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7 Popular Things To Do In Kobe, Japan
Kobe, located in the Kansai region, is Japan’s 7th largest city with a population around 1.5 million. It’s about a 20-30 minute train ride from Osaka and makes for a perfect day trip if you’re using Osaka as a hub for the surrounding area. There’s plenty to see and do in this lovely port city!
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7 Popular Things To Do In Kobe, Japan:
Eat Kobe Beef
As the saying goes “When In Rome..” or perhaps the more suitable, “When in Kobe..” in this instance. Kobe beef is a worldwide delicacy renowned for its flavor, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. As the name implies, Kobe beef is cultivated from Japanese Black cattle which is raised in the Hyogo Prefecture region of Japan, near Kobe. It’s considered the highest quality beef that Japanese cattle can produce and is must try! There’s various cuts of this and obviously the higher the price the better the cut and quality. So the experience can certainly vary upon how much you’re willing to spend.
I went the “cheap” route at a Kobe beef restaurant ($36.14 USD) for six pieces of Kobe beef and the meat was just alright. Some pieces melted in my mouth, while others were pretty chewy. You get what you pay for. On the other hand, I got a Kobe beef bowl in Himeji and the Kobe beef was AMAZING.
Regardless, Kobe beef is an EXPERIENCE. It’s one of the most popular things to do in Kobe and is something you’ll definitely want to try (just do some better research than myself to find a proper Kobe beef restaurant!).
Visit Kobe’s Chinatown
One of the most popular things to do in Kobe is taking a visit to its Chinatown. This is one of the largest Chinatown’s in all of Japan. This is a small area – 270 meters east to west and 110 meters north to south – but is jam packed with over 100 shops, food stalls, and restaurants.
A lot of the food stalls, as you’ll notice, sell a lot of the same types of food items. There are some unique food items though. Some restaurants are quite popular with massive lines.
Needless to say, you don’t need to walk to far to find some tasty, cheap food or drinks. Be sure to come with a big appetite, you’ll certainly need it here!
Explore The Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens
One of the biggest attractions and things to do in Kobe is taking a visit to the Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens. Located on Mt. Rokko above Kobe, the best way to access Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens is via the Kobe Nunobiki Ropeway. The ropeway ride takes about 10 minutes and provide a great view of Kobe on the way up.
A round trip on the ropeway which also provides access to the garden, will set you back 2000 yen ($12.43 USD), a one-way ticket is 1400 yen, ($8.70 USD).
Once you get to the actual garden area, it opens up with a large, open view plaza that includes the German castle themed rest house. This building has some souvenir shops and a shop selling food and drinks. The open concourse area can house vendor tents selling seasonal boutique items while provide an abundance of bench seating.
There’s also a frangrance museum next to the rest house. This museum has a huge array of unique, natural smelling perfumes and oils that can be purchased and is well worth a walk through.
It’s a nice walk down the mountain with a paved, windy pathway that takes you through multiple types of herb and flower gardens.
This pathway also leads you to the glasshouse which you can walkthrough and holds a cafe / lounge on the second floor, a herbal area where you can create your own household friendly scents and the “statue of love”
You can easily spend a few hours in total, at The Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens which is why it’s one of hte most popular things to do in Kobe. It’s a nice change of pace from the regular tourist attractions and is a great way to walk off all that food from the Kobe Chinatown!
Visit The Many Attractions At Meriken Park
Meriken Park is one of the most popular things to do in Kobe due to the abundance of attractions within it. A large, wide open park, home to some impressive contemporary architecture, and a spacious lawn, Meriken Park is great place to enjoy some outdoor sights all within walking distance to one another.
It’s also located right on the waters of the port and is a short walk from Harborland, which is major shopping area in Kobe.
Kobe Port Tower
Kobe Port Tower is one of the attractions located within Meriken Park. Standing at 354 ft tall, the tower has multiple observations decks as well as an open air rooftop deck and cafe.
Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park
The Port Of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park is a small memorial for the victims who lost their lives in the port during the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Located in Meriken Park, there’s a small section of the waterfront area that was left unrepaired as a part of the memorial. It’s an opportunity for visitors to catch a small glimpse of the destructive power of the earthquake. It’s a somber area, but interesting nonetheless.
BE KOBE Sign
One of the most popular things to do in Kobe is taking a photo with the BE KOBE sign. The sign was built to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1995 earthquake. City Hall had this sign created to instill a sense of civic pride in the citizens of Kobe. If visiting the area at night, the sign is illuminated by colored lights on the base of the sign.
Unrelated, if you’re a big Kobe Bryant fan like myself, the sign has a different type of significance and is pretty special to see.
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Exploring One Of Japan’s Largest Chinatown’s (Nankin-machi) in Kobe
The Kobe Chinatown is one of Japan’s three largest Chinatown’s in the country. The other two being located in Yokohama and Nagasaki. It’s one of the major tourist attractions in Kobe and is a must visit for any serious foodie!
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Kobe Chinatown (Nankin-machi)
First developed in 1868 by Chinese merchants when the port of Kobe first opened, the small, compact area became known as “Nankinmachi”, named after China’s former capital city. The entire area is only 270 meters east to west and 110 meters north to south, so this is a very compact area. It’s jam packed with over 100 shops, food stalls, and restaurants.
The two main streets in Nankin-machi converge into an open area called Nankinmachi Square. Here you can find the Azumaya pavilion which is a hexagonal, two-tiered roof, gazebo. The square is a popular location where many people mill around eating food and just hanging out. Definitely good energy here!
The Food
There’s so much food in Nankin-machi, it’s pretty tough to decide where to start initially. But after taking a walk around you start seeing that a lot of the stalls are selling the same kind of foods. I decided to go to places that had the longer lines or seemed to have a different variety of food compared to other stalls.
The first item I got was pork slices bao (300 yen, $1.86). The bao was very soft and fresh, they steam it right in front of you. The pork slices were a little tough, tasty, due to the sweet sauce which was lathered all over it but a little too tough for my liking. This was just decent overall.
The next street food I got was a duck burrito (400 yen, $2.48 USD). This was wrapped in a thin sort of rice paper. Inside of the rice paper was a nice chunk of duck, thinly sliced cabbage, and a sweet dark sauce.
This was a tasty little “burrito”. The duck was really juicy and tender and the skin nice and crispy. The subtle crunch of the cabbage and the tasty sauce combined well with the duck.
Next up was a steamed pork bun. This was a HUGE dumpling, more like 2 or 3 dumplings in 1 (300 yen, $1.86). This came out piping out but came at a price. This was over steamed with the dough a little mushy. The pork filling was flavorful but the mushiness of the steamed bun took away from the experience.
The last street food I got was pork soup dumplings (500 yen, $3.10 USD). Let’s be honest, soup dumplings are a must if they’re available! For $3.10 USD you got 6 dumplings. These were freshly made and came out piping hot. Pretty simple dumplings, with seasoned ground pork and quite a lot of soup in each dumpling. The dumpling skins were just the right thickness and you could tell these were fresh. Overall, pretty simple but quite tasty and enjoyable.
Is Nankin-machi Worth Visiting?
If you’re doing a day trip to Kobe from Osaka or Kyoto, Nankin-machi is worth a visit. There’s a TON of food options here. If you’re craving some Chinese street food, this is the place to go. Not only are there plenty of food options in a small area (you’ll be able to save your feet from a ton of walking) but the food is also relatively cheap. For all the food I ate that afternoon I spent a total of $9.30 USD.
That’s quite a lot of food for less than $10 USD!
If street food isn’t your thing, there’s also some restaurants that are quite popular here. They had VERY long lines, even their to go windows. Not sure what the restuarants were, or what kind of food they had, but they were definitely popular. Since I was only spending the day in Kobe I didn’t want to wait, but was certainly curious. Maybe next time!
