What to see and what to do in Kobe, one of the most cosmopolitan urban areas and most open to foreign influences in all of Japan.
In the past, Kobe was the center of trade between Japan, China and the West, and it was also the first Japanese city to accept foreigners into its territory while the rest of the country lived in rigid isolation. The name Kobe probably derives from the word kanbe, which in archaic Japanese indicated a city linked to a shrine of great importance, in this case the Ikuta shrine, considered the oldest in all of Japan.
The contemporary history of Kobe It is marked by two very dramatic events, the first during World War II, when it was almost destroyed by American bombing in the spring of 1945, an event that inspired the moving animated film Grave of the Fireflies. famous studio ghibli; and the second in 1995, when a devastating earthquake shook the heart of the historic center, damaging numerous buildings and causing more than 6.000 victims.
Today Kobe has managed to recover with great vigor and with orderly Japanese planning it has once again become one of the most important cities in Japan on an economic, commercial and cultural level. One of the excellences of Kobe, known throughout the world, is the very particular steak which is produced from a rare variety of cattle raised only in Hyogo Prefecture (the administrative department of Kobe) and which is considered by many to be the best meat in the world, due to the incomparable quality of the food the animals eat and the Selection during playback.
The strict selection of meats resulted in legends who claim that the animals are fed beer and massaged with sake every day, but these are just unfounded rumors and the secret of kobe meat, which in London is also used to prepare cocktails, lies in the wisdom and skill of the Japanese breeders. In this guide we will discover the must-see destinations and the most spectacular attractions to guide you on a trip to Kobe, the most cosmopolitan Japanese city.
Il Old neighborhood Kobe represents the typical Japanese urban reality where the hypermodern structures of skyscrapers coexist with ancient temples and magnificent public gardens of soft beauty. Once in the center it is difficult not to be captivated by the hypnotic sequence of illuminated shop windows and colorful signs that dot the main streets of the heart of the city and after a brief tour of the commercial district, Kobe Harborland, where you can find all kinds of high technology , you can head to the Kobe City Museum, the city's main cultural institution.
The Kobe City Museum is formed by the union between previous art and archaeological collections to form a large museum complex that preserves the most important testimonies of Kobe's past. In this museum you can admire the works of the city's master painters and the results of the influence that trade with the rest of the world had on the artistic scene. Of special interest are the collections dedicated to the so-called Namban Art, a particular form of pictorial art born in Japan after contact with the first jesuit missionaries at the end of the XNUMXth century.
In the vicinity of the museum you can visit the Meriken neighborhood, where earthquake memorial 1995, a large space dedicated to the memory of the terrible natural disaster that today also plays the role of raising public opinion towards issues of prevention and knowledge of the force that nature can unleash.
There are also two attractions in this area that you should not miss: the Kobe Port Tower and the Maritime Museum. There Kobe Port Tower It is a tower more than 100 meters high from which you can admire a spectacular panorama of the entire port area and the city that extends from the hills to the sea.
Il Museo del Mar Rather, it is a cultural institution dedicated to understanding the port of Kobe and its symbiotic relationship with the sea, thanks to the help of audiovisual materials, interactive spaces and the massive use of new virtual reality technologies. The building itself is a sight to behold, with its elegant external structure built like a huge sail inflated by the wind.
Moving towards the innermost neighborhoods you cannot miss visiting the suggestive place Shinto temple in Ikuta, considered by many to be the oldest shrine in Japan. The temple is dedicated to the goddess Wakahirume, peaceful sister of the sun god Amaterasu, and is a triumph of ancient Japanese architecture, where incredibly skillfully decorated and colored structures surround the cell of divinity. The temple is also the setting for some of Japan's most important theatrical performances, Ebira and Ikuta Atsumori, which tell the story of the Genpei War.
The more cosmopolitan side of Kobe can be discovered by visiting the Chinatown of Nankinmachi, which, although it has acquired a very touristy character, offers the possibility of tasting the delicious dishes of the fusion between Chinese and Japanese cuisine, as well as visiting one of the best-supplied technological markets in the region.
Before leaving Kobe we must not forget to visit the Kitano district, built at the beginning of the 20th century and which reproduces the appearance of a Western city, more interesting to understand what the Japanese saw in the West than for the architecture itself, and the wonderful Shin-Kobe cable car, one funicular which leads from the city center to the southern slope of the Rokko mountain range, a magical place immersed in the poetic Japanese nature.
