Kobe
Kobe, officially Kobe City , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.
Kobe, officially Kobe City , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in the Kansai region, which makes up the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay. It is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto. The Kobe city centre is located about 35 km (22 mi) west of Osaka and 70 km (43 mi) southwest of Kyoto.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Kobe
7 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Kobe Mosque
The Kōbe Mosque, also known as the Kōbe Muslim Mosque (Japanese: 神戸ムスリムモスク, romanized: Kōbe Musurimu Mosuku, is a mosque located in Kōbe, in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. Founded in October 1935, it is Japan's first mosque.
1 km · mosque in Japan · Wikipedia - 02Kobe Port Tower
The Kobe Port Tower is a landmark in the port city of Kobe, Japan. The sightseeing tower was completed in 1963 and was temporarily closed from late 2009 to 28 April 2010 and again from 27 September 2021 to 26 April 2024 for renovation.
1.2 km · observation tower · Wikipedia - 03Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art
The Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art is a purpose built municipal art gallery in Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It was opened in 2002.
2.3 km · museum in Japan · Wikipedia - 04Ikuta Shrine
Ikuta Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Chūō Ward of Kobe, Japan, and is possibly among the oldest shrines in the country. It was founded by Empress Jingu when she returned from the Three Kan campaign.
700 m · Shinto shrine in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia - 05Mount Maya
Mount Maya is a 698.6-metre-high mountain in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. This mountain is one of the major peaks of the Rokkō Mountains, and is the most popular peak for visitors on the West-Rokkō Mountains.
3 km · mountain in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia - 06Kobe City Museum
The Kobe City Museum opened in Kobe, Japan in 1982. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a municipality.
400 m · museum in Japan · Wikipedia - 07Nagata Shrine
Nagata Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Nagata-ku, Kobe, Japan. At Nagata, Kotoshironushi-no-Okami is enshrined.
4.9 km · Shinto shrine in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Kobe's main attraction for the Japanese is its concentration of Western-style houses, some dating back to the days when Kobe was opened for foreign trade in 1868. Europeans who grew up in similar scenery may find them less fascinating.
- 01Kitano Ijinkan
- 02Kyu-kyoryuchi
- 03Chinatown
The original settlement of Chinese merchants.
- 04Kobe Overseas Chinese History Museum
- 05Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum
A very nice exploration of hand carpentry tools, from the stone axes of Jomon age to the Western influenced tools of yesterday.
- 06Kobe Maritime Museum
Exhibits rich history of the port city with many photos, artifacts, models and some actual ships.
From Wikivoyage: Kobe, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
- 01MOSAIC
There are restaurants, bars, a movie theatre, a shopping market, an amusement arcade and a little amusement park.
- 02Mount Rokko
- 03Nunobiki Falls
- 04Meriken Park
Located on the harborfront has a poignant memorial to the devastating Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, which killed 6,433 people.
- 05Fruit Flower Park
- 06Sōraku-en Garden
From Wikivoyage: Kobe, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Kobe has many restaurants offering international cuisine. Kōbe is known worldwide for its Kobe beef, exquisitely marbled, very fatty and very expensive beef. Recommended for a splurge, but expect to pay close to ¥10,000 per 100 grams. At the opposite end of the culinary spectrum is sobameshi (そば飯), a concoction of fried rice and noodles mixed together, which is cheap, filling and pretty much unique to Kobe.
- 01Minsei Chinese Restaurant
1-3-3 Motomachidori, Chuoku,.
- 02Modern Ark Pharm Cafe
3 Chome-11-15 Kitanagasadōri (south of Sannomiya station),.
- 03Naruto Taiyaki Honpo Hankyu Sannomiya-ekimae
1-9-6 Kitanagasakidori (near Sannomiya Station),.
- 04Ryukaso
Grill Ippei (グリル一平) (Several branches near Sannomiya station, Motomachi station, and elsewhere).
- 05Cafe Terrasse de Paris
A French restaurant with a romantic view.
From Wikivoyage: Kobe, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Kobe
- Airports
- Kobe (UKB), 7 km · Osaka Itami (ITM), 25 km · Kansai (KIX), 30 km
- Stations
- Kobe Airport, 6.9 km · Port of Kobe, 3.2 km · Shin-Nagata Station, 6 km · Hyōgo Station, 3.7 km · Shin‐Kobe Station, 1.9 km
- Tokushima → Kobe90 km · quickest by road, 2h 30m · ¥1,200–1,640
- Takamatsu → Kobe111 km · quickest by road, 3h 11m · ¥1,730–2,360
- Okayama → Kobe114 km · quickest by road, 3h 10m · ¥1,720–2,340
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Kobe
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Kobe. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inThe fastest way to get there is on the Kaijo Access high-speed ferry from Kobe Airport, which runs every 45 minutes (29 minutes, ¥1,850 or ¥1,000 for foreign visitors).
- Get inSeveral ferry services are available to Kobe, including routes from: Takamatsu: Jumbo Ferry, +81 87-811-6688.
- Get inKitakyushu: Hankyu Ferry, +81 78-857-1211.
- Get inShanghai: Miyazaki Car Ferry runs an overnight ferry service from Miyazaki to Kobe.
- Get inTake a bus from Miyazaki station to the ferry terminal.
From Wikivoyage: Kobe, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01844 km
- 021,207 km
- 031,512 km
- 041,573 km
- 051,737 km
If you know how people move in Kobe – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Kobe
Kobe is 13 km from Nishinomiya, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.