a pleasant and welcoming city and we might have disturbed the peace. [Music] All right. Awesome. Let’s wrap it up. Kobe. Woohoo. A I have to do the backup singing and dancing for Nicola. Freshness burger. Luckily, the hotel was just 10 minutes walk away. And we slowly did our evening walk post dinner. But the night was not over yet. Accessories. We got razor shaving. Mhm. Bag tea. Taste coffee. So interesting fact. Every hotel we’ve been to in Japan so far has a laundry room, vending machines, and a microwave. So, all of those good food options you see all over the supermarkets and the special delicates and stores, you can actually buy it and hit it in the actual hotel without even getting an Airbnb. I do miss a grill because I’ve seen so much Kobe and Wagu beef that I just want to fry and that’s the only challenging part. But apart from that, getting food and just heating it up is always an option traveling with children or even if you’ve got the late night cravings. So, here we are and you’re going to see what I’m heating up in just a moment. This is the tempura I accidentally bought while looking for a place for dinner earlier this evening. We have been in Kobe for 3 and 1/2 hours and we’ve done mostly eating. It is now time for some sightseeing. [Music] I hope it doesn’t break. See you later. Did I mention it’s a very kid-friendly city? So, what is there to do in Kobe? Well, I’ve shown you some of the shopping street, which is 1.2 km long, but next up, we are going to go to Kobe’s own Chinatown. Probably not the best time to go after 9:30, but I would like to see it before leaving the city. And my kiddo needs to burn some energy. The swagger, the style, and the fashionistic game in Japan is a next level, and it was very inspirational. Unlike Osaka, Kobe actually does go to sleep, which is actually welcoming at 9:45. Won’t you take me to Chinatown? So, yes, I sang my way into Chinatown, which was not really open, but it did look really pretty at night. This evening’s lesson was about the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac cycle, which runs every 12 years. So, I reminded Nicola of her zodiac sign and sent her to find the statue around this area. Have you found it, Nicola? Do you know what you are? Yeah, I think I found it. Stop. That’s you. Monkey. You were born in the year of the monkey. With the Chinese zodiac sign information sinking in, we moved a bit further. [Music] [Music] [Music] Nick, you know what we’re going to go now. All right, let’s go find out. It is 10:00 and we are off to Kobe Dock. But first, let’s explore this Christmas vibes in July. Nicola, jump in. [Music] Bye-bye. [Music] No, don’t show your robot camera. Oh boy. This became a much longer walk than anticipated, but we eventually got there and it was so worth it because next up was the Kobe Tower. [Music] Luckily, this place is open to 11:00 p.m. and we had a good 45 minutes to go explore. We are going all the way up. Is that the home view? Let’s wait. Ow. My freaking goodness. God. AFK. IDK. Lol. Oh my gosh. Oh my god. When are we there yet? Uh, we’ll be there very shortly. Are you excited just to look outside? Yes. No. I got this on camera if you’re screaming like that. Breathe. Zen. Yes. Almost. Slowing down. All right. Lift. Ready. Set. All right. We have a kitty cat. Okay. This bacon is tower. Is it bacon? Uh, yeah. Are you sure? Yep. [Music] step. No, just stay with us. [Music] Nicola, take a look at the ferris wheel. There’s a hamster hamster running in it. That’s cool. We made it to the top of Kobe Tower. It actually is open till 11:00. Uh so yeah, this is quite spectacular. Have a look at that. Uh let me just go all around. It is a fantastic uh beautiful view and Kobe is a lot more relaxed than Osaka. Osaka nighttime is absolutely intense. Not sure what that is, but I’ll find out in a moment. So, just going to walk around. Not much tourist out here at this time of the night. That’s the Kooi American Park Oriental Hotel. Didn’t know that existed till I got up here. And as we go further, let me just show you the ferris wheel right over there. All right, that is it from the tower. I’m going to get back down to the observation floor which is below. Stairs. Stairs. Stairs. Oh boy. My friend. My friend. Are you sure? Yeah. Well, smile to your friend. I can’t see that smile. We just came for the view from the observation deck, but little do we know that this place had a special room. [Music] [Music] Oh, wow. Okay. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] So yes, bring your kids to this place because they will love it. Yeah. [Music] Awesome. [Music] [Music] Kobe Tower ended up packing a lot more entertainment and excitement than anticipated. We exited Kobe Tower around 11:00 sharp and we enjoy the beautiful view of Kobe Maritime Museum while waiting for a taxi using the Taxi Go app. All right, this is our ride. All right, jump in. All apps that I use in Japan are in the video description below. Now it’s lights out till the morning. Thank you for watching and see you for part two of Kobe. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you don’t miss the next video in this Japan series. Take care of yourself. See shortly.
Kobe: The Japan Travel Hack for Geniuses (Why We All Deserve Less Crowd-Shame)
We’ve been lied to. We’re told Osaka is “fun” and Kyoto is “culture.” But what if both are just wildly overrated Chaos Zones?
Introducing Kobe: The elegant, walkable, “I’m not fighting 7,000 tourists for a photo” solution. It’s got all the quality (hello, authentic Kobe Beef) but none of the existential crowd-anxiety.
In this video, we prove why this coastal gem—a true secret weapon of the Kansai region—is the peak performance choice for travelers.
🌙 Part 1: The Night Vibe (The City That Actually Gives You Space)
🗼The Tower Truth: Forget neon fatigue. We visit the iconic red Kobe Port Tower and its glorious, anti-chaos waterfront (Meriken Park).
🫠 The Zenith of Chill: We reveal the revolving bar inside the tower. It literally moves 360 degrees so you don’t have to. Peak human convenience.
🛍️ The Shopping Street That Doesn’t Yell: A stroll through Sannomiya Center Gai proves you can shop, eat, and exist without being processed like cattle.
☀️Part 2: https://youtu.be/f2dtexukFdA
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Shooting Location: Kobe, Japan
Time: July 2025
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