Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15, 2025
This was our first visit to Kobe. With a population of 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan’s seventh largest city. We stayed for two nights. We probably should have stayed longer, but we didn’t think it would be very interesting. So wrong.
There are numerous museums here, as well as other tourist attractions. Our first day was mostly a travel day, so we had to make the most of our second day.
We stayed at the Daiwa Roynet Kobe Sannomiya Premier. It is a typical Japanese business hotel. If we don’t know where to stay, we pick a hotel from the Daiwa Roynet chain and it is always clean, safe and in a good location. The rooms are usually quite small, so we try to reserve two or three steps above the cheapest level so that there will be two chairs, and the bed won’t be up against the wall on two sides. The rooms have just about every amenity you can think of, so it’s reasonably comfortable here.
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Oops, we still got a bed with two sides against the wall - but it’s a king. |
- I thought perhaps Daimaru was wishing a Happy Passover to the very small Kobe Jewish community. That seems unlikely, though.
- There is a Japanese Christian movement called makuya. They use a menorah as their symbol, rather than a cross. Maybe they are being recognized by Daimaru?
- Or maybe it’s just a stylized tree?
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A little white bear on top of the word “familiar” apparently has its own cafe |
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A place to recycle plastic bottle caps! |
At the Kobe City Museum we saw a small exhibit called Bronze Bells and Communities - Exploring Life in the Yayoi Period through the National Treasure, Sakuragaoka Bronze Bells. The Yayoi Period extended from approximately 300 BCE to 300 CE. Archaeologists believe that during the Yayoi Period the population of Honshu and Kyushu transitioned from hunter-gatherer to settled agricultural communities, and social classes began to emerge. Some archaeological sites were known to exist in and around Kobe for a long time. Large keyhole-shaped mounds still exist in the area. Then, in 1964 a stunning discovery happened by chance on a hillside near Kobe. Seventeen bronze bells from the Yayoi period were excavated. Figures of humans and animals were cast on some of the bells.
These bells were incredibly evocative. I could imagine the sounds they made. The simplicity of the exhibit removed all the distractions of a typical museum gallery and it was easy to focus on the bells and think about the moment of their fortuitous discovery. (I majored in Anthro many years ago, and I still love this stuff.)
The Kobe City Museum also had a small but interesting exhibit on the history of Kobe. The port was opened to foreign trade in 1868. In 1889 the city of Kobe was born, and in 1958 Kobe merged with surrounding areas to become the Kobe of today. There were a few old maps, and a small display on old glass brought by early European traders. How the mysterious properties of glass must have amazed people who had not seen glass before!
But that was about the extent of it. The second floor of the museum had virtually nothing. We were rather disappointed that they didn’t have more to offer.
We rode the “Blue Loop” to the port. It’s an inexpensive city bus that loops around to all the tourist spots, but it’s a regular bus, not a hop-on hop-off. We got off the bus near Kobe Tower, a landmark in the port area. Other than the tower, which we did not go into, and the “Be Kobe” sign, this area was not that interesting.
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Kobe Tower |
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I really like this sign |
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Jumbo pieces of garlic (for two). We could have had more, but we don’t tolerate garlic well. |
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Mine is in front of Ken, and vice versa |
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The chef renders some of the fat |
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The first taste is served with various condiments: salt, black pepper, wasabi, onion |
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We sat on the left, where two assistants are cleaning up |
Today’s fabric is the Kobe Tartan. According to The Scottish Register of Tartans, the Kobe tartan symbolizes the city - blue for the Port of Kobe, light green for the Rokko mountains, red for the Port Tower and principal bridges, and white for the principal buildings and Kobe pearls, a specialty of the city. The tartan was created in 2014 for Kobe Fashion Organization.
Great post! Thanks for intro to Kobe and its bells and beef. Love those scarf wearing foxes (kitsune)! Beck
ReplyDeleteAnd the cap recycling machine! When your nation is surrounded by water it certainly makes sense! Hawaii needs these! Beck
ReplyDeleteAnother fascinating and interesting blog. Thank you, Peggy…..Shirley R
ReplyDeleteWonderful. Those bells are so beautiful. I’m glad the beef lived up to his rep - and that the cooking process was all substance and not show.
ReplyDeleteIt was also interesting to me that your chef was a woman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman chef at the “Japanese” hibachi restaurants here, although I know many of the chefs are natives of Japan.
Kate
We went to the synagogue twice there - for Rosh Hashonah and Passover…and a stop at the delicious German bakery there. Sharon Z-Z
ReplyDeleteAnother fascinating blog entry. I have wondered about Kobe beef and you answered my questions. Also it is good to know about hotel rooms in Japan - what you said confirms rumors I have heard. Thanks Betty S
ReplyDelete