#The Sky over Lake West#: A 14-Day Independent Trip to Kansai — D9: One Day in Kobe
May 31, 2025, sunny day. Today I’m going to Kobe for a day trip.
My hotel is in the Shijō area of Kyoto. There are several options to get to Kobe. I chose a moderately priced one, but it requires two transfers: from Karasuma-Shijō Station to Kyoto Kawaramachi Station, then change to the Kyoto Line (Umeda direction) to Jūsō Station, and finally change to the Hankyū Kōbe Line to Kobe-Sannomiya Station. A little more time, but saves some money on the fare.
After exiting the station, I start my one-day tour of Kobe.
First Stop: Nankinmachi (Chinatown).
Nankinmachi is a common name for a narrow strip of land between Motomachi-dōri and Sakae-machi-dōri in Chūō-ku, Kobe. It is not an official place name. However, the shopping street association is registered under the trademark “Nankinmachi Shopping Street Revitalization Association”. Together with Yokohama Chinatown and Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown, it is known as one of Japan’s three major Chinatowns.
Kobe Chinatown is located in Kobe City, Hyōgo Prefecture, and is called “Nankinmachi”. It refers to a street where most shops are traditional Chinese storefronts. It is the Kobe Chinatown. Within an area about 200 meters east to west and 110 meters north to south, there are over 100 shops. Small shop fronts are filled with snacks, souvenirs, etc. On holidays, many tourists gather here.
The name “Nankinmachi” used to be a generic term for all Chinatowns, but after the war most changed their names, so now “Nankinmachi” has become the proper noun for “Kobe Nankinmachi”. Nankinmachi has Changan Gate in the east, Xi’an Gate in the west, Nanlou Gate in the south, and connects with Motomachi Shopping Street in the north, with a square in the middle. In the evening, colorful lights are lit along Changan Gate and the square.
I have some tea and breakfast.
Second Stop: Kitano Ijinkan (Foreigners’ Houses).
It’s not far, so I walk there, also enjoying the beautiful streets of Kobe.
Even the manhole covers and fire hydrant lids have such pretty patterns.
This is the Kitano Visitor Center. I go in and buy a combined ticket for the Kitano Ijinkan, 3,300 yen per person. It allows entry to eight special exhibition halls and comes with a beautiful commemorative booklet for collecting stamps from each hall.
The commemorative booklet (front and back).
Inside are maps of the exhibition halls.
Every time I enter a hall, I get a small stamp to indicate I’ve visited.
Across from the visitor center is the British House.
“Ijinkan” refers to Western-style buildings where foreigners once lived.
Kitano still retains many Ijinkan from the Meiji era. After the opening of Kobe Port in 1968, the number of Ijinkan gradually increased, giving Kitano an exotic atmosphere. Currently, about twenty to thirty Ijinkan are open to the public. The white Western-style buildings standing at street corners offer many pleasing sights. The Weathercock House (Kazamidori no Yakata), built in 1909, is a representative building of Kobe Ijinkan; its red brick exterior and Art Nouveau interior decorations are harmonious, elegant, and splendid. The antique furniture displayed inside is also of great value. There is also the Moegi House (Moegi no Yakata), built in 1903 and formerly the U.S. Consul General’s residence.
1) Visit the British House first.
After entering, go to the stamp station to get the British House stamp.
The interior decoration is full of Baroque and Victorian styles. An English garden, a bar cabinet filled with world-famous liquors, and a recreation of Sherlock Holmes’s room on the second floor with paper cutouts that make you linger. There are also free Sherlock Holmes costumes and props in the garden for photos, instantly making you feel like the great detective.
The big pipe is Holmes’s most distinctive feature.
2) Visit the Foreigners’ House (Yōkan Nagaya).
After entering, go to the stamp station to get the Foreigners’ House stamp.
The Foreigners’ House consists of two symmetrical buildings. The first floor displays works from the Art Nouveau period, with many furniture items being French-related collections. The second floor has been turned into an art gallery space themed around the four seasons, with gorgeous seasonal decorations that dazzle the eyes.
3) Visit the Bern House (Bain no Ie).
After entering, go to the stamp station to get the Bern House stamp.
If you like animals and butterflies, the Bern House is definitely for you. It houses a collection of various animal specimens and butterflies from around the world. Brightly colored walls are covered with rare stuffed animals, offering unique and exaggerated photo perspectives. Every corner is full of surprises, as if you’ve stepped into a peculiar museum.
4) Visit the Fish Scale House & Fish Scale Observatory (Uroko no Ie & Uroko Tenbōdai).
There are two buildings here, each with a stamp station, so I can collect two stamps.
This was the first Ijinkan opened to the public in Kobe. It offers a panoramic view of the entire Kobe city.
Throughout the building, craftsmanship is evident. The antique furniture is dignified and grand. Daily-use and decorative items are all high-grade Western porcelain, mainly from Meissen. There is much worth seeing.
The outer wall is covered with natural stone slabs arranged like fish scales, hence the name “Fish Scale House.”
From the viewing room upstairs, the entire Kobe city and port can be seen at a glance.
In addition, the “Fish Scale Art Museum” displays modern and contemporary Western masterpieces of French post-impressionist and Fauvist painters such as Utrillo and Matisse. There is also a permanent exhibition room for Kobe’s representative artist, Yasui Prize-winning painter Horie Yū, etc.
5) Visit the Yamate 8th House (Yamate Hachibankan).
As usual, find the stamp station and get the Yamate 8th House stamp.
This place collects sculptures from around the world, the most famous being the “Agricultural Spirit Chair.”
6) Visit the Kitano Foreigners’ Club.
Find the stamp station and get the Foreigners’ Club stamp.
This is a luxurious restaurant where you can feel the life scenes of masters and servants.
7) Visit the Ijinkan on the Slope (Sakamichi no Ijinkan).
This is the last hall, so I get the final stamp.
This is the only eastern-style foreign residence, once used as the Chinese consulate.
In summary, the Kitano Ijinkan district is a place full of history and artistic atmosphere. Every corner is full of surprises. If you have the chance to come to Kobe, don’t miss this beautiful scenery and historical stories.
Third Stop: Nunobiki Herb Garden.
Leaving the Ijinkan, follow the navigation about 500–600 meters to the ropeway station for Nunobiki Herb Garden.
Buy a round-trip ropeway ticket and go up the mountain.
Kobe Nunobiki Herb Garden is one of the largest herb gardens in Japan, with about 200 varieties and 75,000 plants of herbs and flowers. It features themed gardens, a greenhouse, an aroma library, and many other attractions. You can eat herb-based cuisine in the restaurants and buy your favorite herb seedlings. The facility holds free herb tours daily, teaching planting and usage methods.
Riding the aerial ropeway, you can enjoy distant views of Kobe’s harbor and the magnificent mountain scenery. At the top, don’t forget to take in the spectacular view of Kobe from the observation deck, which is also a popular night view spot.
In addition to a wide variety of medicinal herbs and seasonal flowers, the herb garden also has a greenhouse that grows exotic fruits like guava and bananas year-round.
Walk down the mountain path from the summit, admiring the various themed flower displays along the way.
Also, the greenhouse plants and specimen displays.
Take the ropeway down from the mid-mountain station, ending the visit to Nunobiki Herb Garden.
Fourth Stop: Kobe Port Tower.
After leaving Nunobiki Herb Garden, go to the nearest subway station, Shin-Kobe (South Exit), take two stops to Kencho-mae (West Exit 4), then walk according to navigation.
Coming out of the shopping street, I unexpectedly find myself back in Chinatown, which I visited in the morning. Perfect, I can fill my stomach before moving on.
When in Kobe, you have to try the legendary Kobe beef. Different cuts have different prices. I try 60g for 2,800 yen.
Cooked immediately on the griddle, cut into pieces, and plated.
The texture is really good—tender without being greasy. I’m left wanting more.
Then I queue at the long-standing Laoxiangji Steamed Bun Shop (Lao Xiang Ji) that always has people lined up, and try their pork buns (butaman).
I buy 10 pork buns.
I sit on the street outside the shop to eat. In Nankinmachi, besides restaurants with dine-in service, small shops (or those without dine-in) usually have customers eat near the shop, and after finishing, they dispose of trash in the bins provided by the shop.
Full now, I continue walking and soon reach Kobe Port Tower. Check-in!
Kobe Port Tower is an observation tower, 108 meters high with 8 floors. It is one of Kobe’s famous landmarks and the world’s only tubular structure observation tower. The design concept of Kobe Port Tower is inspired by the Japanese drum (taiko). The building is surrounded by 32 red steel pillars, symbolizing the meaning of welcoming ships returning to the port.
Kobe Port Tower was completed and opened in 1963. It ceased operations at the end of 2009 for renovation and reopened on April 28, 2010.
Quietly, I sit by the sea and enjoy the moment.
The lights are on! Kobe Port Tower is equipped with 7,000 LED lighting devices, capable of 40 different lighting effects.
At 8 p.m., I end my Kobe trip and return to Kyoto.
