On our last day of our Kyoto-vacation we had to say goodbye to Daphne's parents and grandparents at the bus-station, who would be flying back to Holland after a week of sight-seeing.
Our bus back to Tokyo would only leave at 11 o'clock in the evening, so we had an extra day to spend in Kansai-region. Because we had already seen so much in Kyoto, we decided to visit a different city. We decided to visit Kobe because we had never been there before and we're interested in the city's history.
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| View on Kobe city from the harbor |
Unfortunately, this was also the day that the rain season caught up with us.. After a morning with dark clouds hanging above us, it started pouring rain in the afternoon :-( We had to run to a dry place and buy some cheap umbrella's to stay dry the rest of the day (you can always count on Lawson's 100 for your emergency cheapness).
Kobe has been an important port city for many centuries and was much involved in foreign trade. We think the area around the port terminal is therefore also the most interesting part of the city. Around this area is the Meriken Park, with the characteristic Kobe tower and Maritime museum; and Kobe harborland, a shopping and entertainment district with many shops and restaurants.
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| View on Kobe tower, the Maritime museum, and part of Kobe port terminal |
The international elements of Kobe's port are quite visible in the city. Some of the old foreign merchants houses remain in the city, and close to the harbour lies Chinatown (Nankinmachi), developed by Chinese merchants who settled in Kobe at the end of the 19th century. Chinatown is a popular attraction, mostly because of the delicious Chinese food . We also enjoyed some Chinese dishes for lunch!
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| Kobe's Chinatown in rain |
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| The center of Nankinmachi (Chinatown) |
Kobe also seems to have a things for placing foreign statues in it's city. We had no idea why these two statues were placed in Kobe, but we fought is was very funny to just run in to these at the streets of Kobe:
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| Elvis & Laurens |
The recent history of Kobe is overshadowed by the Great Hanshin Earthquake. On January 17, 1995 Kobe was hit by a big earthquake that destroyed much of the city and killed more than 5000 people. In the Meriken Park part of the damage of the earthquake is kept 'intact', so people have a visual reminder of the destruction it caused. It's very confrontational to see how destructive such a big earthquake is.
Een Manneke Pis in Japan? T moet niet gekker worden... Het lijkt me intens om de overblijfselen van een aardbeving te zien. Dan besef je je weer hoe kwetsbaar we eigenlijk zijn als mensen, tegenover de machtige natuur!
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