On the tenth day, we headed to Kobe (神戸市), the sixth-largest city in Japan. Kobe is also the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture and a prominent port city in Japan with a population of about 1.5 million.
Kobe is known for it’s cosmopolitan past, being one of the first cities to open for trade with the West in Japan. It is also known for the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake which destroyed much of the city. Finally, the city is also the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef (神戸ビーフ), the most expensive beef in the world.
The first place we went to in Kobe was Kitano Ijinkan (北野異人館). It is a historical district which contains a number of foreign residences from the late Meiji and early Taishō eras of Japanese history. Each of the individual foreign houses charge separate entry admission fees. As we thought it’s rather silly to pay to look at “foreign houses” given we are foreigners ourselves and also because globalisation has made attractions like these lose their allures, we just walked outside the street and took photos.
Btw, there are lots of bridal salons and other wedding-related shops near Kobe Kitano. It’s probably because the many old foreign architecture that make ideal backdrops for wedding photos.
The express train we took
Ladies only train cabin
A train driver
The train driver at work
The train driver's name is displayed to the passengers so you can file complaints if they don't drive properly
area map of Kobe
In front of a bridal salon
High quality wedding kimono
Hiring ad for gigolos
There are lots of buildings like this with interesting architecture in Kitano
Wooden wheel in the background
Weird looking ad which I do not know what it is promoting
We spotted a halal-certified restaurant at Kitano - very rare in Japan
At Kitano Ijinkan (北野異人館)
Cardboard Mickey Mouse
Nice shrubs and bushes
Japanese school kids on school excursion
On a slope in the street of Kitano
Bird cage with flowers inside
Wild pussy willow
A French house
A foreign house with two oriental statues outside
A Dutch dwelling
Kitano street
My comrade's house
Beautiful flowers
Strange looking mini truck we spotted
Someone's little statue outside the house
Sherlock Holmes' house
One of the few free admission attractions in Kobe Kitano
Description of the museum house
Photos depicting the devastating Hanshin Earthquake which ravaged Kobe in 1995
A closer look at one of the earthquake photos
Window view from the free museum
Lots of beautiful flowers like these
Cabbage flower
Bottle-shaped flowers
Petit bottle-shaped blue flowers
Blue flowers with long petals
Purple and white flowers
Petit red flowers
Rachel likes to look at flowers
Pretty red flowers
Stalks of tiny pink flowers
Outside a cat-themed cafe
A vintage poster on Kobe beef
Vintage poster depicting Kobe's cosmopolitan past
Another exotic vintage poster
Vintage European wadrobe
Hello Kitty dressed up as a Kobe cow
Kobear - a Kobe mascot
Residential park in Kitano
One of the many foreign houses
Decorative Kitano Ijinkan shields
A clubhouse for foreigners
Oranges spotted in someone's house
Grand looking foreign house
Another majestic house
For lunch, we split way with Mark and Meiyen who went to eat a luxurious Kobe beef meal. Rachel and I find the price tag for Kobe beef a tat too steep. Hence we headed to a nearby small restaurant serving charcoal-grilled beef with rice. It was delicious! In fact, we came back here to eat it again on our second last day in Japan.
After lunch, we did some light shopping at the Kobe shopping district. We did not buy much stuff as the exchange rate for the Japanese yen was at an all time high and we found most of the stuff too expensive. In fact, some brands like Agnès B. and Porter bags, which were supposed to be cheaper in Japan than in Singapore were more expensive due to the pathetic exchange rate.
The restaurant Mark went to for his Kobe beef
Entrance to the restaurant
Restaurant interior
The chef who prepared Mark's Kobe beef
Slicing up the meat
Close-up of the Kobe beef
Preparing the vegetable side
Mark's Kobe beef meal
Rachel and I are less wealthy, we had lunch at this small restaurant
The chef who cooked our delicious beef
Close-up shot of the beef
The beef bowl Rachel and I had for lunch
Indoor flowers
Caramel pudding flavour Kit Kat - exclusive in Kobe
Weird-looking Indian bath salt
Ghostly bath salt
Bath salt for dirty people who work in coal mines
Glue boy lip balm
Anime soft drink
An interesting store that sells just merchants' vouchers and coupons at values lower than the printed rates
Some pet charity group in Japan - Rachel made a small donation
Entrance to a long shopping street in Kobe
Shopping street
Interesting looking buildings which look like water colour paintings
Seen outside an expensive looking Japanese western restaurant - I seriously do not know what the text is trying to say
Meat shop specialising in Kobe beef
Thereafter, we headed to Kobe Chinatown, Nankin-machi (南京町). If you were to ask me, I find the name quite ironic, given the atrocity committed by the Japanese soldiers during the Nanking Massacre in WWII. The place is actually quite cheesy. It looks like the kind of stereotypical “Chinatown” you find in western video games and movies with lots of touristy nonsense perpetuating the notion of the mystical Orient.
Kobe Chinatown
Cheesy red lanterns everywhere
These two China doll statues are the ultimate in cheesiness!
I hate Chinese-themed shops like this!
Chinese snacks
Pork dumpling stall - what's with the picture of the fat Chinaman with rosy cheek?
Rabit statue - there are statues of all 12 of the Chinese zodiac animals
Famous char siew pau stall with long queue
The char siew pau wrapping
The tiny char siew pau - It sucks! The skin tasted very rubbery and tough
Kobe beef coroquette - Rachel and I still tasted Kobe beef afterall 
Small bits of Kobe beef inside the coroquette
Fugu (puffer fish) spotted
Fugu sashimi - for foolhardy gourmet hunters
Exiting Kobe Chinatown
After Chinatown, we went to Harborland (神戸ハーバーランド), a shopping district in Kobe to do more shopping. Harborland is located along Japan’s eastern coast and you can get a fantastic seaview from the area. It is also home to the famouse Kobe Port Tower (神戸ポートタワー).
We visited the Hankyu shopping mall and the Mosaic Garden amusement park located in the area. We managed to catch the sunset in the Mosaic Garden ferris wheel. They had a Valentine’s Day special promotion going on for the ferris wheel whereby you can get a discounted price if you ride in the cheesy pink cabin with heart-shaped cushions and lots of gay-looking pink and red feathers.
Rachel and I had dinner at Saizeriya (サイゼリヤ) which is also available in Singapore at Liang Court. The restaurant chain in Japan has a wider selection in their menu and frankly, the quality of the food is also better.
After dinner, we took the train and headed back to our hotel. This ended our day tour of Kobe. We will be visiting the historic capital city of Kyoto (京都) the next day. Stay tuned for my next blog entry.
A decorative piece at the underpass from the train station to Harborland
Another decorative piece
An interesting installation ad for the local zoo
First time I ate pork from McDonald's
We spotted a ferris wheel from afar, on our way to Harborland
An elegant motorbike we came across
Mosaic Garden - a small seaside amusement park
Mosaic Garden ferris wheel
Beside the ferris wheel
Various amusement rides available at Mosaic Garden
By the sea
An expensive hotel at Harborland
Hankyu shopping mall
We bought the Valentine's Day special ferris wheel tickets
Cheesy heart-shaped cushions found in the ferris wheel cabin
The cushions are more suitable for Mark and Meiyen
Rachel and I, minus the cheesy cushions
Kobe Port Tower as seen from the ferris wheel
It's almost sunset
Sunset as seen from the top of the ferris wheel
From another angle
Another angle again
Rachel and Anpanman (アンパンマン)
Me with Anpanman and his friend
Merry-go-round
Rachel was excited to see a specialty store selling Totoro toys and other Hayao Miyazaki's stuff
Pandas!
The pandas from Miyazakis earlier work, Panda! Go, Panda! (パンダ・コパンダ)
Rachel loves this panda anime
Totoro collectible figurine
Totoro on a plant
Clothes Rachel and I bought at the COMME ÇA DU MODE store
Baseball park at Harborland
Mark and Meiyen beside a Valentine's Day wishing tree
Japanese teens excitedly writing their wishes on free red ribbons
Tying the ribbon to the wishing tree
Mosaic shopping mall
The Kobe Port Tower in the night
The sea breeze was freezing cold
Me, freezing as well
Very beautiful seaview at night
Mosaic Garden from afar
The lighted ferris wheel looks very different at night
Rachel and I had dinner at Saizeriya
The Saizeriya menu in Japan has exotic offerings like mozarella cheese
Our dinner - a pizza and a hamburger steak
Close-up of my hamburger steak - much better than what they served in the Saizeriya in Singapore
Slicing up our pizza with the roller
Japan's Mister Donut
Rachel bought a box of donuts from Mister Donut
"Bee Hoon" donut?
Chocolate-coated donut
Cinnamon donut
Sugared donut with filling
Giant kiwi that Mark bought for supper
Bye bye Kobe!
Bought this soda flavour popsicle from the Family Mart beside our hotel
Links to my previous blog entries on my Japan trip:
Day 1 – Kansai Airport, Hokkaido
Day 3 – Asahikawa, Asahiyama Zoo
Day 4 – Sledding, Shiroi Koibito, Crab Buffet
Day 5 – The 60th Sapporo Snow Festival
Day 6 – Staying with the Asai, Shōnan
Day 8 – Shibuya and Akihabara, Tokyo
Day 12 – Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and Dotonbori
Day 13 – Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and Mt. Rokko
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