Kobe, Hyōgo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kobe
Designated city
Kobe City
From top left: Port of Kobe, Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, Kitano-chō, Kobe Chinatown, night view from Kikuseidai of Mt. Maya, Kobe Port Tower
Flag
Location of Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture
Kobe Location in Japan Show map of Japan Kobe Location in Asia Show map of Asia Kobe Location in Earth Show map of Earth
Country	Japan
Region	Kansai
Prefecture	Hyōgo Prefecture
Area
• Designated city	552.23 km2 (213.22 sq mi)
Population  (May 1, 2015)
• Designated city	1,536,499 (5th)
• Metro (2015)	2,419,973 (6th)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
City symbols
• Tree	Camellia sasanqua
• Flower	Hydrangea
Phone number	078-331-8181
Address	6-5-1 Kano-chō, Chūō-ku, Kōbe-shi, Hyōgo-ken 650-8570
Website	City of Kobe

Kobe is the sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture. It is located on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay and about 30 km (19 mi) west of Osaka. With a population around 1.5 million, the city is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto.

The earliest written records regarding the region come from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201. For most of its history, the area was never a single political entity, even during the Tokugawa period, when the port was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate. Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from an archaic title for supporters of the city's Ikuta Shrine. Kobe became one of Japan's designated cities in 1956.

Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan and nuclear-free zone port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth-busiest container port. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, as well as over 100 international corporations with Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city. The city is the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef, as well as the site of one of Japan's most famous hot spring resorts, Arima Onsen.

The northern area of Kobe is an industrial area. There are many factories. Sake production in Nada district has been known from the Edo period. Nagata district in the southwest area of Kobe was a center of shoe production in Japan but production suffered because of destruction caused by the Earthquake.

History

Taisan-ji, the main hall is a National Treasure of Japan

In the late 12th century powerful leader Taira no Kiyomori moved the capital of Japan from Kyoto to Fukuwara, nowadays Fukuwara district of Japan. He planned for it to serve as a trade and political center of Japan. Kiyomori relied his political influence on the trade between Japan and China. But his plan failed and Kobe stayed a small village during a long time.

The area of Kobe was expanded and today it includes Mount Maya, Sumaura Park, Sumaike park with a good spa and the famous Arima spa. Arima spa is one of oldest spas in Japan, whose earliest record is found already in Nihonshoki. Kobe is also famous for its Kobe beef, a very expensive meat delicacy.

Kobe Beef

Kobe was founded in 1868 as a port for serving foreign ships. In those days most ports in Japan were closed to foreigners. Many foreigners lived in Kobe, including: westerners, Chinese, Jews, and Indiana. Kobe has one of the more important Chinatowns in Japan. People can find a synagogue and many Christian churches also. Kobe is similar to Yokohama as a place from where modern international culture was introduced into Japan.

Culture

Tayoji Temple Main Hall - Kobe, Hyōgo

Kobe is most famous for its Kobe beef and Arima Onsen (hot springs). Notable buildings include the Ikuta Shrine as well as the Kobe Port Tower. It is well known for the night view of the city, from mountains such as Mount Rokkō, and Mount Maya as well as the coast. Kobe is also known for having a somewhat exotic atmosphere by Japanese standards, which is mainly as a result of its history as a port city.

The city is widely associated with cosmopolitanism and fashion, said in the Japanese phrase, "If you can't go to Paris, go to Kobe." The biannual fashion event Kobe Fashion Week, featuring the Kobe Collection, is held in Kobe. The jazz festival "Kobe Jazz Street" has been held every October at jazz clubs and hotels since 1981. It also hosts both a Festival, as well as a statue of Elvis Presley, whose unveiling was heralded by the presence of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi.

Manhole cover of Kobe, Hyogo

Kobe is the site of Japan's first golf course, Kobe Golf Club, established in 1903, and Japan's first mosque, Kobe Mosque, built in 1935. The city hosts the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club, founded in 1870 by Alexander Cameron Sim, and a prominent foreign cemetery. A number of Western-style residences from the 19th century still stand in Kitano and elsewhere in Kobe. Museums include the Kobe City Museum and Museum of Literature.

The dialect spoken in Kobe is called Kobe-ben, a sub-dialect of Kansai dialect.

Earthquake

Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park

On January 17, 1995 a very powerful earthquake hit the city. Earthquakes are more common in other parts of Japan, but not in Kansai so this earthquake was a surprise for everyone. 6,434 people were killed in Kobe and its neighboring cities, and many more were injured. Many buildings were destroyed.

Related pages

• Vissel Kobe

Images for kids

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  View of Kobe from an airplane

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  Kobe is the busiest port in the Kansai region.

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  Kobe Airport

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  Shin-Kobe Station

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  Kobe Municipal Subway

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  The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge extends from Kobe to Awaji Island.

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  Kobe University main building

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  Weathercock House, one of the many foreign residences of the Kitano area of Kobe

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  Ikuta Shrine

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  Nagata Shrine

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  Taira no Kiyomori

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  Marker indicating the former location of Fukuhara-kyō

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  Battle of Ichi-no-Tani（Genpei War）

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  Kusunoki Masashige (Battle of Minatogawa)

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  Minatogawa Shrine

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  Hanakuma Castle

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  Kobe foreign settlement Kaigan-dōri Avenue around 1885

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  Shinkaichi theatre street in Kobe (Taisho era)

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  Hyōgo Port in the 19th century

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  The Bund, built in the 1860s–1930s

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  Kitano area, built in the 1880s–1910s

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  Former Hyogo prefectural office, built in 1902

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  This nishiki-e (colored woodcut) shows a foreign steamboat entering Hyōgo Port shortly after its opening to the West in the late 19th century.

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  View of Kobe after the bombing in 1945

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  Damage in Sannomiya during the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995

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  Meriken Park (2018)

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  Skylines of Kobe from Kobe Bridge (2015)

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  View of Sannomiya from Shin-Kobe Station (2009)

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  Nunobiki Herb Garden (2012）

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  Kobe central business district (2018)

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  Kobe central business district at night (2016)

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  Downtown at night

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  Night view from Kikuseidai

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  Sunset from Mt.Suwa observation deck

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  Kawasaki Heavy Industries headquarters on Harborland

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  Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co. headquarters on Kobe Harbor

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  Procter & Gamble Asia headquarters on Rokko Island

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  Nestlé Japan Ltd. headquarters on Sannomiya

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  UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. headquarters on Port Island

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  An'yō-in. Its karesansui is one of Japan's Places of Scenic Beauty.

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  Kobe Municipal Arboretum

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  Kobe Port Tower

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  Harborland

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  Nankin-machi, Motomachi

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  Kobe Oji Zoo as home of the giant and red pandas

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  Foreigners' cemetery on the slopes of Futatabiyama

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  Notre Dame Kobe Wedding Hall

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  Arima Onsen located north of Kobe

See also

In Spanish: Kōbe para niños